Burlington Northern

59,95  inkl. 19% MwSt.DE

24112-03
Status: Short Term / for details see FAQ
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The mid-1970s brought about an urgent need for new coal hoppers based upon a combination of robust utility and export demand as well as an aging coal fleet composed of mostly smaller-capacity, 50 and 70-ton coal hoppers. Additionally, the opening of new low-sulfur coal mines in the Powder River Basin (PRB) region of Wyoming and Montana introduced a new supply of coal to the market, driving new coal hopper orders.

Pullman-Standard was one of several railcar manufacturers that addressed this urgent demand for modern “Triple” 100-ton hoppers with new designs produced in 1975-1976. While western and midwestern customers purchased Pullman’s 4000 cubic foot models, the eastern roads purchased Pullman’s 3526/3600 cubic foot hoppers, which effectively had shorter sides to accommodate higher density coal. We have produced both the “western” and “eastern” Pullman-Standard coal hoppers, and we offer models in multiple railroad-specific variations. The signature identifying feature for most of these cars? The distinctive Pullman “trapezoid” indentations on the flat panels (not all cars had flat panels, but most did).

Additionally, the phases of PS4000 HT “western” Pullman-Standard cars come in one of two possible configurations:

Some cars have one “offset” truck bolster to accommodate the longer slope sheet found on the rotary end of the car. This means that on the B-end of the car, the axle “sticks out” past the end of the car! It also means that the slope sheet angles are different on each end of the car.

The largest buyer of the Pullman-Standard PS4000 HT coal hoppers was Burlington Northern (BN). BN bought these cars for the new railroad line that was built into the Powder River Basin. The BN (and subsidiary Colorado and Southern) cars were delivered in four total orders in 1975-1976. The BN scheme is easily one of the sharpest schemes applied to these Pullman cars. The classic Burlington Northern billboard scheme was applied with white stencil lettering on a black car, with white rectangles on the end and slope sheets to designate the rotary end. Some of the car fleet was repainted in the 1980s with full white ends and we will offer those down the road, but these samples from BN’s massive fleet of almost 1,200 cars are the statistically relevant scheme for BN’s largest coal hopper fleet.

BN purchased the two different “configurations (phases)” of the Pullman-Standard PS4000 HT coal hoppers. Both phases had the distinctive Pullman “trapezoid” indentations on the side panels. The first order, offered in our first production in November 2020, had the “short B end, long A end” body configuration with offset truck bolster spacing. Our 2022 production offers the “short B end, short A end” body configuration. This 1975+ scheme lasted into the BNSF era so is relevant for all modelers.

More than two decades later, the cars were still used by BNSF. While utility coal is most often thought of as the use for hoppers, don’t forget that they were also used to deliver coal to ocean/river/lake transload operators. Here is a train of BN triple hoppers returning from dumping coal at an ocean transload facility in Roberts Bank, Vancouver, Canada, operating behind “old school” SD40-2s (since by this point SD70MACs had infiltrated most coal moves). This train is operating across MRL and is at the summit of Bozeman Pass headed to Laurel MT, where it will interchange back to BNSF to continue its return trip back to the Powder River Basin.

True scale and true to life miniature model for adult collectors.
Not suitable for children under 14 years.