Product Description
These Southern Railway “permanently coupled” pairs of hoppers were an effort by Southern to provide lower rates to customers while not running afoul of the Interstate Commerce Commission. At the time these pairs were conceived in the early ‘60s, the ICC prevented railroads from giving a price break for loading two 50 ton cars to match the allowed price for a single 100 ton car. This was particularly unfair to small customers located on lightly built branch lines. Southern’s response was to make two cars into one by permanently coupling them and assigning the pair a single road number. Permanence was achieved by removing the cut levers on the adjoining ends. The exact number of pairs made from these rebuilt War Emergency hoppers is a mystery because Southern also paired up some 6-panel hoppers and scattered them through the same number series with no distinction between them in the Equipment Register. However, other documentary evidence suggests there were more than 325 of these rebuilt War Emergency pairs. Each package includes both cars of the pair.
Bluford Shops is happy to announce our second run of N scale 2-Bay Rebuilt War Emergency Hoppers. These ready-to-run cars feature die cast slope sheet-hopper bay-center sill assembly; injection molded plastic sides, ends, and hopper doors; fully molded brake tank, valve and air lines; body mounted brake hose detail; load; body mounted magnetically operating knuckle couplers; close coupling; and Fox Valley Models metal wheels.
