Arrowhead HO 1020-1 D&RGW Committee Design Hopper Denver & Rio Grande 'As Delivered 10-1960' D&RGW #17506

Description

Please note pictures are representative of the item but may not be same road number. Always refer to product description for actual product details.

Arrowhead HO 1020-1 D&RGW Committee Design Hopper Denver & Rio Grande 'As Delivered 10-1960' D&RGW #17506

The Committee Design Hopper Prototype

Collaboratively designed by the Chesapeake and Ohio, Pennsylvania Railroad, and the Norfolk and Western during the late 1950s, the Committee Design Hopper was to be a standardized hopper design shared between multiple railroads. The idea was simple; standardization would lead to better compatibility and efficiency.

Although the Norfolk and Western eventually backed out of the project with concerns that the cars would be too big for their needs, the Pennsylvania commenced production soon after prototypes were built, placing an order that would eventually total over 16,000 cars. Over the course of the next decade, other railroads would also join the effort, with the Denver and Rio Grande Western and the original Norfolk Southern both ordering substantial numbers for their needs.

Although its beginnings were shrouded in doubt, the type would see successful service through the mergers of the 1970s and 80s, with the last examples only reaching retirement from revenue duties in the 1990s. To this day some can still be found in non-revenue and departmental roles at various railroads across the country.

The D&RGW Committee Design Hopper Prototype

In 1960, the Denver & Rio Grande Western purchased its first lot of Committee Design hoppers. These were built by Bethlehem Steel Company and assigned the number series #17500-17699. Up to 1957, the D&RGW had a well-established history of using drop bottom gondolas for coal service. Although the Committee lot was not the first 70-ton open HT class hoppers for the Rio Grande, it was perhaps the most important pivot towards HT class cars. From here forward, the Rio Grande never looked back–both in terms of the Committee Design and its builder, Bethlehem Steel. Every new HT AAR class car that the D&RGW purchased was from Bethlehem, and every new, 70-ton HT class car the Rio Grande acquired was of the committee design. In total, D&RGW would own 800 Committee Design hoppers. This car comprised 44% of the total 70-ton hopper fleet. The remainder of the fleet was divided among smaller lots of varying designs.

The Model

The paint scheme and mechanical configuration for this 2nd release of this Rio Grande car is all-new, as it represents the 10 1960-built cars in paint scheme and mechanical configuration. Please note that the Arrowhead first release in 2018 of the D&RGW Committee Design Hopper represented the 1966 lot and had different mechanical configurations.

This hopper consists of 167 parts per car, matching the specific details of the Bethlehem Steel built cars, with the design of every part of this model driven by dimensional data. No part of the design is scaled from a photograph, but from actual derived field measurements and fabrication prints.

Additional Features:

• 70 individual injection molded parts per car, including: multi-part Miner double door hopper door locks, Miner hopper frames and gate doors, and 4 piece Miner 1942 hand brakes
• 10 individual etched brass parts per car, including: gate door L-braces, ABD valve and brake cylinder mounts.
• 49 individual wire parts per car, including: air lines, release and retaining valve rods, grab irons, train lines, brake lever hangers and more.
• Kadee #156 couplers are factory equipped to each model. These whisker couplers are Kadee scale head. All couplers are installed into near scale draft boxes.
• Scale Tread Wheelsets
• Available in 12 different numbers

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