Bethlehem Steel Hoppers

Walthers make a Bethlehem 3 Bay 4000 cubic foot hopper. Bachmann make a Silver Series 3 Bay 100 ton hopper. Do both these cars represent the same prototype? They look similiar in their photos apart from brake wheel height. Which is the better model? I do have a Bachmann one but am contemplating getting some more. Are these hoppers still in current use? I found a reference to the prototype which suggests they are/were used in rotary dumping service and the Walthers models have a painted end suggesting rotary couplers although they do have bottom discharges.

Finally does the Athearn 40 Quad Hopper represent a hopper still in current use?

Thanks for any help.

Bill

I’m pretty sure they do represent the same prototype as each other. Those cars are still in service and make up a large part of many railroads’ hopper fleets. The Norfolk Western H-11 design made by Bethlehem became the industry standard for 100 ton 3 bay hoppers and Pullman, Greenville Steel Car, and Trinity all built similar cars of their own.

It seems like Bowser’s 100 ton hopper is a model of the same prototype, if I remember correctly.

Athearn’s quad hopper, if it has a prototype, would be a model of a car that would no longer be in revenue service.

The Bowser 100 ton 3 bay hopper is indeed a very accurate model of the Norfolk and Western H-11 hopper introduced in 1960. The car was widely copied by most eastern and mid-western coal haulers. Bethlehem Steel, ACF, Pullman Standard, Greenville Car, and Trinity, all built nearly identical cars. PRR, N&W, and Reading also built a number of them in-house.

However, IIRC, the Walthers car represents a slightly larger car, introduced in the 1970s. It’s a favorite of the western coal haulers.

I haven’t seen the Bachmann car, so I can’t give a comparison.

One thing to keep in mind, the Walthers cars are avalable in 6 to 12 numbers, and (depending on the production run) the Bowser cars are avalable in 12 or more numbers.

Nick