Are you looking for a hopper for a particular prototype, or are you going to do your own roadname? If you want to be prototypical, then your choices will be more limiting to those models that come closest to the real thing. If you are doing freelance, then you will have more choices.
Accurail also makes 2-bay hoppers, in 5 varieties. Metal wheels would need to be added. Not sure of the detail level, I don’t have any. The weights do need to be painted. Accurail 3-bay hoppers are very nice, I have some. Accurail has loads available.
Athearn also makes some, but I don’t like them. The coupler pockets use the old style metal clips, which usually get tore up when replacing the couplers.
Thanks for the various inputs & answering queries raised plus following on:
Longer term I would like to have both a free lance & a ‘known’ road consists, the latter probably somewhere from Steam era on East Coast, such as Pa or Virginia regions.
I am thinking 2 bay on assumption that an HO 2 bay is shorter than a 3 bay coal hopper & would navigate 18" diameter curves easier??
Is that correct?
The Athearn 'Blue Box" kits - what needs to be added to complete them??
If you are going with the east coast, here are some ideas. If you are modeling the PRR, go with Bowser H21 or GLa hoppers. You will need to paint the weights, may need to replace the couplers and replace the wheelsets with metal ones. If you are going more with the B&O/C&O you can use the offset side cars from Athearn or Stewart, or the Life Like P2k composite cars. If you are doing the RDG/WM the Stewart fishbelly twins, any of the USRA cars or the twin offset side cars.
The Athearn blue box cars have the least/crudest detail as they are the oldest. Athearn/Stewart/Bowser all need the weights painted, may need couplers changed and have plastic wheels. Stewart/Accurail/Bowser all have pretty fine cast on detail.
I would suggest pikcing one troad and buying a variety of cars for that road, then fill out the train with a few others. So if you have a 15 car train, get 10-12 types lettered for one road and then 3-5 others from nearby roads. That will look the most like a solid train.
One thing to consider, is how you are going to use the cars. Two Bay cars were mostly used for the small coal yards and as time went on fewer of them were found on the railroads with the loss of coal being used to heat houses. Triples were mostly used for the high volume purchaser such as power plants and to load ships for over water delivery on the coasts and Great Lakes.
I have pictures taken in the 1960s of CB&Q composite 2 bay hoppers, where the wood sides have not been replaced by steel. So the P2K models should also be considered if your era runs into the 60s. They are nice looking cars.
Maybe a bit off topic but the old all metal Ulrich 2 bay hoppers, still a common sight at swap meets, continue to have appeal because nothing looks more like painted metal than … painted metal.
Lots of good suggestions here, Tanked. In general, you’ll usually save some money by buying kits rather than r-t-r. Any of the pre-lettered versions can “take” weathering, while those that you letter yourself may be more easily damaged - it depends on your skills.[;)] I’m uncertain as to why you included metal wheels as a criterion, but any with plastic wheels can be easily changed to suit. Loads are available, I believe, for pretty-well all commercially available hoppers: check out Chooch, and there are lots of threads here on making your own. I use “live” loads, but that’s not something for everyone’s tastes. [swg]
If you’re planning on running 18" radius, any of the models mentioned should meet your requirements for detail and operation. Here are a few examples of some of the cars mentioned: (click on any photo for an enlargement)
Depending on which road you want, Accurail has released their two bay hopper kits in 12 packs. You may check their website to see what is available, or you can check that online auction site to see what is out there.
I sold several of these 12 packs for under $60 when I was liquidating my shop. If you added metal wheels, metal couplers, and loads, you would still be well under $15 a car.