Alaska Railroad (post-1978) offset side hoppers. The 525 mile Alaska Railroad links Fairbanks deep in the interior of the state with Anchorage, Whittier and Seward on the Gulf of Alaska. Interchange with other railroads is accomplished with ocean-going car barges to ports in Canada and the Seattle area. Three of this line’s top commodities, coal, sand and gravel all move in hoppers. Although they were originally delivered in the late 1950s, they were equipped with 70-ton roller bearing trucks from the outset. ARR was an early convert to roller bearings due to the drag of friction bearings in the Alaskan winter. This run of Bluford Shops Alaska Railroad hoppers are presented as they appeared after 1978 with centennials and U-1 inspection dots. This run will be available in 6 road numbers with “coal” loads. 73701 Alaska Railroad (post-1978) single car $22.95; 73702 2-pack $45.90; 73703 3-pack $68.85

Boston & Maine - medium logo offset side hoppers. Boston & Maine picked up this fleet of hoppers from U.S. Railway Equipement in 1967. They were former B&LE cars that had been rebuilt by Evans. B&M needed them to haul gravel to feed the region’s construction boom. This run will be available in 6 road numbers with “gravel” loads. 73761 Boston & Maine - medium logo single car $22.95; 73762 2-pack $45.90; 73763 3-pack $68.85.

Detroit Toledo & Ironton offset side hoppers. DT&I first took delivery of these cars in 1948. They were assigned to coke loading. Coke (not the beverage) is made by cooking coal in the absence of oxygen to drive out the impurities. It can then be used in blast furnances to make steel. Coke can also be made from petroleum. This run will be available in 3 road numbers with “coke” loads. 73721 Detroit Toledo & Ironton single car $22.95; 73722 2-pack $45.90

Walthers has contracted with Bluford Shops to make an exclusive run of the Peabody yellow/green 3 Bay/14 Pannel Rib Side Hoppers.

Dimi Data Only - Black and Brown versions offset side hoppers. By popular demand, we are finally doing “data only” runs on our offset side hopper. The data includes: capacity, load limit, light leight, Re-weigh date, builder’s plate, built date, cubic footage, and a lubrication stencil; everything you need to add your own name, logo and reporting marks. This run will be available with “coal” loads. 73771 Data Only - Black single car $22.95. 73781 Data Only - Brown single car $22.95.

Chicago & Illinois Western 3-bay offset side hoppers. Chicago & Illinois Western was a shortline with 33 miles of track serving a number of large industries in Harvester, Hawthorne, and Gary in the greater Chicago area. Illinois Central took stock control of the C&IW in 1924 but the shortline remained a separate operation with their own locomotives and freight cars. IC influence can be seen in the C&IW’s lettering style which is very similar to IC’s pre-1967 practices. Speaking of which, the wonky spacing in the lettering is prototypical for these cars. It looks as if they had all the stencils for “Chicago,” “Illinois,” and “Western” spaced perfectly and then realized they left out the “&.”

Cities Service Oil offset side hoppers. Cities Service leased this group of cars from United States Railway Equipment in 1972. USRE had bought them used and had them rebuilt by Evans that same year. Why would an oil company want hopper cars? Because coke can also be made from petroleum. After the most valuable products are separated from the crude oil in the cracking process, the sludge that remains is made into coke with very little going to waste. Petroleum coke is a solid and at arm’s length, looks just like coke made from coal. In addition to burning it in blast furnaces, coke is also used to make anodes, pigments, filters and many other products requiring carbon. This run will be available in 3 road numbers.

Canadian National (pre-1958) offset side 3-bay hoppers. CN had 4,655 hoppers of this design delivered between 1949 and 1958. All but the last batches were delivered in this scheme with the standard 9” block lettering. The cars were built by Eastern Car Company, National Steel, and Canadian Car & Foundry. These cars will be available in 12 road numbers. 73441 Canadian National (pre-1958) single car $21.79; 73442 2-pack $43.58; 73443 3-pack $65.37; 73446 6-pack $130.7

Beginning in 1968, Canadian Pacific ’s 3,500 car fleet of 70 ton offset side hoppers began appearing in this CP Rail paint scheme. As a rule, the multi-mark logo was painted toward the “B” end on each side resulting in a flipped location of the road numbers and dimensional data from one side to the other. This detail is being reproduced on this run. ACI bar codes were added at the same time and con-stencils followed shortly after. The CP Rail name would last for 28 years before the company changed the name back to "Canadian Pacific." This roadname will be available in 6 road numbers. Please note the suggested retail price on this run is $19.95 per car due to the more complicated nature of this paint scheme. 73351 single car $19.95; 73352 2-Pack $39.90; 73353 3-Pack $59.85

Grand Trunk Western (post-1962) 3-bay offset side hoppers. Grand Trunk Western received 500 of these hoppers from American Car & Foundry in 1952. While parent CN introduced their “noodle” logo in 1960, the GTW version appeared in 1962 and was applied to the now decade old hoppers as they were shopped. GTW moved coal from connecting roads to power Michigan’s voracious auto industry, and also loaded significant quantities of gravel (for use in construction across the Industrial Midwest) on their Saginaw Subdivision. This run will be available in 6 road numbers and comes with “coal” loads. The loads can be easily painted if you prefer to model cars in gravel service. 73541 Grand Trunk Western (post-1962)

The 600 mile Monon covered Indiana with an X shaped system. One axis linked Chicago with Indianapolis and the other axis linked the Great Lakes port of Michigan City to Louisville. The two routes crossed in the small city of Monon, Indiana. Monon would merge with Louisville & Nashville in 1971.

Peabody Energy Corporation is the largest privately owned coal company in the world. Their primary business is the mining, sale and distribution of coal: most of which is purchased for use in electricity generation and steelmaking. Walthers has contracted with Bluford Shops to make an exclusive run of the distinctive Peabody billboard offset-side hopper.

Soo Line 3-bay offset side hoppers. Soo connected a dense network of branches in North Dakota and Minnesota to connections with Canadian Pacific at Portal on the North Dakota border and Sault Ste. Marie near the tip of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. In 1951, they adopted this billboard style of lettering for freight cars. In 1960, parent Canadian Pacific consolidated their U.S.lines including MStP&SSteM, subsidiary Wisconsin Central (which gave the old Soo their route to Chicago) and the Duluth South Shore & Atlantic. The combined railroad (which used DSS&A’s charter) was renamed Soo Line Railroad. These cars will have gravel loads instead of the usual coal loads reflecting their most common use on the Soo Line and will be available in 6 road numbers. 73491 Soo Line single car $21.79; 73492 2-pack $43.58; 73493 3-pack $65.37.

United States Army offset side 3-bay hoppers. This group of hoppers was built in 1965 by and for the Illinois Central. What year they joined the Army is in doubt, but we can say they received this combination of lettering in 1989 or shortly thereafter. These cars are used to haul coal in small groups from mines to Army base power stations in through coal and mixed manifest freights. These cars will be available in 3 road numbers. 73461 United States Army single car $21.79; 73462 2-pack $43.58