Contrary to some comments that are being bantered about online, the North American Railcar Corporation HO scale model of the Hawker Siddeley 4550 cubic foot 4-bay cylindrical hopper really does exist! We are very excited to present photographs of pre-production cars, painted and decorated in the Saskatchewan Grain Car Corporation’s stunning new livery.

     We feel that this car compares with any scale model freight car on the market today in regards to faithfully representing the prototype, from the number and arrangement of the welded side panels, the number of running board supports, the layout and detail of the air brake reservoirs and associated piping and valves as well as the meticulous detail to such parts as the etched metal running boards and crossover platforms complete with individually applied supports, the bolster/jack pad with the opening in the face, the accurate detail on the Procor brand Toggle-Lock gravity outlet gates and the Canadian Steel Foundries (CSF) Barber S-2 100-ton trucks with 36” scale wheels complete with raised lettering on the side frames. Come along and take a look at the new Hawker Siddeley 4550, we think you’ll like what you see.

     Lets start with the roof, since this is the view that most of us have of our model cars on a layout. The hatches are modeled after those on the real cars, complete with batten bars and latches. The running boards are etched brass and there is the correct number of supports (11) for this version of the car (we have tooled enough detail parts to release a total of 14 versions). We’ve even included the correct type of running board extension support on the end of the car. Look at the fine detail on the roof grab.

     This version of the Hawker Siddeley 4550 cubic-foot car has nine side panels, which we have faithfully reproduced; creating a unique car body that has never been produced before. While similar in design to the National Steel Car (NSC) 4550 cubic-foot cylindrical hopper, North American Railcar’s will stand out when mixed in a consist of grain cars

     Hawker Siddeley modified their design of the ubiquitous “Canadian Grain Car” and we have faithfully reproduced their design here. A great example is the side ladders at the left end of the car (on either side). Notice how the ladder stiles extend outward from the end running board platform, just like on the real cars.

     We’ve even taken care of making the bolster face accurate with an actual opening for pulling the car into position at your inland grain elevator or export terminal. We’ve tooled two different bolsters so that the correct bolster is applied to the appropriate version released.

     Let’s take a look at the outlet gates. The Saskatchewan Grain Car Corporation (SGCC) specified Procor Toggle-Lock outlets on their cars and like Hawker Siddeley, we’ve followed the specification and installed them on the model car as well. Check out the detail of the gates. They are tooled from actual drawings of the prototype outlet gates. Look at the detail of the capstans (the fitting that opens and closes the gates). To produce the detail we demanded, the capstans are brass “lost wax” castings, each individually applied, two per outlet gate. But the attention to detail doesn’t stop there. Of the 1000 cars ordered by the SGCC, 477 were assigned to Canadian National (SKNX reporting marks) while the remaining 523 cars were assigned to Canadian Pacific (SKPX reporting marks). Interestingly, CN requested that their cars have their outlet gates riveted on while CP specified that theirs be welded on. Guess what? The models represent the prototypes right down to the correct outlet gates. The cars with SKNX reporting marks have riveted outlet gates (as in the photograph below) while the SKPX cars have welded gates! How’s that for accuracy and attention to detail?

     The basic design of the 4550 cubic-foot 4-bay cylindrical covered hopper included reinforcing plates on the left side of the hopper bays so that air powered vibrators could be held against the plates to vibrate the compacted load loose and we haven’t overlooked that detail either.

     These cars were delivered new with 100-ton Barber S-2 and later versions with Barber S-2-HD trucks. We’ve tooled a brand new truck specifically for this car based on the design of the actual truck side frames and include the Canadian Steel Foundries (CSF) logo as well as the rest of the side frame markings and they are actually readable. The springs are slightly compressed to represent a loaded car and the detail of the springs is excellent as well.

     We’ve even included Kadee # 58 metal couplers to provide years of trouble free operation. Along with the Kadee couplers, we’ve also included air hoses and bent wire coupler cut bars. Instead of attaching the cut bars to the underside of the coupler cover as is common practice, we went the extra mile and designed in a notch in the side of the draft gear (coupler box) for the end of the cut bar to fit into. This way, if you ever need to remove the coupler cover, the cut bar won’t interfere or get accidentally knocked off. It’s another example of North American Railcar paying close attention to the details!

 Hey go and compare these cars with any other

grain car that you own.  See the difference for yourself?

Check out the story of the "25th Secret" car:-  https://www.pwrs.ca/announcements/view.php?ID=914

     The new state-of-the-art Hawker Siddeley 4550 cubic-foot 4-bay cylindrical hopper from North American Railcar Corporation is on its way, so visit the Pacific Western Rail Systems web site today at https://www.pacific-western-rail.com/main.php and order your cars before they sell out!