.The Great Northern Railway began operating covered hoppers in 1940 with an initial purchase of five cars. The number of covered hoppers on the Great Northern increases almost every year after World War II until the Burlington Northern merger in 1970. there were 2,900 cars on the GN freight roster when the merger was finalized, The hoppers carried a wide variety of bulk materials including, cement, grain, fertilizer, soda ash, potash, clay, bentonite, zinc, copper, alumina, bauxite, sand, plastic pellets and of course grain. the GN operated the first unit train during the week of April 16, 1968, between Wolf point, Montana and Peavey Company's Terminal at Portland, oregon, the site of the 2009 National N Scale Convention