Beginning in the late 50s, wood chips went from something to be disposed of to a valuable commodity. Since wood chips are less dense than coal, gravel and other hopper loads, many railroads added high extensions to standard hoppers for this service. The extentions were simple affairs, either rib sided or flat sided that were welded to the top chords of standard hoppers. Like our coal hoppers, these N scale models will come ready-to-run with knuckle couplers, and loads.. First draft artwork is show here and is subject to improvement by our crack research staff!

Kansas City Southern Offset Side Wood Chip Hopper with Flat Side Extensions. In 1967, Kansas City Southern rebuilt 300 hopper cars for wood chip service. KCS serves the densely forested Ozark Mountains along its mainline from Kansas City to the Gulf Coast.