Bluford Shops is proud to announce our third new body style in N scale since July. This time we have 2-Bay War Emergency Composite Hoppers. These are the predecessors of the Rebuilt War Emergency Hoppers we announced last month. These cars were built during the Second World War with wood siding and slope sheets at the direction of the War Production Board in hopes of saving as much steel as possible for the war effort. This was especially the case with hoppers that were usually built with copper-bearing steel to resist corrosion. The car sides were built with the Pratt truss design using a combination of vertical and diagonal ribs. A majority were later rebuilt with steel replacing the wood components but some composite cars remained in service into the 1970s.

Illinois Terminal received their War Emergency Hoppers in 1944 from American Car & Foundry. ITC ran a 500 mile system linking central Illinois with St. Louis. Most of the line was electrified with interurban cars handling the passenger business while heavy freight was handled by a mix of electric locomotives and steam locomotives. Diesels began arriving in 1950 and six years later, electric operations were but a memory. ITC merged into N&W in 1982.

Features:

• Fully assembled and ready to run
• Die cast slope sheet-hopper bay-center sill assembly
• Injection molded plastic sides, ends, and hopper doors
• Fully molded brake tank, valve and air lines
• Body mounted brake hose detail
• Load
• Body mounted magnetically operating knuckle couplers
• Close coupling
• Fox Valley Models metal wheels