HLMX Ex-UP H-100-17 is another all-new scheme for this Tangent model. Helm Financial Corporation acquired a portion of the H-100-17 fleet starting in 2007. The model features a weathered black paint job with fresh black patches and yellow conspicuity stripes. Available in 2 accurate numbers for 2019!

These distinctive 100 ton quad hoppers match the Union Pacific specification and were built by Bethlehem Steel in the 1970s.  Our UP replicas represent more than 6,900 “quad” hoppers, UP’s largest fleet of coal hoppers in company history.

One prototype reference photo is in the grid of model/prototype photos below.

These cars represent UP’s largest fleet of coal hoppers in company history. First produced in 1974 by Bethlehem Steel as UP class H-100-10, production of a majority of the fleet occurred in UP’s Albina Shops in Portland, OR between 1976 and 1981. Production of this important fleet ended with the H-100-23 class, after UP placed more than 6,400 of these “quad” hoppers in service in the rapidly growing Western low sulfur coal market. These cars became the workhorses of the UP coal fleet, serving coal originations in Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and the Powder River Basin, and sometimes on non-UP coal originations such as DRGW, Utah, and Wyoming & Colorado (former UP branchline). The DRGW origins became part of Union Pacific in 1996, and to this day these mines continue to load these UP quad hoppers.

UP’s quad hoppers wandered both system wide and to offline railroads as customers sourced coal from a variety of origins. A sample destination to the west that received coal in these hoppers was Southern California’s Kaiser Steel located in Fontana, CA, as well as the bulk export terminal at San Pedro. Trains of quad hoppers for these customers operated over Cajon Pass with various motive power groupings, most notably mixed DRGW and UP power (plus helpers). A few sample eastern gateways in early years were the Commonwealth Edison Co. power plants at Waukegan IL and Hammond IN, Kansas City Power & Light at Kansas City MO, Illinois Central destinations for TVA in Kentucky, not to mention Eastern and Midwestern carriers both in carload (sourced for cement and other production purposes) and unit train services. These quad hoppers continue to serve, operating to customers without dedicated bank-owned coal sets, as well as services literally anywhere when customers in North America want to increase coal deliveries from UP sources. Finally, the quad hoppers have been spotted in non-coal services such as miscellaneous aggregates, coke, and sugar beet services.

Union Pacific “H-100-19 Black Repaint Conspicuity 2005+” replicates a very interesting 2005+ era car in the 1990s black and yellow repaint scheme. Check out the black end: The prototype car end reporting marks were mis-applied, and the same “typo” detail is on the model.

Features:

• Highly accurate “true to life” colors
• Exact fonts and lettering placement
• Painted, scale-sized wire grabirons and coupler lift bars for strength and durability
• Air hoses
• Thin-profile brake piping
• See-through etched metal brake platforms
• L-shaped end-sheet supports
• Interior bracing detail
• Highly-detailed hopper bay outlet gates
• “Narrow appearance” coupler box with Kadee scale couplers
• Ready-to-operate model with hidden weights
• Tangent 100-ton N-11 trucks with free rolling 36" metal wheels
• A “Tangent-accurate” non-symmetrical, properly-sloped coal load
• Dimensional accuracy - scaled from prototype plans