The Bluford Shops N scale 14-Panel 3-Bay Hopper returns in nine new paint schemes. The design of this hopper was spearheaded by New York Central in the late ‘50s as they sought an alternative to the AAR 70-ton rib side hopper design. In the end, this 14-Panel design proved to be popular with more railroads than the AAR design. Our N scale models feature diecast slope sheet/hopper bay assemblies for plenty of weight – even when running empty, removeable loads, metal wheels, magnetically operating knuckle couplers, separately applied brake detail and carefully researched paint schemes.

For most of its history, Canada Southern operated as a subsidiary of the New York Central System. They ran from the Windsor area, northeast on the Canadian side of Lake Erie to the Niagara Falls – Buffalo area. In the 1960s and ‘70s Canada Southern/NYC, CN, Ontario Northland, P&LE, and TH&B pooled a fleet of hoppers to move iron ore from a mine in Dane, Ontario to steel mills in the United States. The round stencil you see near the middle of the car was applied to all of the CASO cars in this service. The CANADA SOUTHERN lettering on this run featues the second of two versions applied to these cars.

Note two of the road numbers, 906545 and 922261 lack the horizontal stripes over the CASO reporting marks, replicating the prototypes.

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