Nashville Chattanooga & St. Louis had 325 of these USRA 2-bay hoppers. NC&St.L ran from Memphis east to Nashville, Chattanooga and Atlanta. For a time, they had a route to St. Louis by way of Evansville but in 1879, L&N bought a 55% stake in the NC&St.L and transferred that line to themselves. The NC&St.L finally merged into L&N in 1957.

These ready-to-run cars feature:

• 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
• Coal Load
• Lever-Style Hand Brake
• Cody Mounted Magnetically Operating Knuckle Couplers
• Close Coupling
• Metal Wheels

Northern Pacific bought a modest fleet of these hoppers from a secondhand dealer. Mines along the NP in Montana and the Dakotas produced lignite, also known as sub-bituminous or brown coal. Much of the NP steam locomotive fleet was designed to burn this grade of coal. For reasons lost to history, these cars received their “NORTHERN PACIFIC” lettering using stencils meant for NP’s flat cars rather than those usually used on hoppers and gondolas. About half of NP’s USRA 2-bay hopper fleet was still in operation in the 1960s. This run is available in 6 all new road numbers.

Looking for more Bluford Shops Hoppers? Click here!