Bethlehem Steel 3600cf Quad Coal Hopper

Prototype Information

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.