Arrowhead Models HO Committee Design Hopper Pennsylvania

Description

Railroad Short Name: PRR

The “committee design” car refers to a family of cars whose design specifications were set forth by Norfolk & Western, Chesapeake & Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroads. It is one of the most prolific hoppers ever constructed, and it has a rich history. Depending on how one tells its story, the committee design hopper will mean different things to different people. It is one of the largest, single classes of freight car (of any type) to ever be constructed, and simultaneously, it represents a failure for cooperating railroads to standardize around a single design.

Arrowhead has produced two distinct sets of body tooling to accurately match the distinct car variations of the PRR Pullman-Standard 666000-666999 series, D&RGW Bethlehem Car Co. 14600-14999 series, and Southern Bethlehem Car Co. 74689-74758 series cars.

This, in combination with a matrix of unique detail parts (outlined below), means that this announcement is an announcement of two all-new freight cars from the point of view of tooling and product development.

Prototype specific details:

• 4-piece 1955 Ajax or 3-piece 1942 Miner hand brakes
• 2-piece Keystone Monoloc hopper door locks or 3-piece Wine double door locks
• Keystone or Wine hopper frames
• Keystone or Wine gate doors
• End sheet or center sill release valve mounting locations
• Riveted or welded superior bolster plate
• Two underframes to account for variations with: slack adjuster locations, variations in brake rod and brake rod hanger locations and a compliment of four accurate brake levers
• ASF solid bearing or ASF 70-ton roller bearing trucks
• Pullman-Standard or Bethlehem Car Co. styles of defect card holder
• Top chord stiffner detail for Bethlehem Car Co. version
• Pullman-Standard or Bethlehem variations of retaining valve rods and release valve lines.

Multi-piece small parts for high fidelity applications:
3-piece air reservoirs:

• Emergency half, air reservoir body
• Auxiliary half, air reservoir body
• Bolted flange, air reservoir

4-piece Ajax 1955 hand brake:

• Distinct 1955 Ajax brake wheel
• 1955 Ajax hand brake housing
• Ajax hand brake release lever
• Separate internal gears, chain and vertical rod

3-piece Miner 1942 hand brake:

• Distinct 1942 Miner brake wheel
• 1942 Miner hand brake housing, brake rod, chain and release lever
• 1942 Miner (3290-XL) mount plate

2-piece ABD valve:

• ABD valve body/emergency portion
• ABD service portion

2-piece Keystone Monoloc hopper door locks or 3-piece Wine double door locks
3 piece “scale” draft boxes, with accurate key, shank, plate and bolt details
Slack adjuster with separate brake rods and loop eyes

Brass parts for high-fidelity applications:

• Brass slack adjuster guard for Bethlehem Car Co. applications
• Brass mounting platforms for:
  • ABD valve
  • Brake cylinder
  • Brass hopper frame L-braces

Wire parts:

• Air reservoir, brake cylinder, ABD plumbing lines
• ABD-trainline plumbing
• Retaining valve lines
• Retaining valve rod
• Brake rods
• Grab irons
• Brake rod hangers
• Slack adjuster loop eye for the slack adjustor on Bethlehem Car Co. applications
• Coupler cut lever

Other features:

• Etched metal brake step
• CNC-machined wheels
• Separate Air Hoses
• Kadee #58 couplers
• Prototypical loads