Finally! The Big John Covered Hopper - Printable Version

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Finally! The Big John Covered Hopper - FCIN - 11-06-2014

After wondering for years why the covered hopper that revolutionized grain handling on the rails had yet to be produced by someone - the wait is over! https://www.exactrail.com/announcements/november-2014-big-john-release A bit on the expensive side, but well worth it for those of us that saw these cars on a regular basis back in the 60s and later and would love to see one (or more) of these on our layout!

Now bring on the All-Door and Hogshead box cars!

Re: Finally! The Big John Covered Hopper - Mr Fixit - 11-07-2014

You are absolutely right to wonder why it has taken so long to produce a model of "Big John" and that is what is so surprising.

Perhaps it has something to do with "Big Johns" intially being kept from interchange and restricted to "home rails" by Southern Railway to avoid interline charges. This may have resulted in manfacturers deciding that the market would be too limited.

What these manufacturers may have missed due to poor research is the date or dates that "Big John's" began to be interchanges with the rest of the US rail network. This point would provide a launch point date for modellers to say when they can include these cars in operations on their layouts.

Also of interest is the fact that "Big John's" were pioneering the development of the "unit train" concept by Southern insisting that the operate in large blocks not a single car shipments.

Mark
PS I had to have a bit of a chuckle about the name "Big John" as when I was an apprentice Carpenter I worked with a guy and his crew called "Big John Constructions", a nice bloke. "Right you are, Mark" was a regular comment to me by "Big John".
Funny the things you remember from your apprenticeship, but stuff that happens in later years just washes under the bridge.

Re: Finally! The Big John Covered Hopper - FCIN - 11-07-2014

I don't have a recent copy of the ORER to find out how many of the Big John hoppers are still in service, but I do see one now and then when out rail fanning NS. Here's a quick "shoot from the hip" photo of one that almost got by me about a month ago. The accumulation of grain dust has almost covered all the green lettering and makes the aluminum look gray, but it's still carrying the SOU reporting marks, although the number series has been changed:     Over the past couple of years, I have seen a couple that were much cleaner than this one, although I failed to get photos and have also seen a couple that had been cleaned up and re-lettered NS (reporting marks/number only). I sure wouldn't want one on my layout that looked as ragged as this one, but it does show that a few of them are still in service. I'm sure going to pick up one or two of them sub-lettered CNO&TP as soon as I see them available for a bit less then "Retail Price".

Mark; your mention of the name "Big John" and your memories about that, reminded me of the time on the L&N when I saw one of our "Big Blue" covered hoppers where some joker had written "Big George" with chalk in large script lettering on one the side as a play on the Big John name.

Re: Finally! The Big John Covered Hopper - eightyeightfan1 - 11-07-2014

FCIN Wrote:Now bring on the All-Door and Hogshead box cars!

Walthers released "all door" boxcars maybe 10 or 15 years ago. I bought a two car pack when they came out.

Re: Finally! The Big John Covered Hopper - Mr Fixit - 11-07-2014

Speaking of the "Big John" name you can just see the outline if the faded name in that photo of yours Ed.

My question is; Does anybody know the reason behind naming the hopper cars "Big John"?

Is it a Southern US thing? Or was the person behind the cars at Southern Railway known as Big John?

Any ideas?

Mark

Re: Finally! The Big John Covered Hopper - eightyeightfan1 - 11-07-2014

Since one of my favorite part of the hobby is research, I tried to find out a reason why they were called "Big John's.
Though I couldn't find a direct reference,what I did find out is that "Big John" might have been a poke at the head of the ICC, John Ingram, during the time of Southern RR ICC court debacle.
But I couldn't find a confirmation of that story.

Re: Finally! The Big John Covered Hopper - Mr Fixit - 11-07-2014

Hi 88

Now that you mention it, that story does ring a bell with me, possibly from an Ask Trains or Ask MR question and answer that I read sometime.
Either that or a chapter in a reference book on grain handling/processing or freight cars.
Mark

Re: Finally! The Big John Covered Hopper - FCIN - 11-07-2014

eightyeightfan1 Wrote:Walthers released "all door" boxcars maybe 10 or 15 years ago. I bought a two car pack when they came out.
Getting off topic here, but I believe you're referring to the Thrall-Door box car that several manufacturers have produced over the past few years. No resemblance at all to the Southern Railway All-Door car which could be considered the father of the All-door box car:     More years ago then I'd like to admit, Ambroid produced a very accurate all wood kit for the Southern car that was really nice, but difficult to build (I know; I tried):     Currently, Bachmann has a very poor model (representation is more like it) of this car which they also have painted for other roads, such as UP and SP, which of course never had these cars. Among the things wrong with the Bachmann model are the incorrect ends and paint job:     What makes the SOU car so unique was the fact that as built, the doors were rolled up with a wheel located on each end of the car and then the two center posts would be moved to the end of the car, giving you a clear 50ft open area. Over time, the roll up doors became a problem as they were often damaged by shippers and were replaced with 4 sliding doors:     Eventually, all these cars were converted to bulkhead flats before finally being removed from service. Remove the roof and doors and you've got a bulkhead flat!