Finally! The Big John Covered Hopper

[FCIN]

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.