01-28-2012, 02:07 AM
I'm not certain of the parentage of those hoppers: I did ones from Athearn (working hopper doors, originally), Tyco, and Lifelike. All started as four-bay hoppers, not a common sight around here, so I removed one of the two centre ones. The joint between the re-joined sections is inboard of one of the double vertical rivet seams - no filler was required. The plate panels on the upper sides are mostly to strengthen the joints, although they may also be hiding some mangled top chord braces. 
I don't recall, but I think the joints are also reinforced on the inside of the cars. I made those cars because, at the time, the only three-bay hoppers available were from Roundhouse, and I didn't like the shallow hoppers under them.
Except for the un-weathered Accurail hopper, Mister Nutbar's CNR hoppers are lettered with C-D-S dry transfers, while the EG&E reporting marks and numbers are dry transfers from Letraset, with C-D-S dimensional data.
A couple of those three-bays are still in service on my own layout, too, although I've re-done them in the '30s paint scheme:
![[Image: Morekitbashingphotos133.jpg]](http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/doctorwayne/freight%20cars/Morekitbashingphotos133.jpg)
Wayne
I don't recall, but I think the joints are also reinforced on the inside of the cars. I made those cars because, at the time, the only three-bay hoppers available were from Roundhouse, and I didn't like the shallow hoppers under them. Except for the un-weathered Accurail hopper, Mister Nutbar's CNR hoppers are lettered with C-D-S dry transfers, while the EG&E reporting marks and numbers are dry transfers from Letraset, with C-D-S dimensional data.
A couple of those three-bays are still in service on my own layout, too, although I've re-done them in the '30s paint scheme:
Wayne