Description
The AtlasO Premier 3-rail O Scale ACF 3-Bay Center-Flow Covered Hopper isbased on some of the most widely used cars in service since the late 1960s.Although covered hoppers had achieved widespread use by the 1950s, itwasn't until the following decade that they began to carry North America'sgrain harvest. Prior to the 1960s, U.S. and Canadian farmers sent theirwheat and other grains to market in 40' boxcars. Loading and unloading waslabor-intensive and time-consuming. All that changed with American Car andFoundry's (ACF's) introduction of the Center Flow covered hopper in 1961,followed the next year by Pullman-Standard's competitive PS-2CD coveredhopper. Prior to the Center Flow, the typical covered hopper was littlemore than a coal hopper with a roof. Dry products such as salt were loadedthrough roof hatches and unloaded by gravity through doors in the floor.Like most freight cars of their era, these cars had a center sill. Thissupport beam ran down the middle of the car between the left and right setsof unloading doors, and that led to problems in emptying the car. Typicallysome of the load would cake or |bridge} on the center sill, and the carwould have to be vibrated to loosen the mess and achieve full unloading. Ofcourse the vibration tended to shorten the life of the car. The CenterFlow's key innovation was the elimination of the center sill by relocatingthe car's main support beams to the bottom edge of each side. This enabledthe discharge hopper doors to be located along the centerline of the car,allowing for easier, more complete unloading. In addition, the car sideswere curved to allow for more complete filling of the car. The Center Flowwas the first larger-capacity covered hopper designed for grain andproducts of similar density. By the 1980s, ACF's Center Flow, along withcovered grain hoppers from other builders, had spelled the end of the 40'boxcar in grain service. In addition to grain, the Center Flow found workhauling a variety of other light to medium-density dry commodities,including salt, clay, chemicals, phosphates and other minerals. This modelfeatures accurate details, separately applied brake details, roller-bearingwith free-rolling metal wheelsets, fine paint, crisp lettering and knucklecouplers. Decorated in classic or later schemes, the ACF 3-Bay Center-FlowCovered Hopper can negotiate O-31 curves and is perfect for your diesel-erafreight consists. Check out the entire line of AtlasO freight cars.
