HO Scale Arrowhead Penn Central Committee Design H39 Hopper

Arrowhead HO 1010-4 Penn Central Committee Design Hopper Penn Central PC #444399

The Committee Design Hopper Prototype

Collaboratively designed by the Chesapeake and Ohio, Pennsylvania Railroad, and the Norfolk and Western during the late 1950s, the Committee Design Hopper was to be a standardized hopper design shared between multiple railroads. The idea was simple; standardization would lead to better compatibility and efficiency.

Although the Norfolk and Western eventually backed out of the project with concerns that the cars would be too big for their needs, the Pennsylvania commenced production soon after prototypes were built, placing an order that would eventually total over 16,000 cars. Over the course of the next decade, other railroads would also join the effort, with the Denver and Rio Grande Western and the original Norfolk Southern both ordering substantial numbers for their needs.

Although its beginnings were shrouded in doubt, the type would see successful service through the mergers of the 1970s and 80s, with the last examples only reaching retirement from revenue duties in the 1990s. To this day some can still be found in non-revenue and departmental roles at various railroads across the country.

The Penn Central Committee Design Hopper Prototype

Across 15 lots and 5 builders, the PRR rostered 16,160 hoppers. These cars passed through Penn Central in massive quantities–such that: when Penn Central became Conrail in 1976, 15,087 Committee Design cars went into Conrail ownership. The magnitude of this lot was so large that Conrail abandoned early attempts to standardize around 100-ton conveyances. If you model the railroads of the Northeast from 1958 through the 1980s, the Committee Design Hopper isn’t an important hopper car–it is THE important hopper car.

The Model

Arrowhead Models is offering the Penn Central Committee Design hopper in 4 unique paint schemes–all of which are a subtle variation of the standard diagram: black cars with standard reporting marks, road numbers and PC emblem. The difference between these schemes is that they have different Hollidaysburg shop dates and small variations in the COTS, ACI and capacity data.

The Penn Central Committee Design hopper consists of 187 parts per car. We have matched the specific details of the Pullman-Standard built cars, including the obvious details, like: Miner gate appliances, Miner hand brake and brake layout, and less obvious details, like: the combination 1942-design hand brake and 1955-design brake wheel, the unique retaining and release rod configurations, and the Pullman defect card holder.No part of the design is scaled from a photograph, but from actual derived field measurements and fabrication prints.

Additional Features:

• 70 individual injection molded parts per car, including: multi-part Keystone Monoloc hopper door locks, Keystone hopper frames and gate doors, 4 piece Miner 1942 hand brakes;
• 10 individual etched brass parts per car, including: gate door L-braces, ABD valve and brake cylinder mounts;.
• 49 individual wire parts per car, including: air lines, release and retaining valve rods, grab irons, train lines, brake lever hangers and more;.
• Kadee #156 couplers are factory equipped to each model. These whisker couplers are Kadee scale head. All couplers are installed into near scale draft boxes;
• Scale Tread Wheelsets;
• Available in 14 different numbers.