Fox Valley - 8318-09 - Open Hopper, 5-Bay Trinity RD IV - Texas Utilities - 990476

Model Information: This Fox Valley model was actually designed by Fox Valley and not acquired from another vendor such as their 5-Bay Ortner model. It is an excellent model; it has good detail and excellent printing. The body mount couplers and high quality chemically blackened low-profile wheels are both nice features. Also, as expected, they have the world-class Fox Valley blackened metal wheels, known to have accurate proportions as well as running smoothly and relatively quietly.

The one thing they got wrong is the cheesy load. It looks like they studied the loads from the Red Caboose/Precision Masters models that they acquired and decided "well if modelers will settle for that, I guess we don't need to work very hard to make something better". And that is what they got - something that is not better, but should be. Fortunately with a little patience you can remove the factory loads and put your own in. They are not glued in.

Prototype History: The 1960s brought about a growth in car size (and capacity). Railroads that transported coal moved away from the older 2-bay 55-ton USRA standard to newer railcars. The Trinity RD IV (or RD-4) has a 4200 cubic foot capacity and is principally used for coal. They are 53 foot 1inches long. And have been used by power plants as well as commercial railroads. The cars are recognizable from their alternating six-thin-and-five-thick exterior post pattern. Information about this railcar can be found in the Simmons-Boardman 1997 Car & Locomotive Cyclopedia.

Road Name History: TXU operates two railroads in the Lone Star State. Both were built in the 1970s to move lignite (a.k.a. brown coal) from mines to nearby power stations. Both were built as electric railroads with a fleet of seven GE E25B electric locomotives split between the two operations.

The Monticello plant is located near Mt. Pleasant in northeast Texas. They connect with Kansas City Southern just south of the plant and with Union Pacific north of the plant at Winfield. At first, they moved only lignite from a mine just south of Winfield. Then flux stone for the scrubbers and then ash was added to the traffic mix. In 1996, they began to receive Powder River Basin coal from their connection at Winfield (Southern Pacific at the time.) Then KCS began delivering lignite from mines near Sulphur Springs, Texas. While unit trains from SP (later UP) ran straight through to the power plant, KCS lignite trains were interchanged to TXU and hauled to the plant by TXU locomotives. Later TXU acquired a pair of U23B diesels to work the line followed by at least one SD50.

The other TXU operation can be found at Martin Lake in East Texas (not far from Longview.) They connect with BNSF just south of Tatum and connect the power station at Martin Lake with a lignite loader at Oak Hill and mines in Beckville. In 1999, they began receiving Powder River coal unit trains from BNSF. They also receive the occasional stone train for the scrubbers. The stone trains originate in Cliffstone, Texas. The trains from BNSF run through with BNSF power. In 1999, the E25B’s received some help in the form of a trio of E60C’s from NdeM’s abandoned electrification project.

Brand/Importer Information: Fox Valley Models is a small supplier of model railroad and related products. FVM started by finding solutions to different challenges that model railroaders were faced with. Our first products resulted from a need to equip custom built passenger cars with tinted windows made of an ideal material; thin, flexible, easy to cut, simple to install, available in multiple colors and be affordable. We met those needs and even included a frosted version for the car's lavatory windows.

Other challenges inspired additional products including wooden grade crossings, trestles and different lineside structures. As our product line expands, input and requests from friends and customers help shape the product selection further.

Future products, under development, include more parts, structures, details and rolling stock. We strive to offer a good quality product at an affordable price.