InterMountain - 619000 - Covered Hopper, 2-Bay, Trinity 3281 - Undecorated

Prototype History: The Trinity 3281 2-bay covered hopper car is optimized to transport cement, sand, or other high-density products. Built especially to handle heavier materials, they're often seen in unit trains moving loads of fracturing sand to new oil fields. These cars were introduced in the 1990s with seven side panels (two narrow and five large), they can also be found moving cement, bentonite and other heavier cargoes. These cars are distinctive in comparison to older 2-bay covered hopper designs thanks to their overhanging, arched roof profile, heavy top reinforcement chord, and folded jack pads at the bolsters. This design has proven to be popular with shippers and railroads alike, and can be seen traveling singly in manifest trains, in large groups, and even in “unit trains” hauling a single commodity.

Road Name History: Although they may be molded in color, unpainted and unlettered, undecorated products are marketed to modelers who seek to custom decorate their models for private roads and/or road and/or company names that were not commercially produced by any of the major manufacturers.

Undecorated models are frequently also unassembled or only partially assembled and required modelers to be comfortable with glue, paint and sometimes solder in order to prepare their models for display. Materials for these models can vary but often include plastic, pewter and resin. Models may or may not come with decals or other decorations such as plastic signage, railings and ladders to enhance the appearance of the final product.

Brand/Importer Information: InterMountain was founded in 1985 by Fred Brummet. They got started in the model railroad business by producing O-Scale model kits. They got started in the N Scale business almost a decade later when in 1994 they introduced the 40-23 reefer car in kit form. Later, in 1998, they started producing RTR (Ready-to-Run) models. By the early 2000s, InterMountain phased out kit production in favor of the RTR models.

The InterMountain Railway company is located at 1224 Boston Ave in Longmont, CO. They are a manufacturer of HO, N and Z scale model trains. They have produced kits as well as RTR (Ready-To-Run) models. Their N Scale products include locomotives as well as rolling stock. Their rolling stock lineup includes Boxcars, Hoppers, Tank Cars, Reefers, Gondolas, Stock Cars and Flatcars.

Their locomotive releases have primarily been diesel units, with the one major exception being their series of AC-12 Cab Forward steam locos. Their diesel lineup includes F3's, F7's, F9's, SD40's, SD45's and FT units. They are known for quality and detail. They also release their rolling stock in larger varieties of road numbers than most of the other manufacturers.