Full Throttle - FT-2003-1 - Open Hopper, 2-Bay, Rib Side - Chicago & Eastern Illinois - 2-Pack

Specific Item Information: C&EI 97260 & 97273

Model Information: Some of the most common cars to ride American railroad tracks during the 20th Century, the small, steel-paneled, rib-side, two-bay hoppers were instrumental to the growth of our nation. During the Industrial Age of the USA, coal was King and our appetite for "black diamonds" was sated by these pert little dumpsters. An improvement over drop-bottom gondolas, the self-emptying, gravity-release hopper car became reality during the early 1900s, and fed the fires of our burgeoning economy until well after mid-century. While no longer used for large commercial hauling, these mighty-mites are all-pervasive and found on short-lines still lugging coal, gravel, ore, sand, glass and a variety of bulk materials—an invaluable workhorse even for our contemporary railroads. For your Z Scale enjoyment, Full Throttle presents a universal model of these small omnipresent twin-bay hoppers.

Prototype History: The open hopper is an evolution of the gondola, a simple freight car used for the transportation of various materials without and facility for protection from the elements. The hopper had higher sides than the gondola and possessed a mechanism on the bottom (bay doors) for discharging the load.

2-Bay ribside coal hoppers were in common use in the first half of the 20th century. The ribbed sides added stability so the loads would not bow out the side of the hoppers. Steel was in plentiful supply after the second world wars and these cars were pretty much everywhere coal was being produced or consumed.

Road Name History: The Chicago & Eastern Illinois was formed in 1877 as a result of the reorganization of the Chicago Danville & Vincennes. By 1902 the C&EI ran south out of Chicago and split into three routes south of Danville, Illinois.

The eastern fork followed the Indiana-Illinois border (on the Indiana side) south to Evansville near the Kentucky border. At Evansville, traffic was primarily handed off to Louisville & Nashville for points in the South. This route saw the lion’s share of C&EI’s passenger business. In fact, many Chicago to Florida passenger limiteds traveled the C&EI from Chicago to Evansville. The Dixie Flagler, for instance, was routed: C&EI, Louisville & Nashville, Nashville Chattanooga & St. Louis, Atlanta Birmingham & Coast, Atlantic Coast Line, and Florida East Coast to get to Miami.

The center fork passed through Salem and Mount Vernon to the southern tip of Illinois, over the Thebes Bridge to Chaffee, Missouri and friendly connections with Cotton Belt, Frisco, and MoPac. This line generated considerable coal traffic in addition to through freight from Chicago to Louisiana and East Texas. Passenger service was provided by The Meadowlark. In later years this train used ACF Motorailers and later still, Budd RDC’s.

The western fork went to St. Louis. However the line from Pana, Illinois to St. Louis was actually on trackage rights with New York Central’s “Big Four” route. Passenger service on this line ended right after WWII due to unbeatable competition from GM&O, IC, and Wabash.

Total system mileage maxed out at about 950, putting C&EI between Lackawanna and Montana Rail Link in relative size. Prior to 1933, C&EI had been controlled by Frisco, then Chesapeake & Ohio (on behalf of the Van Sweringen Brothers.) That year brought another receivership but freed them from control by other lines for more than three decades.

In the 1960s, Louisville & Nashville, Illinois Central and Missouri Pacific dueled for control of the C&EI. In 1967, a compromise was reached. MoPac took control of the C&EI and sold the Evansville line and half interest in the line from Danville to Chicago to the L&N. L&N also received portions of the C&EI diesel and freight car fleets and most of the remaining passenger equipment. The sales to L&N were completed in 1969.

The remaining C&EI diesels were painted MoPac “Jenks Blue” and received buzzsaw logos with “C&EI” within. In 1976, the C&EI was merged into the Missouri Pacific.

Brand/Importer Information: Greetings, I'm Will, a Fine Arts graduate of Kutztown University in Pennsylvania who grew up in the Delaware Valley. I worked for 30 years with the Pennsylvania German Folklife Society. For ten years I had a permanent booth, each month showing my "PA Dutch" wares, at the country's largest under-roof Antique Market in Atlanta, GA. When Mom and Dad started to have health issues, I was forced to give up the nomadic life, but during my travels I came to love Z Scale Model Railroading, as I could easily take small layouts with me to the motels and play with my trains in the evenings!
Now that Mom and Dad are gone, and after many years of providing care for my "Pappy" in Florida, I find myself a homebody in the "Sunshine State" with a neat little business, supplying interested Z hobbyists with rolling stock and unique quality products!