Full Throttle - FT-1021-2 - Covered Hopper, 3-Bay, Cylindrical - Pillsbury - 2-Pack

Specific Item Information: Road Numbers: EEC 61959 & 61982

Model Information: After WWII, US railroads were increasingly called upon to haul new and unique "modern" products over long distances. In response, American Car and Foundry (ACF) designed a tank-type covered hopper car. The cylindrical shape created a better weight/volume ratio; plus, the elimination of interior ledges, combined with hatches and outlets placed along a center-line, led to ACF's trademark "Center Flow" hoppers. Through the 1960s the Cylindricals became omnipresent on our nation's railroads, with many styles of hatches and outlets devised according to needs. Because the cars were compartmented, various different loads could be carried in a single unit, and some had aluminum construction to further reduce weight. Here was a "Freight Car for the Future," ready to transport sugar, cement, sand, salt, fertilizers, many types of grains, coke, starch, feeds, chemicals and plastics!

Prototype History: ACF introduced their roundish cylindrical hoppers in the early 1960s. The cars differed greatly from the ribbed sided hoppers of the era. They have been made in 3-bay and 6-bay variations. These cylindrical hoppers were superseded on ACF’s production line by the Centerflow in 1964, a revolutionary design that influenced later covered hopper types. In the late 60s or early 70s Canada came out with 4-bay covered hoppers that appear to be derived from ACF’s pre-Centerflow cylindrical hoppers. These cars were used by CN, CP and various smaller Canadian shippers. There is some question as to why the Canadian builder based their design off the older cylindrical and not ACF’s newer Centerflow. It was likely a patent issue and copying it could have triggered legal action against the Canadian builders. There are also certain structural design differences between the cylindrical and centerflow cars and perhaps the decision to copy the cylindrical was based on the greater volume capacity of the cylindrical design.

Road Name History: Pillsbury is an American brand name used by Minneapolis-based General Mills and Orrville, Ohio-based J.M. Smucker Company. Historically, the Pillsbury Company, also based in Minneapolis, was a rival company to General Mills and was one of the world's largest producers of grain and other foodstuffs until it was bought out by General Mills in 2001. Antitrust law required General Mills to sell off some of the products. General Mills kept the rights to refrigerated and frozen Pillsbury products, while dry baking products and frosting are now sold by Smucker under license.

C.A. Pillsbury and Company was founded in 1872 by Charles Alfred Pillsbury and his uncle John S. Pillsbury. The company was second only to Washburn-Crosby to use steel rollers for processing grain in the United States. The finished product required transportation, so the Pillsburys assisted in funding railroad development in Minnesota.

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!