Full Throttle - FT-4022-1 - Open Hopper, 3-Bay, 70 Ton Offset - Family Lines - 2-Pack

Specific Item Information: Road Numbers: SCL 163003 & 163018

Model Information: To satisfy America's industrial hunger for coal, 70-ton hoppers were ushered into service by the 1920s. As with the smaller 50-tonners, the economical offset-side design was adapted to these larger capacity units. By the mid-1930s an AAR "standard" 70-ton offset-side hopper car was developed. After the steel shortages caused by WWII, this large smooth-side version blossomed; however, certain inherent problems became apparent. The inside ribs or stakes were more prone to corrosion than with their construction on the outside, and they suffered more damage from coal being loaded directly onto them. The offset-side concept dwindled during the 1950s, and by the 60s was all but abandoned for new cars built afterwards. The late 20th Century saw the advent of modern rotary dumping and other railroad improvements which led to even larger coalers without a need to employ hopper bottoms.

Prototype History: 70 ton 3-bay offset side hoppers first appeared in the late 20s and by the late 30s had become an AAR standard design with cars being delivered from a number of builders in large quantities to railroads across the country. The last of these cars were delivered in the mid-'60s and many remained in service through the 80s.

Road Name History: To be truthful the Family Lines System was never actually an operating railroad, it was merely a marketing tactic which brought together the allying lines of the Louisville & Nashville, Clinchfield, Seaboard Coast Line, and a number of other smaller road (such as the Georgia Railroad, Atlanta & West Point Railroad, and Western Railway of Alabama otherwise referred to as the West Point Route). With this came a new livery (not unlike the later Seaboard scheme) applied to all with sub-lettering stenciled under locomotive cabs identifying the specific company. This marketing scheme was also short-lived, lasting only from 1972 until 1982 when these railroads merged together formally to create the Seaboard System (itself operating for only a few years).

The three main components of the System were the L&N, Clinchfield, and SCL. The L&N (the first component) was a railroad synonymous with the southern states; it served major cities from New Orleans and Memphis to St. Louis, Atlanta, and later Chicago. The L&N is also one of the few classic fallen flags to never have had its original chartered name change at any point throughout its history, serving its home state and the southeast for over 120 years. As the L&N itself disappeared into the Seaboard System in 1982 just a few years later the Seaboard itself would disappear into CSX Transportation.

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!