Full Throttle - FT-3039-1 - Open Hopper, 2-Bay, Offset Side - Chicago & Eastern Illinois - 2-Pack

Specific Item Information: Road Numbers: C&EI 97602 & 97623

Model Information: During the first half of the 20th Century, the most common carrier for the transport of coal via rail lines was, in fact, the pervasive little 50-55 ton, twin-bay hopper. Ever-inventive engineers designed a different style of this essential hauler which became enormously popular with many Railroads by the 1930s and 40s. This "offset-side" hopper car had a few advantages over the earlier "rib-side" type. The crease in the upper sides led to more structural strength without using heavier materials, and there was a greater rated capacity with the side panels riveted to the outside of the ribbing, instead of being on the inside. The efficiency was a boon to the coal merchants! The concept proved successful, and was used to build ever-larger hoppers until after WW II, when "rivet pull-through" rendered it impractical for modern rotary dumping. Today, although they are seen less frequently, offset-side hoppers remain an important part of railroad history. Full Throttle presents a universal model of these unique hoppers.

Prototype History: The late 1920s saw the introduction of the AAR standard “offset-side” 50- and 70-ton hoppers. The design went through several variations in the late 1920s and early 1930s before settling on two versions of the 50-ton car and one 3-bay, 70-ton car in 1935. Most roads went for the AAR standard designs, but the N&W, VGN, and Pennsy were notable holdouts. World War II brought the famous “war emergency” hoppers (only the N&W and MP bought the 70-ton version) and several composite versions of existing designs. After the war, AC&F found some brief success with a welded outside-stake hopper design, but the weld joints broke under the stress of loading and unloading rather than flexing like riveted joints. The offset-side design also had problems: the inside stakes were more prone to corrosion, and they suffered worse from loading and unloading stress than outside-staked hoppers. The design waned in the 1950s and was all but abandoned for new cars by 1960. Some roads (notably the C&O, the B&O, and the L&N) made the best of a bad situation by rebuilding their offset-side cars with all new outside-staked sides in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

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!