Full Throttle - FT-2031-1 - Open Hopper, 2-Bay, Rib Side - Waddell Coal Mining - 101

Specific Item Information: The FT-COL19 Collector Set includes four twin-bay rib-side hoppers, each with a different road number: WDLX 101, 102, 103 and 104.

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 Waddell Breaker, or Waddell Coal Mining Co. was put in operation in the late 1800’s. It was originally serviced by the O&W railroad. Sometime in the early 1900s, the breaker was rebuilt as a wet coal preparation plant. Although the breaker was destroyed by fire in the 1963, the machinery was salvaged inside the framework and continued to process coal up until the end of the 1980’s under the name American Silt Co. The breaker was owned by Pete Brojack, and sometimes referred to as the Brojack Breaker. A unique aspect of the operation was in the 1950s the O&W dedicated 5 specially painted hopper cars to be used in service taking coal from the Waddell breaker to the Keyser Valley Coal Pockets, at 1500 N Keyser Ave, Scranton, where the cars would be used as bins to hold coal for filling of delivery trucks. The cars were painted in a brilliant bright orange scheme as a billboard advertisement for the Waddell Coal brand. These cars were never taken out on the mainline and remained in use only on the Capouse branch traveling from Keyser Ave to Winton. When the O&W folded, the Erie Lackawanna Railroad briefly took over rail traffic but soon the line was abandoned and pulled up. The Waddell cars were stranded at Keyser Ave, and continued to be used as coal pockets, being filled from behind using trucks. At some point the coal dealer closed, these cars were scrapped and RJ Walker built on the site. Remains of the Waddell Breaker, out buildings, and miscellaneous mine equipment on site were finally scrapped and an old shaft used for pumping water for the breaker was filled in the summer of 2003. One of the last things to be scrapped was an old Erie Lackawanna Hopper car stranded at the breaker site.

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!