InterMountain - 669008-05 - Covered Hopper, 2-Bay, Trinity 3281 - Iowa Chicago & Eastern - 10157

Prototype History: The Trinity 3281 2-bay covered hopper car is optimized to transport cement, sand, or other high-density products. Built especially to handle heavier materials, they're often seen in unit trains moving loads of fracturing sand to new oil fields. These cars were introduced in the 1990s with seven side panels (two narrow and five large), they can also be found moving cement, bentonite and other heavier cargoes. These cars are distinctive in comparison to older 2-bay covered hopper designs thanks to their overhanging, arched roof profile, heavy top reinforcement chord, and folded jack pads at the bolsters. This design has proven to be popular with shippers and railroads alike, and can be seen traveling singly in manifest trains, in large groups, and even in “unit trains” hauling a single commodity.

Road Name History: The IC&E first appeared in 2002 when Washington Corp and Canadian Pacific sold the I&M Rail Link to a subsidiary of the Dakota Minnesota & Eastern. Like its predecessor, the 1,385 mile line was Y shaped with Chicago at the base, Kansas City on the southwestern leg and the Twin Cities on the northwestern leg. There were also 7 major branches, mostly on the northwestern leg in Iowa.

The 83 unit IC&E diesel fleet consisted of: 7 GP9’s 10 GP40-2’s 3 SD40-3’s 63 SD40-2’s

The official paint scheme was the same blue and yellow used on parent DM&E but with the IC&E name on the hood.

Where I&M Rail Link had earned less than stellar income from these lines, the Iowa Chicago & Eastern was quite successful. Parent DM&E began making noises about building into the Powder River Basin. This got the attention of Canadian Pacific who in 2007, offered to buy the DM&E and the IC&E. In 2008, the acquisition was approved. Later that year, with both lines now subsidiaries of Canadian Pacific, the Iowa Chicago & Eastern was merged into the Dakota Minnesota & Eastern. As you may remember, IC&E predecessor I&M Rail Link started as a spin-off of Canadian Pacific. So CP bought lines in 2008 at a premium price that it was happy to be rid of eleven years before.

Brand/Importer Information: InterMountain was founded in 1985 by Fred Brummet. They got started in the model railroad business by producing O-Scale model kits. They got started in the N Scale business almost a decade later when in 1994 they introduced the 40-23 reefer car in kit form. Later, in 1998, they started producing RTR (Ready-to-Run) models. By the early 2000s, InterMountain phased out kit production in favor of the RTR models.

The InterMountain Railway company is located at 1224 Boston Ave in Longmont, CO. They are a manufacturer of HO, N and Z scale model trains. They have produced kits as well as RTR (Ready-To-Run) models. Their N Scale products include locomotives as well as rolling stock. Their rolling stock lineup includes Boxcars, Hoppers, Tank Cars, Reefers, Gondolas, Stock Cars and Flatcars.

Their locomotive releases have primarily been diesel units, with the one major exception being their series of AC-12 Cab Forward steam locos. Their diesel lineup includes F3's, F7's, F9's, SD40's, SD45's and FT units. They are known for quality and detail. They also release their rolling stock in larger varieties of road numbers than most of the other manufacturers.