Grain Hopper
- Thread starter aburns11
- Start date
Check here: http://www.imrcmodels.com/n/nhoppers.htm
Thanks, that's an excellent website! Just out of curiosity though, are plastic hoppers ever used for grain in the industry, or not. Also, are there any site with more information about the grain industry and modeling it? I'm pretty new to modeling and would like to start by modeling a small grain operation.
macjet
Member
I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm wrong but plastics are usually of a larger cubic capacity. The grain is heavier and would max out on weight before cubes. That would be a waste of volume and tare weight. I believe the largest grain hoppers are of the 5160 Trinity type. 4000, 4427, 4650, and 4740 seem to be the most common for grain for what I know.
Jim will likely straighten us both out.
Jim will likely straighten us both out.
LOL, don't I wish I was that all-knowing. 
However, Mac is basically right. There are small medium, and jumbo hoppers. Small hoppers carry the highest density loads like cement and potash and often have pressure differential shells to aid unloading since the cargo is sticky. Medium hoppers are most often seen in grain service but we're talking about newly harvested "green" grain. This is still a fairly dense load but not as heavy as cement. Some of the same type of cars carry plastic pellets but the loading and discharge chutes are different. The jumbo hoppers usually carry plastic pellets and distillers’ dried grains (DDG), which is used for ethanol production. These are the least dense loads so a larger cubic capacity car can be used and still stay within plate and tare limits.
There are tons of grain hoppers out there in all scales. As a general rule (and I know there are many exceptions), hoppers with rounded sides carried plastic pellets or grain. Medium sized hopper cars with square sides and large discharge chutes are almost 100% grain cars. While a hopper in plastics service can haul grain, it would never happen in practice. Plastic pellet cars have a special lining to make the pellets flow easily when being unloaded and grain would damage the lining. The loading and discharge chute paterns are also completely different so that wouldn't work too well at the grain elevator or the end user's factory. Until very recently, it was common to run out of grain hoppers during the rush season, especially in Canada. Many railroads converted 40 foot boxcars to carry grain. It was loaded by a conveyor with the grain held back by heavy paper temporary stops across the doors. When it got to the customer destination, the paper door was cut and out came the grain, followed by a lot of shoveling to remove the last of it. Not ideal but it worked for many years.
However, Mac is basically right. There are small medium, and jumbo hoppers. Small hoppers carry the highest density loads like cement and potash and often have pressure differential shells to aid unloading since the cargo is sticky. Medium hoppers are most often seen in grain service but we're talking about newly harvested "green" grain. This is still a fairly dense load but not as heavy as cement. Some of the same type of cars carry plastic pellets but the loading and discharge chutes are different. The jumbo hoppers usually carry plastic pellets and distillers’ dried grains (DDG), which is used for ethanol production. These are the least dense loads so a larger cubic capacity car can be used and still stay within plate and tare limits. There are tons of grain hoppers out there in all scales. As a general rule (and I know there are many exceptions), hoppers with rounded sides carried plastic pellets or grain. Medium sized hopper cars with square sides and large discharge chutes are almost 100% grain cars. While a hopper in plastics service can haul grain, it would never happen in practice. Plastic pellet cars have a special lining to make the pellets flow easily when being unloaded and grain would damage the lining. The loading and discharge chute paterns are also completely different so that wouldn't work too well at the grain elevator or the end user's factory. Until very recently, it was common to run out of grain hoppers during the rush season, especially in Canada. Many railroads converted 40 foot boxcars to carry grain. It was loaded by a conveyor with the grain held back by heavy paper temporary stops across the doors. When it got to the customer destination, the paper door was cut and out came the grain, followed by a lot of shoveling to remove the last of it. Not ideal but it worked for many years.
kenw
5th Generation Texian
In Houston, if it is outbound, it's probably plastics, inbound is grain (to the port).....but that's not real reliable...
a more accurate distinction is the roof hatches: long, skinny trough (say "troff") hatches are preferred for grain, round hatches for plastics.
the sides being straight or rounded are more a distinction of the builder, Pullman Standard (PS) building most of the straight or ribbed side hoppers and ACF or Trinity building the rounded or "center flow" types. I've seen most commodities carried in either.
a more accurate distinction is the roof hatches: long, skinny trough (say "troff") hatches are preferred for grain, round hatches for plastics.
the sides being straight or rounded are more a distinction of the builder, Pullman Standard (PS) building most of the straight or ribbed side hoppers and ACF or Trinity building the rounded or "center flow" types. I've seen most commodities carried in either.
