Castings! Part VII, the Graceline Hopper Car
The final model of this project has been completed in two versions, standard and open versions of the Graceline quad hopper.
In Part V of the series, the cars are seen before painting and lacking some details. Digging around, I realized I had a nearly complete original Graceline hopper with the card sides, so I completed it with the two I made. 6031, in the back, is the original model, 6035 is mine built with an original wood block body, and 6037 is all my parts, built up as open.
After some struggle for a paint scheme I lettered these in a simple scheme for my Orient, with the idea that they are old cars being used as ballast hoppers. The loads are simply sheets of sandpaper cut to size and fit down in the car, a trick I saw on some hoppers that had been on the layout of Fred Schorr. The open car is nearly empty as modeled, and the other two as full as they would ever be, with ballast being heavier than coal. Note I added decals that indicate how full they can be at maximum.
The most notable car of the group is the open one. The original Graceline model was not an open car, it was always to be built loaded, using a wood block sub-body as the sides were cardboard and needed the support. The open car is striking to see. It was a bit of a challenge to glue together solidly due to likely some residue of mold release. I did my best to scrub it off but perhaps should have invested in a specialty product to remove it. If I build more of these I likely will investigate that further.
The trucks are all mixtures of original Graceline parts and reproduction parts. They took a lot of effort, and are somewhat overscale (wheelbase too long), but operate great.
As to a final comparison, I have to admit the original car looks a bit better than my reproductions, the rivets are sharper, but I think all are good enough to be suited to the layout in a work train context which was my goal.
I started this particular project as I had the side mold that Temple Nieter had made, and also had six of the wood block bodies. I will make enough parts to make all the wood block bodies up into complete kits, and will also make a few more sets of the open cars while I’m at it. As I don’t model a coal road, I don’t much need more than three, but if anyone out there wants a kit or three do feel free to ask.