The Illinois Central HO scale hopper car kits are back in production. Thanks for your patience while we ironed out some production difficulties.
If you have kits on order, we’ll be shipping those first. Check out the web page for all the info. These hopper kits are $36 each, plus shipping. Decals are included. Please use the link on the web page to place your order.
And don’t forget our new boiler load and grain bin castings! These have been selling well but won’t be available forever. The boilers are shipped two per kit, while four grain bins are in a kit. More details on our website.
Thanks to all of you have have supported Resin Car Works. We have a great model in the works that many have been requesting. More details soon!
Frank
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Due to issues with the casting process, the Illinois Central, Enterprise Design, offset side twin hopper has been removed from the kit page and is no longer available. We are working at resolving this, but there is no schedule as to when the kits will be available again, if ever.
If you’ve ordered the car and would like your check returned please let us know through the Resin Car Works email. Otherwise we will hold your check for a month or so until it’s determined if this kit can be saved. If it can’t run the kit again, your check will be returned.
Resin Car Works announces their second freight car kit, an Illinois Central, Enterprise design, 33-foot, offset-side, twin hopper. From 1937 to 1949, 12,000 of these offset-side twin hoppers were manufactured for the Illinois Central by a variety of builders, including the railroad itself.
These are fleet builder kits with cast on grab irons to minimize the time and effort to get these models into service on your railroad. The kits are $36, plus shipping. Trucks and couplers are not included. A United States Army version is also available. Visit the Resin Car Works website for more details.
There was some recent discussion on the STMFC YahooGroups list concerning the likes and dislikes of cast on grab irons on resin freight car kits. The March 2015 issue of Model Railroad Hobbyist mentioned in their news section that one of the future kits being considered by Resin Car Works (RCW) is an Illinois Central Twin Hopper with cast on grabs. One of my goals with RCW is to simplify the construction of resin freight cars to lower the cost and to make it possible for large fleets of such cars to be constructed. There are many freight car prototypes that won’t be made in plastic as the sales aren’t enough to recoup the cost of development and production. The only other economical means to produce such cars is with low production, low development cost, rubber molds and resin castings.
Illinois Central prototype hopper image.
One of these cars is the Enterprise offset side twin hopper that was owned in large numbers by the Illinois Central. As a mid-fifties modeler whose layout is set in Central Illinois I need dozens of these IC hoppers for operations. I also have several friends that need dozens of these cars. My operations are based on coal mines around Taylorville with the coal being moved to dumpers at Havana Illinois. Click on any image here to review a large size.
CI&M rail-river transfer facility.
These dumpers had a capacity larger then what the home road could supply so coal in other roads hoppers would be seen at this site. The two largest numbers of foreign road cars were from the New York Central and IC. If you look closely at the second photo you’ll notice a long string of NYC hoppers.
CI&M transfer yard.
To have a large number of IC hoppers on any layout, the construction had to be simplified which the cast on grabs has done. As RCW is a basement type businesses very short on available time, the choice was been made to issue only one kit with the cast on grabs. Those modelers who only desire one or two of these kits can easily remove the grabs just like on a plastic kit.
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