Lite and Narrow Column - 4
For those of you modeling turn-of-the-century equipment in
either standard or narrow gauge, this would be an excellent
car for you to roster, as it was a standard design that many rail-
roads used. However, modeling the 10-ton cars can be easy or
difficult, depending on your scale. In O scale, David Crement
has the car as a resin kit and will make them available if there is
enough demand. Contact him at
These cars
are also very good, because of their size for On30. In HO scale,
there was a wood model of the car available from Quality
Craft/Gloor Craft, but they are no longer available and are very
hard to find. Another car that was on the market was the Red
Ball metal version of the car, but again it is very hard to find.
Funaro and Camerlengo offers the car in HOn3 and HOn30 in
a two-pack. This is a flat resin kit but is easy to assemble. For
4
4. Hopper number 523 is an example of the 15-ton
cars used on the East Broad Top. This is an On3
model by David Crement. David Crement photo.
those of you wishing to scratchbuild the car, an excellent set of
plans for #346 were drawn by John Robinson, and published in
March/April, 1979
Narrow Gauge and Shortline Gazette
(now
out of print). Copies of the plans are available from the NMRA
library for nominal fee.
The modern era
The Hancock and Calumet cars
In 1902, the East Broad Top made its first and only venture into
the used freight car arena when they purchased 40 hopper cars
from the Hancock and Calumet Railroad. The railroad was one
of several narrow gauge shortlines serving the copper mines
in the upper peninsula of Michigan. The most famous of these
was the Quincy and Torch Lake. The Duluth, South Shore and
5
5. Red Ball hopper similar to the Billmeyer and Smalls
hopper used on the East Broad Top in service at coke
ovens on my layout.
MRH-Dec 2014
