Model Railroading > Prairie Shadows FURX Trenton Ghost Pool 5250 Hopper [HO Scale]

Here is a recently completed model from the latest run of Trenton 5250 Hoppers from Prairie Shadows Model Railway Co. These are excellent cars with great piping detail. I have been trending away from the big manufacturers and trying out some of the lesser known brands to create some variation. This is one of the FURX Ghost-Pool hoppers as I have seen on unit grain trains deparing westbound down the Feather River Canyon from Portola, CA. 

While I am not a huge fan of graffiti, these cars always have some version of 'art' or tagged on the sides. Being a relatively plain gray hopper I figured this would be a good standout in a unit grain train. Weathering was done with a mix of powders and airbrushing. Based on prototype photos each hopper bay has either been replaced or at least repainted in later years. I chose to carefully mask and paint the bottom doors with a light gray to simulate that detail. To get the "rain" effect on the grime I dust the car with a heavy coat of powder and use a soft paper towel dipped in soapy water to create the streak effect. Rust streaking was done with a mix of hand-painting and powder as well. 

Thanks for looking, feedback is always appreciated. Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions regarding the weathering process. 

 

Alex Wilson
Castro Valley, CA
ApproachAspect's Flickr Photos

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Alex - it's  what we live with today, sadly
Job well done !
is this a new company ?
 

original Wrote:
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> Alex - it's  what we live with today, sadly
> Job well done !
> is this a new company ?
>  

Yes, pretty much every car I see nowadays unless brand new has been tagged. Cars in unit trains tend to avoid the 'additional paint' however! According to the Prairie Shadows website they are based in East St. Paul, Manitoba, Canada. I believe they are a very new company, they are currently offering what appears to be mid-90s to present-day rolling stock and locomotives. Of note they are offering some pretty nifty looking rolling stock though most items are pre-order as of now. 

Thanks for the feedback! 

Alex Wilson
Castro Valley, CA
ApproachAspect's Flickr Photos

Really nicely done, particularly the streaking (which is tricky to do right).

original Wrote:
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> is this a new company ?

Prairie Shadows have been around for years, he's ran a fair amount of N scale. Haven't paid much attention to the HO end except to be dimly aware that it exists.

Looks fabulous. I don't think I've seen POOL hoppers like that out on the East Coast but perhaps they migrate here as well.

TT Wrote:
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> Really nicely done, particularly the streaking
> (which is tricky to do right).


I agree, the streaking is spot on.

Nice work Alex! Keep those hits coming. Enjoy your work sir...
Dave

callen77 Wrote:
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> Looks fabulous. I don't think I've seen POOL
> hoppers like that out on the East Coast but
> perhaps they migrate here as well.

They're relatively easy to spot in a unit train since the bottom sill and three ribs along the top of the hopper are noticeably thicker compared to the more common Trinity Ind. cars on today's unit trains. These details give the appearance of making the car look shorter and this is what caught my eye when first seeing one, along with the unique logo. I believe they have since been sublettered for FURX, CEFX, NKLX and SMW to name a few. CN also has (or had) a good fleet. In some cases while researching prototype photos I found the logo had been quickly patched out on some cars.

Here's a good article on the model with some background:

Prairie Shadows to Offer Trenton 5250 Covered Hoppers in HO

Alex Wilson
Castro Valley, CA
ApproachAspect's Flickr Photos

Excellent job weathering the hopper! Here's one you can use if you plan on doing any more of the POOL hoppers. Caught this one May 17th on the CSX CE&D sub near Vincennes, IN.

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CSX2605 Wrote:
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> Excellent job weathering the hopper! Here's one
> you can use if you plan on doing any more of the
> POOL hoppers. Caught this one May 17th on the CSX
> CE&D sub near Vincennes, IN.

Thank you for the photo! Seems pretty spot on to the weathering job I did. Apologies for the late reply, for some reason I'm not getting emails about updates to this post...

Alex Wilson
Castro Valley, CA
ApproachAspect's Flickr Photos