2024 Premier O Scale Fish Belly Hopper Cars Announced

February 13, 2024 - M.T.H. Electric Trains will be releasing the 2024 Premier O Scale Fish Belly Hopper Cars in five different liveries late next Summer. Each of these offerings will be available in two car numbers as well as individually numbered six-car sets. The limited production run is set to begin shipping to M.T.H. Authorized Retailers in September 2024.

Check out each of the offerings in the list on the left.

CUSTOM RUN FISH BELLY HOPPER OFFERINGS

In addition to the M.T.H. releases, you can find all the 2024 Custom Run models of the Premier O Scale Fish Belly Hopper offerings that M.T.H. is producing for M.T.H. Authorized Retailers by going HERE.

PROTOTYPE HISTORY

Unlike equipment that carried a variety of loads, like boxcars, flatcars, and gondolas, this two-bay hopper was designed specifically for one cargo: anthracite coal on railroads of the eastern seaboard. Its capacity matched the volume of coal that a pair of typical 50-ton freight trucks could carry. And its “fishbelly” slope sheets — the angled floors at either end of the car — were set at precisely the angle at which coal would flow easily from its bottom doors. (Covered grain hoppers, for example, require much steeper slope sheets.)

The two-bay car was ideal for delivery of clean-burning anthracite to coal dealers who served the home heating market. In contrast, dirtier-burning bituminous coal, used more commonly by large industrial customers, often traveled in bigger three- and four-bay hoppers.

Check out each of the offerings in the list on the left.