Athearn 98496 HO 5-Bay Rapid Discharge Hopper HLMX #659

Detailed Information PROTOTYPE AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION : The unit train concept was pioneered by Ortner Freight Car Co. in 1960 as an effort to streamline bulk cargo unloading. Robert Ortner, developer of the rapid-discharge door system, targeted unloading a train of rapid discharge cars in 30 minutes to an hour. Previously this same task would take four hours or longer. Unit trains shuttle back and forth between mines and power plants eliminating dwell time in yards. The concept has become ubiquitous to the modern railroading scene. In more recent years many of these cars have been converted to sugar beet hauling service and had capacity extensions installed. MODEL FEATURES: Removable load Highly-detailed, injection-molded body Separately applied brake wheel Body mounted McHenry operating scale knuckle couplers Minimum radius: 18” Machined metal wheels with RP25 contours operate on all popular brands of track IPSX, OMAX, and SMEX are coal service cars. CBNS, HLMX, and ITGX are sugar beet service cars Sugar beet service cars will include newly-developed etched upper extensions included in poly bag Decorated models fully-assembled and ready to run out of the box Separately applied wire grab irons on side ladders Weighted for trouble-free operation Replacement parts available All 5 packs come with unique road numbers