Cutting a Bachman 3 bay hopper Down to a 2 bay Hopper

[Karl Reichenbach]

Has anyone tried to do this?

I have a fleet of Bachman 3 bay hoppers and am thinking about trying this on acouple of them. I think 2 bay hoppers would look better behind my geared engines.

What do you think?

Give me your thoughts.

Karl

[John Busby]

Hi Karl
Since you asked for an answer with though that will be $2.00[:D]
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=18539
Is my concidered opinion on the right kind of ore car to go with a shay
or similar locomotive.
Probably a lot easier to do than bash about a Bachmann hopper into something suitable..
regards John

[kstrong]

It's a very simple conversion, done simply by cutting out the two centermost panels and squeezing it together. (In fact, the East Broad Top RR did just that when they built 4 two-bay cars in the early 30s. Those particular 2-bay cars are the prototpyes for Bachmann's new steel hopper, soon to be released in 1:20.3.)

But back to the fleet of 3-bay cars you have...



The hopper in the foreground has been shortened to a 2-bay car, while the original 3-bay car sits in the background. It makes for a very well-proportioned car, in my opinion.

Later,

K

[grandpopswalt]

Karl,

I've bashed several B'mann 3 bay hoppers into 2 bay units and I can tell you that it's not at all hard to do and the result is well proportioned and very pleasent to look at. The cut lines are hidden by the vertical stiffening member cast into the car's side.

As a matter of fact, since I've converted to 1:20.3 scale, I'm now going to not only shorten them but also to make them about 1/2" wider.

Go for it, you will be very pleased with the results.

Walt

[Karl Reichenbach]

Kevin and Walt,

Thanks for your anwsers. You have convinced me that I was right and this will be a winter project. I will do one and if it looks as good as Kevins, I will do them all.

Karl