Non-Rotary coal cars... what are used today?

[Anonymous]

I'm going to have a mix of rotary and bottom dump coal cars on my layout, and I was wondering size and model cars are being used today? How many bays, length, etc.

I see a bunch of RD4's on ebay, but I don't know if they would still be on the road today or not.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

RD4's are still fairly new. C&NW had some of the first ones built which arrived around 1994. They are still in service all over the place. They are also both bottom dump and rotary. They aren't being built now but have been succeded by the RD5 and now the RD6 from Trinity. http://www.trinityrailcar.com/railcars/index.html
Bethgon models from Walthers and Athearn are good for cars used anytime during the past 10-15 years with only the paint schemes determining the correct dates they went into use. Those and the RD4's are good models for modern service.

[Anonymous]

Bethgon's are rotary only though, right?

[Andy940CW]

Yes. NS even retrofitted some of the older bottom dumps to be rotary. They look like a bethgon, but say TOP-GON up towards the top.

[Anonymous]

For the most part, they dont use bottom drop coal cars much... at least around here in Northern New Mexico and Arizona from what Ive seen. Every coal train that I have worked on is using rotary cars.

[ramoutandabout]

i'll put my two sense in. i work for the power company in Fremont Ne. we use bottom dump cars , usually 2 or 3 trains a month. help that hopes a bit. Ohh yea fremont has a pop of about 25,000. right on the UP mainline to north platte

ray

[Anonymous]

I've been seeing alot more rotary dump cars out this way, going to the coal fired plants out near Augusta and Eatonton, GA in the past year or so, but I still see quite a few bottom dump on the same line. I'd say we probably get about two coal trains a week, and of that, at least one is all rotary.

For my layout, I'm going to run a mixture of rotary unit trains and RD4 bottom dump cars. Right now the plan is to have rotary's shipped offline, and the RD4's going to the power plant on my layout, unless I can swing a good deal on the Walther's Rotary Dumper on ebay.

[Anonymous]

i row near CSX tracks on the Anacostia river in Washington DC...all I see are bottom-dump cars. And there are two power plants(coal) nearby.

[NSlover92]

Yeah I see alot of those NS TOP-GON's I live near Sandusky most of them are going to the Sandusky Coal Docks.