CNW hoppers

[Seanthehack]

I am wondering if the Chicago and Northwestern ever had fisbelly hoppers on its roste?. If so, were can I find pictures of them?

[orsonroy]

According to the NEB&W website, no. Fishbelly twins like the Stewart kit are almost wholly an eastern anthracite car, the main exception being the Cambria & Indiana. According to their page for this sort of car (http://railroad.union.rpi.edu/rolling-stock/Hoppers/95-2-Hoppers-fishbelly-side-types.asp) the roads that owned this type of car include the RDG, D&H, LV, CNJ, N&W, B&O, C&O, ACY, ACL, C&I, NS (the original NS), WM and Berwind Coal.

In digging through the NEB&W site, I could find NO references to the C&NW owning ANY rib sided hoppers during the steam era. They seem to go straight from drop bottom GS gondolas to offset side twin hoppers in the early 1930s, which confirms what I'm seeing in my C&NW engine facility book, which only shows either composite side, drop bottom gondolas, or offset side twin hoppers at coal docks.

So if you want an "unusual" C&NW car to haul coal, use a USRA composite gondola. Of course, almost ALL the western roads hauled coal during the steam era in gons, not hoppers, so it's only a ODD car to modelers who don't know any better.