What time period are you modeling? I've seen L&N Hoppers in black, brown, and I believe they also had some grey ones but I'm not too sure. I will go with my first two colors.
Bill Carl (modeling Chessie and predecessors from 1973-1983) Member of Four County Society of Model Engineers NCE DCC Master Visit the FCSME at www.FCSME.org Modular railroading at its best! If it has an X in it, it sucks! And yes, I just had my modeler's license renewed last week!
I don't mind looking up this info. The Atlas model is the same # as the one pictured on p96 of the Morning Sun book! Cars of this design trace back to PRR-C&O-N&W developments around 1960. Chief spotting feature are the slope sheets at a steeper angle than the hopper sheets. What's cool about them is the orange color. It must have been quite dirty in service! No wonder later on thet were repainted into the black/white scheme. I suppose you could simulate rusty bits repaired with new steel sheets!
For your P&LE, they must have had some USS plants online to get trainloads of metal grade coal. There's pictures of mill gons also in the orange/black/white scheme. The L&N appears to paint many cars in a scheme different from "standard" to be used in pool service.
Looking to add a L&N hopper or two to my P&LE line..had a question about paint scheme's and their dates... bowser makes to L&N 100 ton hoppers, so i know both are fairly modern.. one is in black and the other in the orange.. anyone know the relative dates of when these were in operation? many thanks in advance