Operating Hoppers in HO scale. (Project Thread)

[Guilford Guy]

This weekend I picked up a couple Athearn 2 bays from a friend, with the intent on converting them to operating cars. The cars when running, have each set of doors sprung closed by a spring, set between the two (and conveniently disguised by a piece of U channel styrene placed over it to simulate the frame. The bays are attached to the body by a hinge made out of a piece of rod withing a piece of tubing. The bays are then attached to a line which runs up to an eyelet at the "peak," or where the bays connect. This line is attached to a piece of brass rod with a ring bent into the end of it, which hangs down, with the ring just below the frame. To operate, an uncoupling pick (bamboo skewer) is inserted into the brass ring, and when pulled downwards, pulls on the line which pulls open the doors, against the pressure of the spring. This allows the load to dump, and when the contents of the car has been emptied, letting up on pressure of the ring allows the spring to push the doors closed again.

Today I removed each door,and filed the doors and the opening smooth. I also removed the current section of frame which runs between the 2 bays. Tomorrow I plan on stopping at the craft store in town and picking up the styrene needed for the hinges, so I should have an update within the next couple of days. Until then, and the point in time when I can find the decent camera, here is a computer snapshot of the current progress.

[Doneldon]

GG-

Wow!  Operating HO hoppers.  What's next?

I like what you're doing but I'm concerned there may be problems other than just getting the doors to open.  One is cars which jam and don't dump, like even 1:1 hoppers sometimes do.  There may not be a way to prevent that and I suppose a couple of finger flicks on the side of the car will fix it if it does happen.  But what about obstructing the track?  There's a pretty good chance that the pile will accumulate on the ties, blocking the wheels with either a pile of hopper contents or a few chunks which sit right next to a rail and cause one of your cars to climb up and derail.  This will be harder to prevent.

You might want to consider a custom set-up where you plan to empty your hoppers.  Have widely-spaced ties, perhaps disguised as steel crossties which are stronger and thus can be farther apart.  These can be narrower than regular ties which should keep chunks from staying on them.

Good luck with your project.  It looks like fun.
                                                                                                                  -- D

[OldTimer]

Back in the late '50's, Revell made an operating hopper set that consisted of a car, a plastic ramp molded in an earth-like shape, and a dumping facility.  Con-Cor later produced the same part under the Con-Cor name.  The last time I recall seeing one of these mentioned in print was in a Kalmbach publication called "HO Railroad from Start to Finish" by Jim Kelly, copywrited in 1993.  Just between you and me, if I had to have dumping hoppers, I'd suspend disbelief enough to allow "loads in--empties out." 
OldTimer

[pipefitter]

Here's two Tyco models, from the "brown box" era

http://cgi.ebay.com/TYCO-HO-OPERATING-VGN-HOPPER-CAR-SEALED-NEW-BOX-/130437901983?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item1e5eb46e9f

http://cgi.ebay.com/TYCO-HO-OPERATING-VGN-HOPPER-CAR-SEALED-NEW-BOX-/130439022501?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item1e5ec587a5

[Guilford Guy]

I do plan on modifying the track. These will be in service on my friends layout in sand/gravel service, where they will be pushed over a pit to be emptied. I'm aware of the Tyco cars, however those are more suited for ballast service because of their Clamshell doors. I was working more towards operating cars that didn't have to conform to that design.

[Stevelewis]

When  I  was  a  kid  here in  the  UK  (MANY years  ago)   A model  railway  company (suplying  British  UK  00 gauge  and also 'US  H0')  called  TRIANG part of  the  Rovex  group,   made  operating  hopper  cars  along  with   ramps  to  raise up the  track  and  a  special  unloading  section  which  opened  the  hatches underneath  the  cars, and  then  as  the  cars  were  pushed further  another device  closed  and  locked the  hatch,   they  worked   reasonably  well, but  the  main problem was  debris  that  used  to   accumulate on the  track   eventually  caused  deralments,  this  was  despite  using   very 'clean' plastic  'coal'  which  did not have  any  dust  on it.

These  cars  and  the  associated  track parts  were  sold   for  around  a dozen or  so  years ( late 50s into  the  60s) then  quitely  discontinued!!

Much better  and  less frustrating  to  use  the   empties in and  full loads  out scenario  I think!!

[ebtbob]

Good Morning All,

     This is an interesting post in that I have a friend who is doing the same thing to Athearn 3 bay hoppers.   He has written an article that he is thinking of sending to one of the magazines for printing if he can find someone in the area who would be willing to try his method based on his article.   Last night at our weekly Wednesday night get together,  one of the guys offered to try his method of assembly.   I have copied this post and sent it on to him as I know he will find it very interesting.

[Doneldon]

ET-

You raise a good point.  You just can't keep dumping the hoppers forever.  The material has to go somewhere.  That means either reloading the hoppers by hand or mechanizing the process somehow.  I suppose a conveyor belt could be jerry rigged but I'm not certain that something like that would be reliable when as small as HO.  And there'd still be a need for a mechanism to reload the hoppers without overloading them.  Perhaps an IR goody could control that but it would be pretty complicated.  I think maybe loads in/empties out might be easier overall.
                                                                                                                                                                     -- D

[Guilford Guy]

The cars will be run out of the staging yard, to the cement company, where they will be emptied. The pit the cars dump into, will extend out the bottom of the layout. The cap of a jar with a hole cut in the top will be attached to the bottom of the layout. This way the jar can be twisted into place under the layout, and the cars will ultimately dump their contents into the jar which can then be unscrewed and taken to staging to load the empties. A conveyor may be added at the pit for show.

[Guilford Guy]

*Many Weeks Later*
Having not done much modeling in many months, I finally "finished" the car over this last school vacation. I do plan on ordering a spool of ez line from Berkshire scenic to help keep the doors sprung closed. It's not pretty, but the workings of the car are not visible under normal viewing angles, and disappear when painted black. The car may or may not receive a paint job. The friend who I received it from had already given it several coats of paint, so it may not be until I actually get my hands on some "better" cars that they will actually go into service.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHqHffNHq90

[Doneldon]

GG-

Your mechanism looks really good and, I must say, more robust that I had imagined it would be. It's definitely a keeper. However, your dumping bin doesn't look very prototypical. I know they say (who are they, anyway?) that there's a prototype for everything but I think your Tupperware gravel bin may break that rule. Good work and thanks for showing it to us.
                                                                                                                                                                                                              -- D

[Guilford Guy]

Thanks Don. I have another car with some imperfections that I also plan on modifying. I figure a magnet with a hole drilled through it will act the same as the copper loop. I hope to start in on modifying an N scale hopper today, so we'll see how that goes.

[ryeguyisme]

Thanks Don. I have another car with some imperfections that I also plan on modifying. I figure a magnet with a hole drilled through it will act the same as the copper loop. I hope to start in on modifying an N scale hopper today, so we'll see how that goes.

I'm thinking the magnet might be a better solution, as trying to hook under the layout could be trouble spotting. What you should do is develop a kit with  instructions and pieces pre-fabricated and see where that takes you

[railsider]

G-Guy................

Don't drill a hole in that magnet if you can possibly help it. Makes a mess of both drill and magnet. There are magnets available with holes in them, used for various telephone and electrical purposes. Check your catalogues.