CSX 3 and 4 Bay HO Hoppers...any 6 packs made

[Bluegill1]

I'm new, and am interested in modeling CSX coaling operations. I've searched and have only come up with Coal Porters, The kind used with rotary dumpers. I have Steel Mills near me and their yard is always loaded with mostly 3 &4 bay hoppers.  Some have high sides and are marked "Coke Express". They too are generally 3 or 4 bay hoppers.
I see Walthers and others offer multible 6 car sets, but they are all the coal porter version.
Has / does Bachmann offer 6 car sets in the 3 or 4 bay hopper(CSX)?
Black hopper with the yellow lettering is what I'm after.
Any Ideas?

Thanks,
David

[jward]

bowser has made models of the bethlehem steel 100 ton hoppers that were so common on the chessie system. those cars are now csx, and i believe bowser releases their cars with at least 3 different numbers per run. and a big railroad like csx has probably had more than one run of cars made.

[Michigan Railfan]

Athearn makes CSX Bethgon Coalporters in 5 packs:
http://www.athearn.com/Search/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=Coalporter+RTR&CatID=THRF&RN=CSX
They are pretty nice, with metal wheels and knuckle couplers. Good detail too. You can find them for cheaper at many other online stores.

[jbsmith]

6 packs from Bachmann? Never seen one.
The most Bachmann does is two of the same roadname with different road numbers. There are 2,3, and 4 bays available. At least one is a 4 bay in CSX.

Atlas Trainman recently released 70ton 3bay hoppers, Chessie System C&O and B&O,,these sell out fast so happy hunting.

Coal-porters, they are the latest and greatest coal hoppers.
Go to a coal powered electricity plant and you will most likely see lots of the porters.
Porters are most likely used to deliver coal to the mill.
The 2,3, and 4 bay hoppers are much older,,my best Guess is the ones you see are used strictly for moving coke, a coal by product, around the yard of the mill, again that is my best guess.

From Bachmann
http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/HO-Scale-Hopper-Cars-s/1504.htm?searching=Y&sort=3&cat=1504&show=16&page=1&brand=Bachmann

Atlas Trainman
http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/HO-Scale-Hopper-Cars-s/1504.htm?searching=Y&sort=3&cat=1504&show=16&page=1&brand=Atlas%20Trainman

[jward]

some general notes on csx hoppers......

by the time csx started painting things in 1986/1987, most of the older 70 ton cars had been retired. the 55 ton 2 bay cars were a distant memory, as were the offset side quad hoppers. i would seriously doubt any of the latter two types ever got csx paint. i know for a fact that a few of the 70 ton triple hoppers (think atlas trainman, or roundhouse) were painted csx. most of the fleet consisted of 100 ton triple hoppers, which are taller than the 70 ton cars. there were some 100 ton quads from the clinchfield, truly massive cars that are not made in HO scale.

the coke express cars came in two basic varieties. the oldest ones were former scl woodchip hoppers, easily spotted because the ends taper inward towards the coupler. the newer ones were built new in the early 1990s, and lack the taper. both varieties are 100 ton hoppers with the sides extended a couple of feet taller. these could be kitbashed by extending the sides of a bachmann or bowser 100 ton car.

[ACY]

From walthers I bought a couple 5 or 6 car sets (metal wheels and protomax couplers) for like $20 each because my LHS gets free shipping and a discount. Cost on them was only $12-$15, this was a few years ago though, when they had huge sales.