HO ACF 4600 3-Bay Center Flow Hopper, ATSF #314275 MODEL FEATURES: Three body styles: Early - High side ladder & brake wheel, single side stiffener Mid - Low brake wheel, short side ladders both ends, single side stiffener Late - As above but with double side stiffeners (post 1971) Round or trough hatches Photo-etched metal roofwalk Separately applied wire grab irons and stirrup steps Numerous detailed outlet versions Separate brake cylinder, valve, and air reservoir with wire brake plumbing Multiple roadnumbers Fully-assembled and ready-to-run out of the box Accurately painted and printed Highly-detailed, injection molded body Separately applied brake wheel Screw mounted trucks Body-mounted McHenry® operating scale knuckle couplers Weighted for optimum performance Genesis 100-ton trucks with 36” machined metal wheels and animated spinning roller bearing caps PROTOTYPE AND BACKGROUND INFO: The 3-bay Center Flow covered hopper first entered service in the mid-1960s, built by American Car and Foundry. The cars handle loads such as grain, corn, and similar bulk commodities. The Center Flow design relies on the car’s rounded body to provide structural strength - eliminating the traditional center sill and making gravity unloading easier. Our 3-bay car represents the common 4600 cu.ft. capacity version. The railroads looking to replace their aging 40’ box cars in grain service needed a modern hopper design - one that could operate within the tighter Plate B clearances for light branchline and industrial service. ACF’s design won them many contracts from a plethora of railroads. One can find these cars still in revenue service today in grain trains and other similar service.
