PULLMAN-STANDARD 4785 cuft. PS-2CD COVERED HOPPER NEW YORK CENTRAL 138-H PENN CENTRAL H54, H54A, H54B COTTON BELT H-100-21
New York Central 138-H, Kit 106.1 (Click on image for larger view)
Milwaukee Road 100502, Kit 107.9. P-S Builder's Photo from the collection of James Kinkaid.
200 of these unique cars were designed and built by Pullman-Standard for the New York Central in late 1967. The defining characteristic of these cars is the lack of a center sill. Draft and buff forces were transmitted through a flat shear plate assembly that connects the bolster and draft gear to the car body. In addition to the 200 cars purchased by the New York Central a large number were also used by Transport Leasing for small grain service lessees using TLDX and TLCX reporting marks. A group of 100 cars with three separate roof hatches rather than the continuous trough were built for the Cotton Belt. By 1971, Penn Central was interested in expanding it’s covered hopper fleet. Once again they turned to Pullman-Standard and ordered over 1700 H54, H54A and H54B cars. The H54 cars differed slightly from the original batch of 138-H styled cars in that Pullman reduced the length of the stub sills and added a two foot tall end plate with a distinctive inverted J shaped top panel. During the production of this version of the car, 165 cars were built and leased by Pullman to several grain & chemical manufacturers. Five of these cars went to the M-K-T (2 cars) and the Milwaukee Road (3 cars) It is not known if these were experimental car orders or subsitutes to fill in for shortages in other P-S lot for those railroads.
P-S 4758 Lots
P-S 4785 PS-2CD Production Roster
Early cars with low end sill plate
Lot
Road
Number Series
Owner/Operator/Lessor
Notes
Cars
9263
NYC
886826
887025
New York Central
NYC lot 138-H
200
9265
TLCX
16000
16001
Boyll & Son Inc., Hutsonville IL
2
9265
TLDX
16002
16003
Highland Feeders Inc., Ault CO.
2
9265
TLDX
16004
Swift
1
9279
SSW
77900
77999
SP/SSW (class H-100-21)
3 trough hatches
100
9426
GACX
40924
40928
GACC, Paul Bimmermann Co., San Marino CA
5
9427
TLCX
35000
35009
Hubinger Co.
10
9427
TLCX
35010
35029
Monfort, Greely CO
20
9427
TLCX
35030
35114
Staley
85
9427
TLCX
35115
35119
Huisinga Grain, Casey IL
5
9427
TLCX
35120
35129
Possibly Delco-Remy
10
9427
TLCX
35130
Delco-Remy
1
9427
TLCX
35131
35139
Possibly Delco-Remy
9
9427
TLCX
35140
35146
Cargill
7
9427
TLCX
35147
35149
ADM
3
Total
460
Late cars with tall end sill plate
9561
PCB
888749
889748
Penn Central
H54
1000
9562
PCB
889749
889948
Penn Central
Grey, H54
200
9593
PC
890101
890500
Penn Central, Leased from NACC
H54B
400
9563
PCB
889949
889999
Penn Central
H54
51
9593A
PC
890001
890100
Penn Central, Leased from NACC
H54A
100
9565
TLCX
35150
35184
Staley
35
9598
PTLX
35226
35227
Western Consumer Industries
2
9598
PTLX
35233
35262
Central Soya
30
9598
PTLX
35185
35225
Staley
68
9598
MILW
100500
100502
Milwaukee, Leased from Transport Leasing
3
9598
MKT
9150
9151
Missouri-Kansas-Texas
2
9599
PTLX
36000
36024
Lauhoff Grain
8 30” hatches
25
Total
1916
The roster information in the above table was provided by Jim Kinkaid. It is belived to be correct and inclusive of this specific design. The best data says that the production run for this car design was 10/67 to 7/1972.
The change between early and late version was 8/71.
After July 1972, the cars started changing owners and the railroads themselves may have renumbered cars out of their original series. (Which can sometimes make it look like there are more cars than were actually built.)
A great number of these cars are still in use in a huge variety of paint schemes. To date, these are the reporting marks (which does not correlate to all possible paint schemes) these cars have been *photographically verified* to have worn. This list is as complete as possible. Photo proof is required to gain entry to this roster!
Early Version Cars (Kit 106)
Original Owners:
NYC: New York Central
GACX: General American Trans., Inc.
TLCX/TLDX: Transport Leasing, Inc.
Subsequent Ownership:
CR: Conrail
CRLE: Coe Rail, Inc.
NRLX: NorRail, Inc.
NYC: CSX Transportation
SOO: Soo Line
Early Version With Three Hatches (Kit 108)
Oringinal Ownership:
SSW: Cotton Belt
Subsequent Ownership
Golden West Service (Greenbrier Railcar)
with the following reporting marks:
KCS: Kansas City Southern
GVSR: Galveston Railroad
CRLE: Coe Rail
SSW: Union Pacific paint-outs of the Golden West cars
Late Version Cars (Kit 107)
Original Owners:
PC/PCB: Penn Central
PTLX: Pullman Transport Leasing
TLCX: Transport Leasing
MILW: Milwaukee
MKT: Missouri-Kansas-Texas
Subsequent Ownership:
AM: Arkansas & Missouri
BN: Burlington Northern
CSX: CSX Transportation
CR: Conrail
DONX: Donelly Commodities Inc. IAIS:Iowa Interstate MDDX: Old Line Holding Co.
NRLX: NorRail, Inc./Bombardier Capital Rail, Inc.
NS: Norfolk Southern
NYC: CSX Transportation
OLDX: Old Line Holding Co.
RFMX: Caldwell-Baker
SOO: Soo Line
TRLX: Texas Railcar Leasing, Inc.
Penn Central Green H54, Kit 107.1
Penn Central Grey H54, Kit 107.2
Penn Central green patched 138-H. Kit 106.3A. Some cars used grey paint patches with black letters, Kit 106.3B
Cotton Belt H-100-21, Kit 108.1
Norfolk Southern HCP33, an ex-Conrail, nee-PC H54, Kit 107.7
Click on any of the images above for a larger view.
These covered hopper kits feature a large number of etched metal parts. Along with the roof walk and supports, the corner posts and end ladders are modeled with etched metal. The resulting end assembly is both strong, easy to assemble and presents accurate angle sections for the posts! As with our previous kits, the covered hopper includes a single piece urethane body casting with separate roof and other castings. Kits include trucks with semi-scale metal wheels and decals. One pair of Kadee #78 couplers is required.
These kits come with the assembly instructions on a CD-ROM. This new format allows us to include a full color, step by step PDF document. There is also a full color history document and lettering diagrams for use when decalling your model.
Below are some close up shots of various details of the cars. Many, many thanks to Plano Model Products for turning my etched metal artwork into reality. These parts make the kits truly amazing! The phosphor bronze material used for the corner posts and ladders are very strong, Even though the parts look delicate, they are very sturdy and will withstand reasonable handling and layout use.
Close up of H54 car end
Close up of 138-H end
H54/138-H Hopper Gate & Vibrator Close-up
H54 Draft Gear, Bolster & Hopper Gate
138H Metal Corner Posts, End Ladder & Side Grabs
Close up view of H-100-21 gravity/pneumatic outlet
H-100-21 hatch close up.
Kit 106 Contents
Kit 107 Contents
Kit 108 Contents
Kit 106: Early Version 4785 cu. ft. PS-2CD
Kit Description
Lettering Diagram
Price
Buy
106.1: New York Central 138-H
$41.95
106.2: Penn Central 138-H Green Car (Full Repaint)
$41.95
106.3: Penn Central 138-H Grey Car (Full Repaint)
$41.95
106.3A: Penn Central 138-H Grey Car (Green patches & white letters)
$41.95
106.3B: Penn Central 138-H Grey Car (Grey patches & black letters)
$41.95
106.4: Conrail 138-H Early Scheme Red Car
$41.95
106.5: Conrail 138-H Early Scheme Grey Car
$41.95
106.6: Conrail 138-H Late Scheme Red Car
$41.95
106.7: Conrail 138-H Late Scheme Grey Car
$41.95
Kit 107: Late Version 4785 cu. ft. PS-2CD
Kit Description
Lettering Diagram
Price
Buy
107.1: Penn Central H54 Green Car
$41.95
107.2: Penn Central H54 Grey Car
$41.95
107.3: Conrail H54 Early Scheme Red Car
$41.95
107.4: Conrail H54 Early Scheme Grey Car
$41.95
107.5: Conrail H54 Late Scheme Red Car
$41.95
107.6: Conrail H54 Late Scheme Grey Car
$41.95
107.7: Norfolk Southern HCP33 Grey Car
$41.95
107.8: CSX H54 Full repaint with NYC reporting marks
$41.95
107.9: Milwaukee Road 4785 cf. PS-2CD
$41.95
Kit 108: SSW H-100-21 4785 cu. ft. PS-2CD
Kit Description
Lettering Diagram
Price
Buy
108.1: Cotton Belt H-100-21
$41.95
108.2: Golden West Service H-100-21
$41.95
Penn Central 138-H in Full Green Repaint. (Kit 106.2) There may have been some of these that received a full grey repaint, represented by Kit 106.3. Photo by Mike Bradley.
Penn Central 138-H with Green Patches, Grey patched cars similar, with black lettering. Kits 106.3A & 106.3B Photo by Mark Branibar.
Conrail 138-H in Late Grey Scheme, Kit 106.7. Photo by Scott Tucker
Conrail H54 in Early Red Car Scheme; Kit 107.3. Grey car with black logo similar; Kit 107.4. Note that the 138-H Kits 106.4 & 106.5 include similar decals. Photo by Mike Bradley
Conrail H54 in Late Red Scheme. Kit 107.5. The 138-H Kit 106.6 includes the same decals. Photo by Mike Rose
Conrail H54 in Late Grey Scheme. Kit 107.6. Photo by Gene Fusco
Norfolk Southern HCP33, an ex-Conrail H54, Kit 107.7. Photo by Joe Shaw, used with permission.
Golden West Service H-100-21, an ex-SSW car, Kit 108.2 Photo by Gene Fusco
CSX H54 in full repaint with NYC reporting marks, Kit 107.8. Photo by Michael Greer
Milwaukee Road late version 4785, Kit 107.9. P-S Builder Photo from the collection of James Kinkaid.
The images below show some of the cars not represented by a Rail Yard Models kit. They are provided as a reference should you be interested in doing your own decals.
TLDX 16000, leased to Boyll & Son Inc., P-S Builders photo from the collection of Jim Kinkaid
TLDX 16002, leased to Highland Feeders Inc., P-S Builders photo from the collection of Jim Kinkaid
TLDX 16004, with the Transport Leasing logo, leased to Swift, P-S Builders photo from the collection of Jim Kinkaid
GACX 40926, leased to Paul Bimmerman Co., P-S Builders photo from the collection of Jim Kinkaid
TLCX 35005, leased to the Hubinger Co., P-S Builders photo from the collection of Jim Kinkaid
TLCX 35014, leased to Monfort, P-S Builders photo from the collection of Jim Kinkaid
TLCX 35076, leased to the Staley Mfg. Co., P-S Builders photo from the collection of Jim Kinkaid
TLCX 35115, leased to Huisinga Grain. P-S Builders photo from the collection of Jim Kinkaid
TLCX 35147, leased to Archer Daniels Midland, P-S Builders photo from the collection of Jim Kinkaid
PTLX 35209, leased to Staley, P-S Builders photo from the collection of Jim Kinkaid
PTLX 35227, leased to the Western Consumer Industries, P-S Builders photo from the collection of Jim Kinkaid
PTLX 35248, leased to Central Soya, P-S Builders photo from the collection of Jim Kinkaid
MKT 9151, P-S Builders photo from the collection of Jim Kinkaid
PTLX 36013, leased to Lauhoff, note the roof hatches. P-S Builders photo from the collection of Jim Kinkaid
Arkansas & Missouri 2312 on 25 February 2006 in Kimball, WV. Part of a seven car group: AM 2311-2317. Photo By Joe Shaw, used with permission.
