CBQ 4740cuft PS-2 Covered Hopper
BY MICHAEL FARLEY
In 1967, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy purchased from Pullman-Standard 575 of their new 4740 cu. ft. capacity covered hopper cars. The cars came in the CB&Q's standard gray covered hopper color scheme with red lettering and tri-color scotchlite rectangular heralds. Since the ribs were spaced closely together, the herald had to be mounted on additional short ribs mounted on the two far right-hand panels of these cars. These cars could be seen all over the upper Midwest hauling grain and fertilizer products, including heavy use on CB&Q's parent railroads Great Northern and Northern Pacific. Following the 1970 merger of these roads (along with the SP&S) to form Burlington Northern, the colors of the pre-merger roads began to disappear under gallons of Cascade Green. The scotchlite heralds soon became prized collector's items, and were routinely removed from the car sides by thieves, wanting their own memento of the CB&Q. Cars from this series can still be spotted today on BNSF with the short ribs still mounted to the car, but sadly no herald.
Tangent Scale Models makes a highly-detailed kit of the Pullman-Standard 4740, and I used it to represent one of these "vandalized" cars. I first added the two short ribs to each side of the car using .030 x .040 styrene, cut to the same height as the herald. I then painted the car gray and used Microscale 87-830 CB&Q Covered Hoppers for a majority of the lettering. When it came to the heralds, I cut .020 sheet styrene the same size as the heralds and temporarily attached them to the car sides using Alene's tacky glue, applied sparingly with a toothpick. (As a side note, I attach etched metal roofwalks and radiator grilles with this glue as well. It is flexible enough to allow the metal part to "move" during temperature changes without buckling.) After letting the glue dry overnight, I applied the first coat of weathering to simulate a car that had seen approximately 8-9 years of service. I then sealed the first round of weathering and removed the styrene panels. The tacky glue peels right off the plastic ribs and does not harm the paint in any way. This left me with just the "mask" effect I was looking for, Then I applied ACI plates from MC-4280, lube stencils from 87-268, and used a small rectangle of black trim film as a background for the repair stencil. The shop stencil itself is from an alphabet set and indicates that this car was repaired at St. Cloud, MN (code "TP") in February of 1975. If you look closely, you can see that the roof hatches have been replaced with three in white and one in Cascade Green. I then added a second coat of lighter weathering to blend in the bare spot where the herald had been, as well as the newly applied decal details. A second coat of sealer, and this car was ready for service on my western North Dakota layout hauling wheat as it was intended.
I think modelers often forget that freight cars really live out a life in service. They get dirty, dented, scratched, patched, and repainted. Notes are kept right on the carbody side as to when the last repair was made, inspections completed, and where cars should be routed when empty. Little decal details like the addition of ACI plates and lube stencils brought this 1967 car into the mid-to-late 1970's with just a couple minor touches. To me, these decal details are just as important to accuracy as the air hoses, grab irons and brake gear.
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