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Coiled Steel Load C&O 2-bay hopper (Class H-11)...
2-bay hoppers are closely associated with steam era railroading, but they were actually quite numerous in the Chessie era.  Some of them even got Chessie paint.  Unfortunately not many good models exist of Chessie 2-bay hoppers.  The Athearn 34' kit is good, but it has the wrong number of panels on the sides.  A simple rib correction project can get a highly accurate 2-bay on your pike in no time.

H-11 class hoppers came in C&O road numbers 49000-49999 and 56000-59999 and were built from 1959-61.  That is 4,000 hoppers originally, but not nearly that many lasted to the Chessie era.  These cars had notched ends, with the notch at the top of the ladders.

Below is a photo of the actual hopper and my decaled shell.  The photo is from the Fallen Flags website.



How to:
1.  Luckily Athearn's 34' Rib-Sided Hopper (I started with #5446 Virginian RR, but you can start with an undecorated one) .
2.  Removed the second and sixth ribs.  Notch the one end so it matches the other.
3.  Sand the area with 400 grit sand paper.  Add two new ribs in the places shown below.  I used wood, but you can use styrene too for these new ribs.
4.  Paint the hopper Polly Scale Engine Black.
5.  Spray the car with Testors Gloss Coat, to get it ready for decals.
6.  Decal the car.  I chose C&O 56905, but you can chose any one in the series.  I used Herald King H-140 Black Open Hopper (1973) Set.  I used wheel inspection dots, ACI card and consolidated stencils from various Microscale sets I had on hand.  Spray the car with Testors Dull Coat the car when complete.
7.  Assemble the car per the directions.  Weather the car lightly with black pastels.  Seal the weathering with Testors Dull Coat.
8.  You are done.  You now have an interesting, and more accurate 2-bay covered hopper.  It will break up the monotony of large 100 ton 3-bays nicely and make for a very prototypical Chessie coal train.

Below is the kit with the Virginian lettering removed.

Below the two ribs have been removed.

Below the area where the two ribs were has been sanded.

Below new ribs have been added, they were painted black after the glue dried.

Below is the car decaled and ready for assembly and weathering.