The Bluford Shops N scale 14-Panel 3-Bay Hopper returns in nine new paint schemes. The design of this hopper was spearheaded by New York Central in the late 50s as they sought an alternative to the AAR 70-ton rib side hopper design. In the end, this 14-Panel design proved to be popular with more railroads than the AAR design. Our N scale models feature diecast slope sheet/hopper bay assemblies for plenty of weight even when running empty, removeable loads, metal wheels, magnetically operating knuckle couplers, separately applied brake detail and carefully researched paint schemes.

Penn Central inherited their 14-Panel hoppers from New York Central who had developed the original design. By the end of 1974, ACI tags had been applied to the fleet and the 2-box consolidated stencil had been adopted. Hundreds of cars served with this lettering arrangement for many years after the creation of Conrail.