Cumberland Mine served by NS?

[NSyorktown]

For those of you on the Forum located closer to the Appalachian sections of the NS system, would these blue Cumberland Mine "Rapid Discharge Hopper" cars (see link) be commonly seen on Norfolk Southern these days?  They are nice looking cars!  Just wondered if a set of them would look "correct" running up-and-down my CNO&TP layout that represents modern times.


http://www.athearn.com/newsletter/082410/09_50_ortner_082410.pdf

TIA

[tcwright973]

The Cumberland Mine was owned by United States Steel at one time, but was subsequently sold to another mining company. As far as I know, it is an isolated railroad and can not interchange with any other railroad. The tracks run from the mine over to the Monongahela River were the coal is loaded onto barges.  I have never seen any photos showing prototype hoppers painted that way, so I'm not sure if these are foobies or not. Kato made an SD38-2 in the paint scheme used by USS when they did own the mine.
Tom

[Badhorse79]

Ahh the power of freelancing ! You could run them cars and patch over the reporting marks and make a fantacy road of your liking and voilà no worries what area it's in

[Backyard]

  That is a cool model for sure, it makes a sound all it's own when rolling down the track.  It's a distinctively large car, was second only to wood chip hoppers when released.
With gauged knuckle couplers lubed with graphite, gauged wheel sets & proper truck-screw set, these cars are error free in HO-scale.

First released by Model Die Casting back in the seventies, they were new to railroads & only power plants that used bottom dump facilities could use them.

Amongst the railroads that used them were Santa Fe, UP & the Southern Railway System.  The SOU hoppers were called "Big Reds," built heavy-duty so much the only had four bays & could only carry about 95ton. DRG&W also.

Colorado Springs Dept of Public Utilities had a bunch & Lakeland Electric & Water Utilities(LAKX) owned 140, divided into two trains of 70-cars each, pulled exclusively by three SD50's after 1985.

The LAKX train ran two SD60's, but the fuel arrangement changed when the fuel rack closed in Jax-Baldwin yard.  This required refueling in Lakeland Winston Yard to bring the motors back up to their weight for the tonnage, otherwise doubling the plant with already low fuel tanks, causing crews to go on the law.

The Fossil Fuels Manager at the McIntosh Power co-generator restricted GE units into the plant because they loaded so slow that they could not bump the cars empty. They were loaded on the Corbin Division our of Russel Fuels.

He retired sometimes in the '90's & you can almost tell when by pics on the web.

Electric Fuels Corporation(ELFX), a private lessor, contracted strings of these cars loaded off the Clinchfield & also the Corbin Division, exclusive to Crystal River, FL.

These cars being made of steel, had service lives of around ten years not including panel replacements. Sulfur in the coal became sulfuric acid & at the end of their service lives they were so thin you could see daylight through the holes in the sides.