S Gauge PS-1 Fish Belly Hopper Cars Released

December 30, 2020 - The M.T.H. S Gauge Fish Belly Hopper Cars featured in the 2019-2020 S Gauge Catalog are in-stock and now shipping to M.T.H. Authorized Retailers. The cars are available in limited quantities at your local M.T.H. Authorized Retailer or directly from the M.T.H. website.

About the Fish Belly Hopper

Unlike equipment that carried a variety of loads, like boxcars, flatcars, and gondolas, the "sawtooth" style coal hopper was designed in the late 1800s specifically for one purpose: transporting coal from mines to customers. Its capacity matched the volume of coal that a pair of typical freight trucks could carry — about 50 tons at the time the prototypes for our model were built. And its slope sheets — the angled floors at either end of the car — were set at precisely the minimum angle at which coal would flow easily from its bottom doors, about 42 degrees.

Over the years, car builders applied various tweaks to the basic hopper design to squeeze out a few more cubic feet of capacity. Our model represents one popular tweak applied from 1937 through World War II: the "fishbelly" configuration at the bottom of the sides that lowered the car floor between the trucks. The taller ends on our model, known as heap shields or peaked ends, were designed to increase capacity as well.

This superbly detailed model appeared for the first time in the M.T.H. S Gauge product line in the 2019-2020 catalog. While the tooling was created by the S Helper Service team, the original owners retired before making the first production run.

These cars are still available to order from your local M.T.H. Authorized Retailer. They can also be ordered directly from M.T.H. by calling the M.T.H. Sales Department at 410-381-2580 or by visiting the M.T.H. website.

Hurry Before They're Gone, Just Five Or Fewer Of These S Gauge Items Remain In Stock

December 30, 2020 - Each week, M.T.H. releases product lists spotlighting quantities of Five Or Fewer S Gauge items that are remaining in our onhand inventory. In many cases, these items will NOT be re-run in the future and these lists could be your last chance for ordering them before they're GONE FOR GOOD. Don't miss out on these items! Click on the product line link below and then any item number in the corresponding list to purchase that item from the M.T.H. Online Store or order directly from your local M.T.H. Authorized Retailer.

M.T.H. S Gauge

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