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InterMountain - 1050 - Covered Hopper, 3-Bay, Thrall 4750 - Great Northern - 172579

One  of these sold for an average price of: 9.009.00One of these sold for an average price of: 9.00
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N Scale - InterMountain - 1050 - Covered Hopper, 3-Bay, Thrall 4750 - Great Northern - 172579
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Commissioned ByPacific Western Rail Systems
Production TypeSpecial Run
Stock Number1050
BrandInterMountain
ManufacturerInterMountain Railway
Body StyleInterMountain Covered Hopper 3-Bay 4750
Prototype VehicleCovered Hopper, 3-Bay, Thrall 4750 (Details)
Road or Company NameGreat Northern (Details)
Reporting MarksGN
Road or Reporting Number172579
Paint Color(s)Sky Blue
Print Color(s)Black
Coupler TypeGeneric Dummy Knuckle
Coupler MountTruck-Mount
Wheel TypeInjection Molded Plastic
Wheel ProfileSmall Flange (Low Profile)
Item CategoryRolling Stock (Freight)
Model TypeCovered Hopper
Model Subtype3-Bay
Model Variety4750 Cubic Foot
Prototype RegionNorth America
Prototype EraNA Era IV: 2nd Gen Diesel (1958 - 1978)
Scale1/160
Track GaugeN standard



Model Information: Rib-side, 3-bay covered hoppers. 4750 cubic foot capacity. Features etched metal roofwalks, sharp painting and lettering, multiple road numbers per paint scheme, and metal wheels (at least for the 2017 release - earlier releases likely have plastic wheelsets).

InterMountain does not refer to a specific prototype on their website for this model, but I have seen it referred to as both a PS (Pullman-Standard) as well as a Thrall. Perhaps the model has elements of both prototypes baked into the molding? Would love to hear from a prototype expert on this one...
Prototype History:
Starting around 1970 or so, every major railcar manufacturer produced a 4750 cubic foot covered hopper. Thrall was no exception. To be honest, these hoppers all look pretty similar. To make matters worse, these cars were modified as improvements were made to the design. In the case of the Thrall model, at least two major revisions were made to this car during the period in which it was produced. The cars were built starting in the late 1970s, this 263,000 lbs GRL (Gross Rail Loading) car is used primarily for grain transport. The thrall models feature 3 bays and rib sides. The roof is flat. These cars were used by the Burlington Northern in large numbers as well as by many other railroads.
Road Name History:
The Great Northern was born in 1881 with the consolidation of several railroads of the northern plains under the leadership of James J. Hill. By 1893, the mainline from the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River to Seattle was complete.

The GN had two distinctly different characters. The eastern half was a largely flat, grain producing region serving cities like Fargo, the Twin Cities, Grand Forks, Duluth, Sioux Falls, Sioux City and even Winnipeg in Canada. The east end also included the iron ore rich regions of Minnesota. Half of North Dakota was blanketed by GN branchlines (21 in all) serving every imaginable grain elevator.

The western half is the mountainous portion that most people identify with Great Northern. This included crossing the northern Rockies and the even more difficult Cascade ranges. Cities on the western half included Billings, Butte, Helena, Havre, Spokane, Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver. In 1931, a connection to the Western Pacific was completed from Bieber north to Bend, Oregon. This line was disconnected from the rest of the Great Northern. They used trackage rights on the Oregon Trunk and SP&S to bridge the gap. The Cascade Tunnel, the longest on the continent at 7.8 miles, wasn’t completed until 1931. Construction included a massive sluiceway and hydro-electric power station to feed the electrified line through the tunnel and several miles of railroad on either side. This replaced the original Cascade Tunnel which was a third as long but 500 feet higher up the mountain. That replaced the original route that was another 700 feet higher, had 4% grades and 50 miles of snowsheds. All told, Great Northern had about 8,300 route miles.

The steam era was especially unkind to the Great Northern. They seemed to go out of their way to make their locomotives ugly. Belpaire fire boxes were the norm (made famous by the Pennsylvania, made hideous on the GN.) Headlights were often mounted just above center giving them a spinster look. Cab fronts were often at odd angles. The tender coal bunkers were often taller than the engines. But it wasn’t just aesthetics. GN had a knack for buying the wrong engines for the job. 150 Prarie type 2-6-2’s were so unstable at speed that they were busted down to branchline duty almost straight away and none survived after about 1930. Their first 4-8-2 Mountains built for passenger and fast freight were such a disaster, they were rebuilt into 2-10-2’s. Many railroads had built Mountains out of Mikes but no one had ever started with a Mountain and had to build something else from it. The first 2-6-6-2’s were so under-powered, the boilers were used to make Mikados instead. They did manage to build the largest, fastest, and most powerful Mikados in the country however. Their articulated fleet included 2-6-6-2, 2-6-8-0 (later rebuilt into Mikes), 2-8-8-0, 2-8-8-2 types as well as a pair of Challengers originally delivered to SP&S. Many engines were dressed up with green boilers and boxcar red cab roofs.

For the first generation of diesels, GN bought like many large railroads did: a sampling from everyone. Cab and hood units from EMD and Alco and switchers from EMD, Alco, and Baldwin populated the roster. GN’s first generation geeps and SD’s were delivered with the long hood as the front. This included their GP20’s which had high short hoods and the long hood as the front. Aside from an early black scheme for switchers, the GN fleet was delivered in Omaha Orange and green with yellow piping.

Beginning with the arrival of GP30s in 1962, the paint scheme was simplified by dropping the bottom orange band and the yellow piping. For the second generation, General Electric replaced Alco as a supplier of new road engines.

In 1962, some GN freight cars began to appear in Glacier Green which ran along side the vermilion paint adopted in 1956. In 1967, they went for a major shift. Sky Blue, white, and dark gray were joined by a new version of the Rocky the goat logo. There was talk that this would become the paint scheme for Burlington Northern. The GN name and logo was painted on a steel panel bolted the the hand railings of hood units, making it easier to remove after the merger. For whatever reason, they went with green, black and white, a version of which was simultaneously being tested on the Burlington Route. In 1970, Great Northern, Northern Pacific, Spokane Portland & Seattle, and Burlington Route merged to form Burlington Northern.
Brand/Importer Information:
InterMountain was founded in 1985 by Fred Brummet. They got started in the model railroad business by producing O-Scale model kits. They got started in the N Scale business almost a decade later when in 1994 they introduced the 40-23 reefer car in kit form. Later, in 1998, they started producing RTR (Ready-to-Run) models. By the early 2000s, InterMountain phased out kit production in favor of the RTR models.

The InterMountain Railway company is located at 1224 Boston Ave in Longmont, CO. They are a manufacturer of HO, N and Z scale model trains. They have produced kits as well as RTR (Ready-To-Run) models. Their N Scale products include locomotives as well as rolling stock. Their rolling stock lineup includes Boxcars, Hoppers, Tank Cars, Reefers, Gondolas, Stock Cars and Flatcars.

Their locomotive releases have primarily been diesel units, with the one major exception being their series of AC-12 Cab Forward steam locos. Their diesel lineup includes F3's, F7's, F9's, SD40's, SD45's and FT units. They are known for quality and detail. They also release their rolling stock in larger varieties of road numbers than most of the other manufacturers.
Commissioner Information: Pacific Western Rail Systems (PWRS Retail Ltd.) is a model railroad store, and they also do a lot of special runs. They do most of their business by mail order. Please call ahead of time if you would like to visit in person.
Pacific Western Rail Systems is located south of Vancouver at 15515 24th Ave in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.

Pacific Western Rail Systems (Co-Op), the club in Surrey, BC, created and developed PWRS Retailing, LTD. A lot of their original business was selling limited-run cars. PWRS Retailing, Ltd. is a business. It was formed because the club's relationship with suppliers grew from a few special run cars, to ordering some locomotives for members, to helping a few friends, to the point where it was a full-time job and a large investment. Volunteer labor was not sufficient. The main owners of the business are those individual members of the club who chose to invest their own money and time in the business. The club members each own a minority interest in the store, but the club and the store are separate entities. Some of the original goals, such as developing a showcase, interactive layout with a sales point for the public, remain works in progress, and the shareholders of PWRS plan other achievements for the future of model railroading as well.
PWRS is a company incorporated in the Province of British Columbia and is owned by over 130 individual model railroaders. Their shareholders live in Canada, USA, Switzerland, England, and Australia.
Item created by: Jenna on 2018-04-07 11:00:44. Last edited by gdm on 2020-05-27 18:27:34

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