MTH Hopper | 2-bay Fishbelly | Product Upgrade

Manufacturer:

MTH

Product Category:

Hopper

Model Name:

2-bay Fishbelly

Notes Type:

Product Upgrade

Title:

Remove Peak Ends

Notes:

This note is for those who wish to remove the peaked ends from the cars that MTH produced. The parts covered here were available through the former Dave's Twacks & Twains. They sold their parts line to Trainz.com, so check with them.

The photos show some of the parts needed to do the conversion.

The first part is the brake housing with a shorter chain.

Also on the sprue are the two right and left corner plates (the ones for the peaked-end ones are angled). To convert one car, you will need two of these sprues. The next photo shows the sprue that contains a replacement Ajax brake wheel, just in case you cannot salvage the MTH brake wheel.

There is also an entirely new end, should you need to replace it (sorry about the out-of-focus photo).

Also available were the black Celcon end hand grabs that S-Helper Service tooled, just in case you need to replace them.

Bud Rindfleisch used this method to modify his LV hopper. He applied a Evergreen 0.020" x 0.100" strip over the top where the peaks used to be. He was able to match the MTH's paint with "Soo Line Red". To complete the work on the model, he removed the middle step from the sill steps, per the LV prototype, painted the trucks and wheels, and replaced the couplers with the Kadee #808. The load was made out of shaped styrofoam, covered with simulated coal.