WalthersMainline (910-57209) | 50' Bethgon Coalporter Gondola | Conrail #504158 | HO Scale

Product Description

Coal Service

Add a staple of the coal industry to your HO Scale railroad with WalthersMainline 50' Bethgon Coalporter Gondolas. Prototypes for this freight car remains a common sight, running in unit trains across the North American rail network. Built by Bethlehem Steel's Johnstown American Corporation, the Bethgon features all-aluminum construction and a unique trough-style bottom for added carrying capacity. Because there are no discharge chutes on the bottom of the car, these cars are unloaded strictly by rotary dump.

Conrail

Conrail was formed in 1976 to save several bankrupt Northeastern railroads and restore reliable freight service across the region. Famous for its bright blue locomotives and white “can opener” logo, Conrail became one of the most successful railroads of the 1980s and 1990s, helping modernize railroading in the eastern United States.

Coal traffic played a major role in Conrail’s operations, with massive unit trains moving Appalachian coal to power plants, steel mills, and export terminals throughout the Northeast. Heavy coal drags hauled by Conrail locomotives became a signature sight across Pennsylvania and Ohio, making the railroad especially popular among railfans and modelers. Even after Conrail was split between CSX and Norfolk Southern in 1999, its legacy remains one of the most iconic eras in modern freight railroading.

Features

• Appropriate for layouts set in the 1970s to present day
• Crisply printed graphics and legible stencils on car sides and ends
• Individually molded and applied internal bracing
• Scale 36" diameter turned metal wheels
• Proto MAX(TM) Metal Knuckle Couplers