Tangent Scale Models HO covered hopper

If you’re into prototype accuracy, the Pullman-Standard PS2-CD 4,750-cubic-foot-capacity covered hopper is right up your alley. This ready-to-run HO scale model from Tangent Scale Models features railroad-specific hatch covers, jacking pads, running boards, crossover platforms, brakewheel housing and clevis, brake system, and brake wheel, among other items.

Pullman-Standard produced the 4,750-cubic-foot-capacity covered hopper from 1972 to 1981. The easiest way to distinguish this car from the earlier 4,740-cubic-foot-capacity covered hopper, also offered in HO by Tangent, is to count the exterior posts. The 4750 has 18, the 4740 has 16. Some 4750s also have a stiffening angle spanning the middle posts. This detail is included on the firm’s Illinois Central Gulf model.

Not all PS 4750s were built alike, though. Differences include welded or riveted end side posts, notched or plain exterior posts, and overhanging or flush roof ends. In addition, Evans Products and North American Car Corp. built “clone” 4750s from PS-supplied kits.

The Tangent model features a one-piece injection-molded plastic body with a separate roof. The running boards and crossover platforms are etched metal; the grab irons and uncoupling levers are wire. Cars decorated for Milwaukee Road, Michigan Elevator Exchange, Pillsbury, and Tri County Grain Inc. have separate brass placards with logos or slogans.

Our sample was decorated for Michigan Elevator Exchange. The yellow was smooth and evenly applied (not an easy task with a light color), and the color-separation lines were crisp. All of the lettering was tack sharp, including the stencils on the hopper bays and the data in the COTS panel. I especially appreciate the builder’s stencil has the correct lot number for that car. Great attention to detail!   

In addition to the decorated cars, Tangent offers undecorated models in both kit and “hybrid” (assembled except for the etched metal parts) form. The kits cost $39.95 and the hybrids cost $42.95.
What sets the kit apart from others is all of the different details are included (three outlet gate and running board styles, five brake systems, and multiple jacking pad styles, among other parts). Very impressive.

The model’s dimensions closely match prototype drawings in the 1980 edition of The Car and Locomotive Cyclopedia (Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corp.) The distance over the pulling
faces was just over a scale foot too long, but that’s typical because model couplers are oversized.

The car weighs 5.4 ounces, which is 0.6 ounces too heavy based on National Model Railroad Association recommended practice 20.1. The Kadee scale knuckle couplers are at the correct height. The 36″ metal wheels are mounted on metal axles and correctly gauged.

Tangent Scale Models has hit another home run with this car. The PS2-CD 4,750-cubic-foot-capacity covered hopper has taken prototype fidelity to a new level.

Price: $42.95 (six-pack, $229.99; 12-pack, $429.99; 24-pack, $819.99)

Manufacturer
Tangent Scale Models
P.O. Box 6514
Asheville, NC 28816
www.tangentscalemodels.com

Era: 1972 to present

Road names: Michigan Elevator Exchange; Grand Trunk Western; Illinois Central Gulf; Milwaukee Road; Penn Central; Farnhamville, Iowa; Pillsbury; Tri-County Grain Inc., Cynthiana, Ind.; and undecorated (assembled or kit). Each car is available in two or more road numbers.