Benn Central Shops Undecorated 4180, Steel, Covered, 2-bay, Airslide Hoppers

Benn Central Shops (click for web site)

42004

General American Car Company

4180, steel, covered, 2-bay, airslide

4180

1965

4180cuft

visit site

visit site

These cars were designed to transport flour, starch, and sugar. They used a proprietary airslide pressurized air system to aerate the hopper bay fabric lining for unloading. There were six phases of the 4180 airslide hoppers produced over the years:

2/1963 to 5/1964: HAT phase:
- full-height ladders at the side corners, hat-section side posts, high handbrakes, Z-section horizontal end braces, and wire-loop roping eyes.
6/1965 to 3/1966: TZH phase:
- change to the truck centers, and a change to bolster jacking plates with integral roping eyes.
1/1966 to 6/1966: TZC phase:
- side posts changed to a fabricated square-column style.
9/1966 to 1/1969: TZL phase:
- identical to TZH but with low-mounted handbrakes and half-height ladder grabs (due to regulation changes).
8/1969 to 1/1970: HZ phase:
- identical to TZC phase, but with I-beam style posts.
10/1970 to 10/1980: HC phase:
- this final phase featured square tube-style horizontal end braces.
These cars lasted into the 2000s.

S

2026

3D-printed plastic kit

unpainted

not included

not included

not included

The Official Kit Instructions

Archer Transfer 3D resin rivets

Archer Transfer 3D resin rivets #2

Ben Trousdale, owner of Benn Central Shops, recommends placing some sort of sound-absorbing material (cotton, fiberglass insulation, pillow filler) in the car before closing up the top, as he thinks a hollow car doesn't quite sound right when running on tracks. This model builds the "TZH" phase.