HO – NSC 3800 Cylindrical Covered Hopper — Canpotex PETX #38205

Once again Rapido aims to rid layouts and displays of incorrect 4550 cu.ft. covered hopper car models decorated to represent this true Canuck classic! And best of all, not only are we introducing new Trough-hatches for the rooftops, but we’ve also redesigned how the carbody is produced to bring you an even better, museum-quality product.

The prototype cars were designed for carrying bulk commodities like powdered minerals and industrial chemicals, including cement and potash. They are 100-tons in capacity with four hopper compartments totaling 3800-3850 cubic feet and are fitted with either round or trough hatches. Examples were built by all three of the major car builders in Canada – Marine Industries, Hawker-Siddeley and National Steel Car – and they have traveled to every corner of Canada and the contiguous United States.

Apart from the main carriers such as Canadian National and Canadian Pacific – which together acquired over 4,500 cars between 1965 and 1975 – close to a thousand cars were built for leasing companies, including North American Car Canada (NCHX), Canpotex (PTEX) and Procor (UNPX), while CGLX, NAHX, and more recently WREX, later acquired fleets secondhand. Many of these are still in service today.

The Rapido model has been scaled from manufacturer drawings and will include alternative parts allowing us to represent the majority of differences between the Marine Industries (MIL) and National Steel Car (NSC) constructed cars.