I don't have access to my magazines at the moment, but either RMC or MR has published plans.

You can check the index on this site, or at the Model Railroader site.  Searching for 'Ortner hopper' ought to get it.

Many old 3 bay coal hoppers found their way into aggregate service.  Because aggregate weighs more than coal you can't fill them to the rim, but that is a nice problem to have because you will have to run more cars.  The old 3 bay coal cars were rated about 70 tons (the older 40' cars were rated at 50 tons so don't use them), with the newer 3 bay hoppers rated at 100 tons, but you still can't fill them to the rim.

If you are running a modern line, get some "fallen flag" 3 bay coal hoppers on Ebay and re-stencil them for your railroad or the aggregate company.

I don't recall the year but RMC Published Plans by Gerald Upton in the late 80's.

Top chord is the reinforcing angle or tube that runs around the top edge of the car.

The slopes are obviously that - the slope angle of the bottom of the car. End slope sheet should be fairly self explanatory - it is the interior slope angle of the hopper bay at the end of the car. The intermediate slope sheets is probably in between the hopper bays and the longitudinal hood angle is probably the peaked cap down the top of the centre sill. Longitudinal = lengthwise.

JohnnyUBoat...love that handle.

Your question is timely. I've got a three-part feature beginning in next month's MRH on building a stone quarry - soup to nuts. The article includes step-by-step instruction on building the entire scene, and making different grades of aggregate. Hope you enjoy it!

Regarding rolling stock, I would advise not to go to such great lengths, unless you absolutely need to have a particular car. I model 1980. For my quarry operation, I've got a fleet of Accurail 70-ton 3-bay cars. They were undec, and real cheap. They are a nice car with "good-enough" detail.  I simply painted them oxide red and lettered them for my Allagash proto-freelance. I also added Kadee 33" metal wheels. They run great and look the part, and were common in this kind of service. I still have to weather these. They look freshly-shopped for now.

I would also agree with Jim on having some really beaten fallen-flag cars to add color to your operation.  I actually use these cars at two locations, the stone quarry, and my sand & gravel pit. So, they are used to haul at least three grades of aggregate - two sizes of crushed stone, sand, and gravel.

In addition, I have a fleet of 100-ton cars (Walthers). These are nice, but I'm a fan of the older 70-ton cars. They have more character.

Here's a pic.

Mike Confalone

I grew up in northern Massachusetts and always remembered the Guilford's U30Cs and Baby Boats (U18B) stood out among the sea of Geep40s that dominated the old B&M.

Mike, thanks for the heads-up on the article!  It'll surely be a "dog-eared" bookmark on my browser!  I'm a big follower of your work and I always show your photos of the Allagash to people who ask about why I'm in this hobby.

There's nothing more uninteresting to me than a fleet of identical cars so the advice you and Jim provided is well-taken.  I'm hoping to have a nice mixture of rolling stock to complement my shortline so adding coal, ore (70/100-ton) and aggregate cars will be the ultimate goal. Although, as I work out my trackplan, I'm struggling to find adequate space to model the quarry which may turn out to be nothing more than a long siding for hoppers to be loaded by front-end loaders from some out-of-scene quarry operation.

Chris, thanks for the clarification.  The one that really didn't make sense to me was the longitudinal slope but now, realizing the center sill is exposed, that term is clear to me.

Joe & Bill, thanks for the input - I'll have to search for the plans as I've never had a subscription (or even read) an RMC.  By the way, I couldn't seem to locate anything through the index which leads me to believe these plans still belong to the publisher and are not readily available.

For some reason I just like the way these Ortner-style cars look and I'm hoping to have the majority of the quarried material transported in them with a colorful - and well-worn - filler fleet of older 3-bays and 100-tons thrown in the mix as well. I have a few of the latter already purchased and I always have my nose to the ground for more.  Scratchbuilding has always been an interest of mine and these simply-designed cars appear to be a good "icebreaker".  Granted, I'll probably be way over my head!

Thanks for the help, guys!

<edit> Found that RMC Article in the August, 1988 issue.  Now I just gotta keep an eye out for one at the next train show!

I'm occupied all day today but can check my files tomorrow. 30+ years of RMC downstairs. You can always buy one of the Walthers Ortners and copy it.

Found the 8/88 RMC article, which is a kitbashing how-to.

There were also articles in Model Railroading in Feb and March 1996, and in Railroad Model Craftsman in July 1981.

I might have the RMC piece, but probably not the 'ding stories.

Found these by searching at http://trc.trains.com/Train%20Magazine%20Index.aspx

I used to work for Gerald. He had a hobby shop in Kitchener Ontario. He was inspiring to my career. Since then, I've worked for Promotex and been in the custom decal business for many years.

For your scratchbuilding project, look at:

http://www.trainlife.com/magazines/pages/414/30362/february-1996-page-32

and http://www.trainlife.com/magazines/pages/415/30454/march-1996-page-44

for Doug Geiger's two-part article on building the shorty Ortner from scratch.