{"product_id":"preorder-rapido-ho-158002a-nsc-ballast-hopper-canadian-national-52-2","title":"PREORDER Rapido HO 158002A NSC Ballast Hopper, Canadian National","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHO Scale NSC Ballast Hopper \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBallast! A commodity that is rarely discussed, yet plays a pivotal part in the upkeep of any railroad’s infrastructure. Many railroads simply used older open-top hoppers to carry and “dump” ballast along their right-of-ways. In the mid-1970s, National Steel Car (NSC) designed and developed a welded open-top hopper specifically for ballast service, complete with four bottom chutes to \u003cbr\u003espread the rocks along the rails. CN and CP purchased these cars in volumes, under the 1978 Government of Canada Branch Line Rehabilitation Program. Fleet numbers were also an identifier of these cars as well as their Branch Line Rehabilitation stencil and many continue to wear those to this day.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSimilar cars could be found on many American roads, wearing a wide variety of paint schemes and graphics. We even included three generic colours for you to make into your freelance road or another railroad that used these cars!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Rapido Trains HO scale NSC Ballast Hopper features:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRemovable ballast load\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDiecast frame\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSeparate metal grab irons installed at the factory\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCoupler cutbars and airhoses\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMetal wheels\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSemi-scale, metal couplers\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAccurate paint and lettering\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMultiple road numbers available for each scheme\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAvailable in singles or multi-packs (Dealers must order multi-packs)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMulti-packs boxed for individual sale\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Rapido","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42187398807634,"sku":"RPI-158002A-PRE","price":5.75,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0581\/3410\/2098\/files\/cn_158002_edited_2_1.jpg?v=1792645415","url":"https:\/\/modeltrainstuff.com\/products\/preorder-rapido-ho-158002a-nsc-ballast-hopper-canadian-national-52-2","provider":"Model Train Stuff","version":"1.0","type":"link"}