Fox Valley Models N Scale Trinity RD-4 Coal Hopper, Norfolk Southern

Coal has been transported by train since the beginning of railroads. What started as single car loads to the local coal dealer has turned into modern mile-long unit trains crossing the country to keep the lights on. 

Cars developed from early wood and composite cars into a series of standard steel hoppers used during the steam and diesel periods. As modern trains grew longer, research was done to find ways to haul more coal with cars that had a high capacity, but lower weight. Eventually the aluminum body became a standard for modern coal hoppers.

The Trinity RD-4 Coal hopper is a modern aluminum car that was built in the mid-1990’s through early 2000’s. Several railroads, along with numerous public utilities own these cars giving them a wide variety of paint schemes to wear. The prototype car has a 4200 cubic foot capacity, and are labeled as a Plate F car – meaning they are big! The RD stands for Rapid Discharge. With 5 bays with gates along the bottom, these cars can be emptied quickly as conventional bottom dump cars, or they can also be unloaded with a rotary dumper since they are equipped with rotary couplers (look for the colored end.)