PRR H49 PS2 Covered Hopper built by Tom Haag


With Toms permission, I am reposting these photos and text that were originaly posted on the Atlas forum. Tom did a fantastic job of converting a Exactrail 3 bay 4427 cf low side into a two bay H49. I was unaware Pennsy had 2 bay cars with low brake wheel ends that matched our 4427 end cage kits. Here is what Tom posted. Thank you again, Tom!

H49 Modeling Information H49 Model Photo
I finally finished one of my more involved freight car models. This time I tackled modeling a PRR H49 Pullman Standard 2-bay covered hopper car. I started with an Exactrail undec 4427 covered hopper car, cut out the middle bay and reassembled it.
I have wanted to model this car for quite a while ever since Walthers released their version of the 4427 covered hopper. However the Walthers car had a high brake wheel plus the end ribs were different than the PRR car so again this car was put on my to-do-list. Long after you could not find any Walthers undec cars Exactrail released their much better detailed version. Since the roof on the Exactrail rail car was a separated piece I was still stopped by trying to figure out to model the end cages correctly. Jeff Eggert showed how he modeled a CNW 4427 that had a low brake wheel using a Plano kit for this style of end cage. His model, using a Walthers car, turned out great and I realized that this kit was exactly what I needed for a PRR H49!
So with an undec kit and the Plano kit I was off to work! This photo shows the end of the car with the addition of the Plano etched metal kit parts (Part 10875). This kit is one of the best engineered things that I have seen in a long time. It comes with a template that allows for drilling all of the holes accurately so the finished model comes out looking good. It was fun using this product! The included stirrups were not right for my PRR car so I made mine from bent staples (very hi tech).
The sides required some careful cutting to match the drawings of this car that was featured in RMC. The roof, roof hatches, and running board also required sectioning. I made the cuts to the edge of the ribs so not to be very visible.
Finally after a lot of work the car was finished. I next painted it using ModelFlex SP Letter Gray mixed with white paint. I designed the PRR decals specifically for this car and then printed them out on Walthers decal paper.
This was a very fun project to do with the excellent products from Exactrail, Plano, and Intermountain (for the scale wheels).

I am not quite ready to do another one but if I ever find a photo of one in Penn Central colors........
Oh yeah I forgot to add the shot of the bottom of the car:
And why not one more of the top:


Thanks again Tom! I look forward to the Penn Central Car photos.

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