The Rapido 3800 cu.ft. Covered Hoppers include:

Round-hatch or Trough-hatch design
Correct Dofasco S-2 100-ton trucks
Two body variations with 6- or 11-side panels
Three brake equipment variations and optional additional air reservoir on NSC cars (if applicable)
Etched running boards and brake crossover platform
Factory-installed air pipes and coupler cut levers
Finely moulded plastic walkway supports and end cages
Full separate air piping and brake equipment details


They're back, again! The famous Rapido 3800 cu.ft. Cylindrical Hoppers make a triumphant ~THIRD~ return with new road numbers and paint schemes!

Once again Rapido aims to rid layouts and displays of the multitudes of 4550 cu.ft. covered hopper car models incorrectly decorated to represent this true Canuck classic! And best of all, it features all of the same great features from our last run, including crisp lettering and laser-straight etched roofwalks.

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 4 round or continuous 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 includes alternative parts allowing us to represent the majority of differences between the Marine Industries (MIL) and National Steel Car (NSC) constructed cars.