Lionel AF Conrail Heritage ES44AC and Hopper

Nice loco and hopper. Thanks for sharing!

Good Day Mike,

 

Thanks for the pictures. The ES44AC and hopper look great!

 

Regards,

Frank

Now run the Conrail ES44AC counterclockwise with the Hopper attached directly behind the ES44AC on an Oval track with 3 to 4 cars attached to the hopper.  Does you Cylindrical Hopper derail?

 

Thanks

Rocco

Who makes those hoppers?

 

The same people as the ES44AC

I got the same engine last week. Love it!  Runs,sounds and looks great.  This is not your old school Flyer;Nothing wrong with old school but this is big step forward. I was thinking about getting the hopper but after seeing your pictures I'll be at my LHS for one soon!

Sharp looking....enjoy.

 

Peter

 

Chris, you might wish to read through the following long thread if you have not already. Looks aside, there are operational issues with the as-delivered trucks fitted on new cylindrical hoppers. Eventually, Kosher hi-rail trucks with knuckle couplers will be arriving. But in the meantime, there are (ultimately resolvable) issues out of the box if you plan on running them either in hi-rail or scale mode.

 

https://ogrforum.com/t...l-hopper-enthusiasts

 

And, yes, most of us agree with you that the ES44AC's are just wonderful. Have two. Love them both. Enjoy.

 

Bob

As long as the subject sorta came up again...

 

The Lionel/Flyer hopper: scale conversion (AM trucks, Kadee coupler) vs. unmodified Flyer:

 

 

Lionel/Flyer hopper: scale conversion vs. Hirail conversion (AM trucks, SHS H/R wheels, SHS coupler:

 

 

Rusty

Rusty,

Thank you for posting the photos.  What a difference there is when the car is lowered!  To me it looks more realistic and better matches the nicely detailed locomotives Lionel has been making of late.  It's too bad the original Lionel trucks can't be lowered and reused.

 

Mike

I lowered my Alberta car per Rusty and put scale couplers on it as the Almighty intended.
Can't wait to see my CP ES44, hopefully we will see them.  Very nice birthday gift.
I've had so much fun operating my SD70ACe's, love to watch them meander down my weed grown main off the UP.

Just bought the Conrail hopper at Charles Ro today.  Very nice!

Is there a fix for the existing trucks for the hopper? Mine just started derailing.

Lionel's cataloged replacement trucks, don't know when they'll be available (my guess would be when the next run of hoppers comes out.)

 

Otherwise, the shortcomings of the cylindrical hopper's trucks and some solutions have been discussed here:

 

https://ogrforum.com/t...-hopper-scale-wheels

 

and here (page 3, scroll down):

 

https://ogrforum.com/t...r-enthusiasts?page=3

 

Rusty