Most ALCOA owned covered hopper cars transported alumina (aluminum oxide, a powder) from an alumina refinery ( chemical plant that used the Bayer process to convert bauxite ore from a mine into alumina) to a aluminum smelter (that used electrical pots to smelt the alumina into aluminum metal). The alumina covered hoppers were moved from the alumina refinery to the smelter in unit trains and the empty hopper cars were returned to the refinery by unit train.
Below: Alumina Unit train on my layout, Cars from left - Reynolds, homemade ALCOA, ALCOA and OMET Alumina
Reynolds alumina covered hopper car, with homemade Center fill covers that are used on modern covered hopper rail cars. The center fill cover uses 3 or so loading spouts into the center of the car and has a four part center car long cover.
Home made ALCOA covered hopper car
Lionel 634656 covered hopper alumina car with ALCOA company stuck on by Lionel
Homemade ORMET covered hopper car with center fill covers. ORMET was an aluminum company with alumina refinery in Burnside, LA where I worked and who never owned alumina cars
ALCOA had a small alumina refinery and chemical plant in Bauxite, ARK that had its own railroad company called Bauxite and Northern that ran on its tracks from the plant to the junction with the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway. The B&N switcher shown below was made from a Marx 1998 base, motor and trucks and the body was a shortened Lionel NW 2 switcher body and painted for B&N RR. It is a one of kind and just as fast through the O27 oval and figure 8
Charlie
