TURBO DOG Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 does anyone know much about these cotton belt hoppers??? i used to see them rolling earlier in the 90's, and saw alot of them hit in old cbs photos..and cbs even once stood for "COTTON BELT SLAYERS" so i hear....anyhow i had the pleasure of hitting one of these in oklahoma city in '99 anyhow there were tons of these out west, we catch them rolling through the southeast occasionally, but they dont seem to run that much anymore...anyone know the stroy behind these?? if so post what you know!..thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bosco Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 The Cotton Belt, aka The St. Louis Southwestern, was part of the Southern Pacific family, hence the similar paint schemes of the engines w/ the Bloody Nose scheme. The reason you don't see the Cotton Belt hoppers anymore in huge numbers is that they are being repainted by their owner Union Pacific. Although they are being repainted you can still denote a Cotton Belt hopper as it will carry the reporting marks "SSW" and a new Union Pacific shield logo. As well as SSW, other fallen flag companies long ago merged into the Union Pacific system, carry their former reporting marks as well. "CNW" for Chicago Northwestern, "MP" for Missouri Pacific, "SP" for Southern Pacific, and "WP" for Western Pacific. This system also applies to boxcars, etc...This simplifies the numbering of cars and ensures that a number duplication will not occur. Hope this helps... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fr8otech Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 They're still running quite a bit...I got a spot that sees them, the repaints, even the CRLE's. Hoppers like that are worth painting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krowteN Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 i still see cotton belt hoppers out here on occasion, but i can remember a time when there were a lot more of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bosco Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 With the repainting, the Cotton Belt fleet of hoppers will never dissapper. The task of repainting a whole fleet is damn near impossible, Union Pacific will have to take perfectly good cars offline into designated paint shops and paint them. Train cars not moving don't make money, train cars w/ no freight loaded cost railroads money. Union Pacific probably only repaints them when the cars are in for routine maintance at designated shops... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TURBO DOG Posted January 12, 2004 Author Share Posted January 12, 2004 cotton belt thanks bosco....i did know that the reporting numbers were SSW or whatever...anyhow i was just wondering who origionally owned them and who owned them now...but thanks a lot!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rob deer Posted January 14, 2004 Share Posted January 14, 2004 they make a lot of beer where I was raised. there's a couple malt refineries that get lots of these. although they are getting pretty crusty, are still pooled together with the UP's and the Crle's and the SP's along with mostly those yellow CNW's. I bet you see more of the CNW's nowadays. next time you crack a mickeys or Ol' english, think of milwaukee and feel proud you're supporting Union pacific. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InnerCityRebel Posted January 14, 2004 Share Posted January 14, 2004 i usaully see 2 or 3 of these at a time when i go to the yard.Some are beat up pretty bad but are still rolling strong.As for the Cotton Belt Slayers train i have actually cuaght one of them not long ago.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IRON HEAD Posted January 15, 2004 Share Posted January 15, 2004 I've only seen a handful... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porque Posted January 15, 2004 Share Posted January 15, 2004 ...catch the hoppers all the time...but i've only seen a few of the boxes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bosco Posted January 15, 2004 Share Posted January 15, 2004 The Cotton Belt boxes are mighty sweet, w/ the hydra cushioning logo and all, I catch a few w/ UP reporting marks and the Cotton Belt Panel Logo painted over... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.:wizo:cdc:. Posted January 15, 2004 Share Posted January 15, 2004 i catch cotton belt hoppers and box-cars every time i go to the yard. i would like to get some pretty nice flicks of em, because more then half of the boxcars have no graffiti on them, but i always end up leaving my camera at home, or i run out of pictures Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROW RA Posted January 18, 2004 Share Posted January 18, 2004 them hoppers come to clevland 2 one of my spots, but i dont know where they goto? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelACKson Posted January 18, 2004 Share Posted January 18, 2004 Originally posted by CROW RA them hoppers come to clevland 2 one of my spots, but i dont know where they goto? ive seen your work on them or at least on cars on the same lines as them more than once in central virginia. i think they may have been leased out to someone (not up)...i want to say cp maybe...but i could just be thinking of those soo line hoppers....im rambling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvOne Posted January 22, 2004 Share Posted January 22, 2004 i used to see them all the time at a couple of spots.. i dont see them very often now. i,ve painted a fuckload of them. bla blahblah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.