Trenton Works 5250 Cu. Ft. Covered Hopper

I have been looking for an excuse to put one of the upcoming Prairie Shadows Trenton Works 5250 cu. ft. covered hoppers on the layout. Previously, I knew some 5250 cu ft Trenton Works hoppers did show up in Le Mars, but couldn’t get a road name/number from the photos.

After a trip Scott Thornton and I took to Le Mars last Thursday we found this little gem (SMW 850475):

It’s a 5250 cu ft hopper, with some other distinctive spotting features, identifying it as a Trenton Works hopper:

Looking at the road names/numbers Prairie Shadows is making, the FURX cars a suspiciously close:

Hmmm… Could it be? Could it simply be a re-stencil of the FURX cars? From rrpicturearchives.net, we find that yes, indeed, the FURX cars became SMW:

So, with a little re-stenciling, the Prairie Shadows FURX car will work nicely.

Additionally, another Trenton Works 5250 covered hopper was spotted in Le Mars (NKLX 200967):

Clearly it has received both new reporting marks and a number, so its history is a little less clear. However, from the repaint marks, and the data table below the reporting marks, I suspect it’s a CN renumber. Again, using Prairie Shadows as a reference:

The remaining marks on the car are suspiciously close.

Excuse(s) found!