In addition to the Atlas 2-bay “fishbellies” shown on the A&O 1.0 rolling stock page, A&O 2.0 finally acquired many more hoppers to carry its black diamonds.

Weaver ribbed 2-bays are in abundance, and they also feature custom heap shields on the ends as per management preference. Add cut levers and a train line and you have a nice looking hopper ready for rugged operation.

Weaver 2-bay offsets in 2 separate purchase orders also punctuate the fleet. The location of the small print road name with corresponding road # identify their particular purchase group.

And some Weaver offset 3-bays. For ribbed 3-bays two styles, see A&O 1.0 page.

Intermountain introduced an early version of the ribbed 2-bay hoppers. The A&O has a few of these older cars that are used for non-interchange service.

Bob Sobol has been so generous in providing Alps printed decals for the A&O. Here a proof sheet reveals that one print provides a lot of decal data!

Here I’m placing data from the Proof Sheet onto the car to establish positioning and eventual decal sheet cutting.

A urethane peak is about to be glued to a .020 piece of styrene.

Clamps to hold.

The styrene sheet becomes the new interior end of the car with a snug side-to-side fit. This then becomes the primary strength for attaching the heap shield to the car. These are for Weaver 2-bay and 3-bay hoppers. The steeper sloped sides are for the brake ends of the car, allowing ladder access to the car’s interior.

Reddish-color tubed autobody filler followed by the requisite sanding makes the heap shields ready for gluing. I use MEK; just don’t breathe while using :(

Paint and decal. Ready for weathering and service.

To help satisfy the needs of several new coal loadouts on the Kayford Branch, the A&O acquired a couple dozen of these same Intermountain hoppers. They were from other railroads that were retiring these older units. Heap shields, still in their foundry red color, have been quickly applied and are held in place with welded angle irons. The original road car numbers have been “patched-out” and replaced with their new A&O reporting marks. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it. They make for interesting oddities in the endless strings of black hoppers.

A&O 2.0 has acquired a large array of new equipment. The following are some examples-

First are 70 ton covered hoppers, mostly Atlas, which see service at the voracious appetite International Paper mill.

Airslide covered hoppers likewise service the mill with specific contents stenciled on the sides of cars. These are old American Standard kits.

This was a project. Here are three of ten Amer. Std. kits. Uff.

The industrial park that is Fillmore Heights in Millport features an Owens-Corning fiberglass insulation and shingle plant. Weaver covered hoppers labeled “Glass sand loading only” shuttle in and out of the plant.

Why do just one?

Larger, separate compartment 4 bay covered hoppers provide various colors of shingle granules to Owens-Corning. Again, why have just one.

This Atlas cylindrical covered hopper can usually be found at Port Plastics in Millport, dispensing plastic pellets.

Older, Intermountain wood drop bottom gondolas serve as pickup trucks for hauling away scrap from the various online industries.

This brass steel gon of unknown mfgr. can often be found sitting at a pulpwood loadout for service to the paper mill.

A Weaver 53’ flat looking for a suitable load.

As anyone with a layout paper mill knows, you can never have enough pulpwood cars. This one is by Atlas.

The same goes for wood chip cars- a Weaver product with added details.

A dozen 50’ double door box cars have been added to the fleet, all by Pecos River. This 3800 series has carried autos at one time as the end has opening doors. The moniker on these- “Moving Coal for America”

The 3700 series double door box carries an advertisement for the Grand Floridian. (see Passenger page)

Set in 1968, the A&O has acquired a fair number of the Evans, 53’ plug door box cars. The NYC Pacemaker Red color and modern A&O lettering give away its timestamp.

Fillmore Heights also features a FORD assembly plant. Sooo, the A&O just had to have some modern, recently acquired Atlas 60’ Auto Parts box cars. Here is the double door version.

And here’s the single door version. Both of these cars were the “Convention Cars” of recent National O Scale Conventions. I bought one, no painting/decaling required!

CABOOSES. I had many old, 80’s era Atlas wide-vision cabooses stashed away for future use. The time had come to strip them, carve them up and peel them like an orange. Then add etched metal end platforms, etched walkways, etc. and paint into the A&O mid, black-diamond scheme.

End blinkers were added using a combination of ESU Lite-Its and a custom Keep-Alive PC circuit designed by Bob Sobol. Selecting the caboose # acquires the Lite-It allowing you to turn on the blinkers, change direction, and/or turn on/off an interior over-the-conductor’s-table light inside the caboose during night ops. Gotta love O Scale.

Several older, straight sided cabooses handle assignments on specific coal turns. Note the “Open” A&O diamond. All A&O cabs are by Atlas.

Got cabooses? Yabetcha.

A modern style (‘68-ish) cab was completed at the same time as the other group.

A side-swipe tore up the end of this one. So, it was rebuilt to 1968 standards, with final painting yet to be done. Nah.

This cab handles the 3 cyclical Glenn Forge, OH turns (Bay Switch, Appliance Job, Donut Run).

A bit of weathering-

Before-

After.

I use oils, Pan Pastels, ink washes.

A Quality Craft (Gloor Craft) 70 ton cement hopper. Before-

After. Not all cement hoppers have been spilled on this much, but it’s obvious that this one has earned its keep.

A bright yellow, shiny CB&Q wood reefer of unknown origin was given to me. I wanted the wood boards to look separate, and dirt filled to reflect its age in my era. Black oils to the rescue.

Wiping off the black oil with mineral spirits.

Still in process of cleanup, but the desired board separation has already been achieved.

Someone gave me two identical Lionel meat reefers. After conversion to 2-rail and adding couplers, the weathering made it fit in with the rest of the fleet. Anybody want the other one?