Prairie Shadows HO Scale PD5000 Hopper

Prairie Shadows HO Scale Freight Cars

870401 Early

Prairie Shadows is proud to announce our first run of our PD 5000 project.

Our first run of these cars consists of 1980s built cars by NACC and Thrall. These cars featured some iconic billboard schemes such as Wonderbread and Bentonite that lasted well into their lifespans. We also included some FURX repaints for our modern modelers as these cars are still on the rails today. These cars were designed to haul flour, talc, corn starch, clays, kaolin and other powdered commodities making these a common car on all railroads.

The model will feature:

- Multiple car bodies and weld seam variations.

- Multiple roof variations

- Different roof walk support variations

- See-thru etched metal walkways

- Detailed brake rigging and plumbing

- 100 Ton Trucks

- 36” CNC Metal Wheels

- Kadee Scale Couplers

NACC NAHX Early Janes
Era: 1989+*
How could we not offer plain janes in this series? Most of the as-built cars from NACC were painted in this plain scheme with a bold NAHX font in the 1980s. With a build date of 1982/83; some of these cars lasted in their original font all the way to the mid 2000s which makes these a must for any modern modeler.

*EARLY 1980s Modelers*

We know these would have been released with a double COT&S box out of the factory.

We have a 1989+ disclaimer on these due to the modern COT&S. Everything else on these cars matches the photos we have of around 1989 which would have been the same in 1982. We just do not have any physical evidence of a brand new NAHX painted car with a 2 box COT&S. If you happen to have a photo of such a beast in your collection, please feel free to PM us.

NACC NAHX Stencil Janes
Era: 1989+
This stencil font represents cars that were touched up after coming off a lease or were shopped later in life. We noticed a lot of cars would get touched up and provided different fonts for the smaller data along the car. (LD LMTs, pressure copy, etc) These cars also have an early BLT date of 1981/82 but represent more of a 90s restenciled car.

NACC NAHX Grace Davison
Era: 1990+

Grace Davison was one of the pioneer companies of catalysts. Many modelers may recognize the name due to old green and white PD hoppers Walthers put out years ago.
These cars represent the repainted Grace Davison cars of the 1990s. With a repaint date of 1989, these cars lasted in this scheme well into the 2010s.

NACC Soo Line
Era: 1984+

One of the few railroads to actually own PD5000s, SOO ordered a whomping 2 of these cars in 1984. Painted with the iconic wheat logo, these cars lasted in this paint scheme all the way to 2007. What makes these cars a V01F is the large circular slew hole above the jack pad as well as the 2/3 orientation of the roof walk supports.

NACC NAHX Filtrol
Era: 1984+

Filtrols were another billboard paint scheme out of the 80s. Built in 1984 and leased by the Harshaw/Filtrol Partnership, these sharp looking cars were common in the southwestern part of the US. In 1988, Engelhard Industries would later purchase most of the business and take over the railcars. Some were repainted, but a few cars lasted well in the 1990s in the original scheme.

NACC NAHX Wonderbread/Hostess
Era: 1982+

It’s hard to think of a more iconic freight car than the Wonderbread/Hostess PD5000s.

We first talked about this project; we knew we had to produce these cars.

Built in 1982, these cars have a 4 box COT&S that was common in the early 80s.
One side of the car has the Wonderbread balloon logo while the other side of the car has the Hostess hearts. These cars were seen all over the country and lasted well into the 90s in this scheme.

Thrall NAHX Early Janes
Era: 1988+

Thrall began producing the 5165 cu ft car in 1987. These cars represent the 2^nd phase of cars rolled out in 1988. The Thrall version was a carbon copy of the NACC but had different side ladders, pipe hangers, jack pads and weld seams on the side of car among other small details. Sporting one of the more common NAHX fonts; many cars lasted in the original scheme in the modern era.

Thrall NAHX Bentonite
Era: 1988+

Bentonites were one of the more colorful billboard schemes applied to the Thrall cars.

Built in 1988, the stunning green logo made these cars standout in a sea of gray Thralls. These cars survived well into the 2010s and some were even patched with the original logo still intact.

Thrall FURX Repaints
Era: 2010+

We know we couldn’t get away with just producing 80s and 90s era schemes on these cars.. so here are the FURX repaints. These cars have a build date of 1989, but were repainted in the 2010s and feature piss stripes for the modern modeler. First Union has a ton of patch jobs on these cars, but the repaints seemed more fitting for this release.

We would also like to send a special thank you to the following:
Fran Scott, James Gamble, Darrel Sawyer, Dave Casdorph, Chris Butts and our friends at the Soo Line Historical Society.

We appreciate you all and couldn’t have done this project without your expertise!