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The Hoppers are used for transporting large amounts of bulk material such as coal, ballast, and stone. They are commonly used for railway construction on Sodor, such as when the Harwick Branch Line was being built. During that time, several hoppers of ballast loads were seen in the Construction Yard. Hoppers are mostly used at quarries or mines.

Hector is the only known hopper that has been named and seen with a face. He is also the only known ICI-designed hopper wagon on the North Western Railway.

Named Hoppers

BR 22 Ton Hoppers

The North Western Railway owns a selection of BR 22 Ton Hoppers. In the Railway Series, these hoppers have been seen being pulled by James, carrying ballast for trackwork along The Main Line. In the television series, these hoppers are commonly used by quarries, such as the Blue Mountain Quarry and the Ffarquhar Quarry. They first appeared in the fourteenth series.

Technical Details

Basis

These hoppers are based on BR 22 ton iron ore hoppers.

Livery

In the Railway Series, these hoppers have been seen painted yellow, purple, red, and grey. In the television series, they are painted black.

Appearances

ZFV Dogfish Hoppers

In the television series, the North Western Railway owns some ZFV Dogfish hoppers. These hoppers are often used to carry ballast from Arlesburgh West and were heavily used during the construction of the Harwick Branch Line. They first appeared in the fifteenth series.

Technical Details

Basis

These hoppers are based on British Railways' ZFV 'Dogfish' ballast hoppers. Some hoppers of this type survive in use on the Bluebell Railway.

Livery

These hoppers have been seen in varying shades of green, red, orange, and grey. From the seventeenth series onward they are painted grey with brown frames.

Appearances


ATSF 100 Ton Hoppers

In the Golden Books, the North Western Railway owns some ATSF 100 Ton Hoppers. James used these hoppers to deliver scrap for Reg at Crocks Scrap Yard.

Technical Details

Basis

The hopper bodies are based on the American designed ATSF 100 Ton hoppers. The bodies are mounted on the British Taff Vale Railway Macaw G.

Livery

These hoppers are painted brown and have "SODOR RAILWAY CO" written on their sides in white.

In the Lionel merchandise range, these hoppers are red. They have "SODOR MINING" on their sides in large yellow lettering, "CENTRE ISLAND QUARRY" and "16409 - BUILT IN 2005 BY LIONEL" in small black lettering.

Appearances


Merchandise

See Also


* RWS only | ** T&F only | --- Dropped
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