# Clearance Question on USAT Covered Hopper



## jr747 (Feb 7, 2008)

I wanted to ask everyone if they had this same problem as me and if there a solution to it. I have the USAT covered hopper and there are plastic bars that run across the width of the car where the four hatches are at the bottom of the car, so there are four of these bars. The problem that I'm running into is that they sit so low that they barely clear the tops of the rail and if there is any uneven track, thay scrape the tops of the rails. 
Has anyone else had this problem and is there a solution? I find it hard to believe that USA Trains would make a car with such low clearance./DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/blink.gif Maybe I'll have to take a picture to better show what I'm talking about. 

Thanks 

J.R.


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## Dougald (Jan 2, 2008)

JR 

Although I model narrow gauge in Fn3, I do have a few modern cars around just to keep the diesel phreaks in our group happy ... I have 3 of those USAT covered hoppers and they are beautiful models. 

The bars are the locking latches on the bottom discharge chutes. They are modelled to scale height and they do operate. I have found that if they are left open, they will scrape the railtops in places and sooner or later (likely sooner for most of us) they will be broken. Make sure your chutes are locked and the bars correctly positioned. 

In the closed position, the clearance is tight but quite workable. If yours touch the rails when they are in the closed position, you should do a little trackwork to take out the rough spots - I would not want to see those USAT make those nice covered hoppers with less detail. 

Regards ... Doug


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## NTCGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

JR 
I have a photo in my file from when they first came out. I choose to glue the hatch closed and remove the loose parts so they would not catch on leaves and sticks. 
I like how they set and did not want to raise them with a washer.


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