Covered Hopper Car -No.359

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Covered Hopper Car -No.359

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Covered Hopper Car -No.359

Covered Hopper Freight Car

Pictured above is the first set of Covered Hoppers from the 1973-74 catalog. Unique among this first group are the 'Tide' and 'Arm & Hammer' cars.

A cousin to the 54' Center Flow Hopper, the Covered Hopper is also 54' in length. The Covered Hopper carries the model number 359 and first appears in the 1973-74 catalog. The car remained a standard offering for TYCO for many years, available in many "billboard" names. Letter designations following the model number, 359, arrive in the 1975-76 catalog for each name. For example, adding an "A" makes the 359-A the 'Budweiser' car.

Sanka Covered Hopper

Budweiser-No.359A
1973-74;1974-75;1975-76

Domino Sugar Center Flow Hopper

Ajax-No.359D
1974-75;1975-76;1976;
1977;1978;1979

Boraxo-No.359B
1973-74;1974-75;1975-76;1976;
1977;1978;1979;1980;1981;1982

Old Dutch Cleanser Center Flow Hopper

C&H Sugar-No.359E
1973-74;1974-75;1975-76

Kelloggs Center Flow Hopper

Planters-No.359C
1972-73;1973-74;1975-76;1976;
1977;1978;1979;1980;1981;1982

Jell-O Covered Hopper

JellO-No.359F
1974-75;1975-76;1976

Budweiser Covered Hopper MIB

A favorite among collectors of both TYCO and Anheuser-Busch items is the above pictured Covered Hopper. One wonders if such a car would be offered today? Considering many die-cast NASCAR racers routinely have cigarette and alcohol sponsor markings removed, this car likely would not be among contemporary offerings if TYCO was still producing HO or would be in a package with stickers proclaiming it an "Adult Toy Collectible." In the '70s though, it raised few eyebrows.

Collector's Notes...

Going by catalog appearances, the rare offerings in this set are the 'Tide' and 'Arm & Hammer' cars. At the opposite end of the scale you find the 'Boraxo' and 'Planters' cars available into the mid-1980s.

This car is today part of IHC-International Hobby Corp.'s line of HO-scale ready-to-run cars. IHC has not however reissued any of TYCO's creative billboard schemes.