Glenn Hoppers

NOW AVAILABLE! 

Glenn-type Hopper Cars 

$325 Each - The Hoppers are available in the 23 variations shown here.

Classic Model Trains LLC is currently making a limited run of handmade, all-aluminum Standard Gauge Hopper cars. These cars are inspired by the work of Glenn Gerhard, who made the superlative Glenn Toy Standard Gauge Trains between 1978 and 1987. While the intention has been to produce these cars in the style of Glenn’s work, completely different technology and manufacturing processes have been used. Glenn used primarily aluminum castings; most of the parts in these reproductions are precision CNC milled aluminum. For the Hoppers he built in the 1980s, Glenn used Hopper bodies made by his friend Red Forney. The design of our Hopper reflects the hybrid origins of this car: a Forney-style frame is matched with the Glenn-designed triple-bottom unloading chutes and solid aluminum trucks. For our version, the ribs on Forney's stamped steel sides have been rendered in CNC-milled solid aluminum. 

All of these Hoppers come with a "Red Forney Method" coal load made from Styrofoam. For more details and information on how this load is made, see Not Your Daddy’s Standard Gauge: A Guide to Modern Era Standard Gauge Trains and the People Who Made Them, by Arno Baars, MESG Publishing LLC, 2022, page 409.  The Hoppers are 16" long, and are compatible with Lionel and MTH 200-series cars, as well as other Glenn Toy freight cars. 

A few notes on the photos: 

• the Reading hopper is available with either Block lettering or Speed lettering; Red Forney also made both versions.

• The Glenn hoppers commissioned by the Standard Gauge Module Association as 2025 club cars for members were the Santa Fe and Southern, available only as SGMA 

cars, and the Peabody. The SGMA Peabody is all yellow with SGMA reporting marks. We are offering here a Peabody hopper that is yellow with green base, with PSL 

reporting marks.

• on the yellow and green Peabody and the black Pere Marquette hoppers only, every hopper is made with a different reporting number.

• most of the hoppers have flat black coal loads; the borax ore load in the Boraxo hopper is flat white.

To order, email: CMTLLC@gmavt.net.

While I may sometimes have a few Hoppers in stock, for the most part these cars will be individually made to order.  Price will be $325 per car plus shipping, payable at the time your car is finished.

Also, our Glenn-type Tank Cars and Boxcars are still available, and we are planning similar limited runs of Glenn-type Refrigerator Cars and Livestock Cars.