H25 Hopper Car Information for Modelers

The Pennsy's fleet of H25 class hoppers were built between July 1919 and July 1923. In addition to the 3,000 built for the PRR, the Pennsy 2,287 of the same cars from private operators, including Emmons Coal Company, Bethlehem Steel Company, Pickens-Mather and Co., and Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co., bringing the total to 5,287. Other than 500 purchased from Emmons, all others were built by Cambria Steel in Johnstown, Pa.

The H25 differed subtly in appearance from the H21A, and was done so because of lessons learned from the H21, H22 and H24 class hopper cars. The cars were initially delivered with a "drop-door" arrangement, but by August 1928 conversions began to the more modern "saw tooth" arrangement. There were many more differences, particularly on the ends, which are discussed in John Teichmoeller's book, Pennsylvania Railroad Steel Open Top Hopper Cars.

Starting in 1949 some H25's were rebuilt into class H25A, which was identical to the PRR's later H21G class. By April 1955, 643 of the remaining 3,127 in service H25's were converted to H25A's. These cars, due to their age, did not last into the Penn Central Merger era.

The H25 class has been produced by two brass importers, Sunset and Railworks. While both are externally correct, on the Sunset version, the sides were pressed on a die, leaving an indentation on the interior of the car which isn't correct. However the Railworks version is completely accurate. In addition to brass, this class has also been done in resin by Westerfield and Funaro & Camerlengo. Decals are available from Mount Vernon Shops.

Cars on the PRR roster (as listed in the Official Railway Equipment Register (ORER)):

Funaro & Camerlengo H25 Hopper