C4 70 ton 1958 cubic foot ACF covered hopper, Mineral Red

HO scale, with trucks and magnetic couplers. Six car numbers available.   Cement is a binder that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. The most common type, Portland cement, is made by roasting limestone, with other materials such as clay, to 2,640 degrees Fahrenheit in a kiln to form calcium silicates. Clinker from the kiln, plus a small amount of gypsum, is ground into a powder to make ordinary Portland cement, which is used to make concrete, mortar, and grout. Portland cement is very dense, weighing 85 pounds per cubic foot. During the 19th century, cement was transported in wooden barrels that held 300 pounds of cement, and later in paper sacks, both expensive in packaging and in labor cost to load and unload box cars. Starting in 1935, GN assigned 40 ton box cars to on line plants supplying bulk cement for construction of Grand Coulee Dam in north central Washington state. These cars were unloaded using Fuller Kinyon pumps and may well have been loa