The MTH fishbelly hopper is an accurate, nice looking model of the WM fishbelly hopper. CNJ, D&H, RDG, and LV had very similar hoppers. See the Wayne Sittner article in the November 1982 Railroad Model Craftsman. The MTH hopper compares well with the Yoder brass WM fishbelly hopper. I wish the MTH hoppers had been available before I bought Yoder brass hoppers.
The N&W HL hoppers are the same size as the WM hoppers but they have the peaked ends. In addition to the HL models listed by Christopher there was a late 30s model of the N&W HL hopper produced by RailCraft. I have a number of both the RailCraft and International cars. I bought them to kitbash to WM fishbelly hoppers before the Atlas and Yoder models became available. Here is a photo of an International N&W hopper kitbash. I removed the peaked end, modified the vertical braces on the end, and painted and decaled the model.
Adding a peaked end to the MTH model would result in a reasonable stand in model of either the HL or H9 hoppers in the photos above. Modifying the vertical braces on the ends of the MTH hopper would result in an accurate model.
Larry Kline
Pittsburgh, PA
