While railfanning Alabama Junction in Savannah Ga. yesterday evening, I spotted the the "Whopper Hopper" in the Savannah Metals scrap yard across from the junction. The car was lettered in very faded SCL scheme however, I reconized the car from the ACL Color Guide. I have no idea of the future of the car but,it seems that another unique part of the ACL is going to be lost. I will try to get photos of the car this afternoon.

-- Rick Merritt (rickmerritt@hotmail.com), August 31, 2001

Answers

The North Carolina Department of Transportation has asked us to pass on the good news that NCDOT has purchased the Whopper Hopper for preservation purposes, intends on restoring it to its original ACL paint scheme, and will then display the car on the REA Building track at the recently restored Rocky Mount, NC, train station. The car will be displayed with former ACL business car 303 that the NCDOT and City are currently restoring to its post WWII ACL appearance. NCDOT is going thru the competitive bid process to have the Whopper Hopper restored by a private freight car shop prior to movement to Rocky Mount for display. NCDOT had previously purchased former ACL 501 E-3 and returned it to NC for display at the NC Transportation Museum at Spencer. Final restoration plans are still a couple of weeks off and will depend on bids received.

-- Larry Goolsby (LGoolsby@aphsa.org), September 26, 2001.

Anymore news about the Whopper Hopper. It is no longer at Savannah Metals in Savannah as of last night.

-- Rick Merritt (rickmerritt@hotmail.com), September 25, 2001.

Working on it. Hang tight, and cross your fingers and toes. Marc

-- Marc Hamel (gigsup@aol.com), September 02, 2001.

I was informed yesterday that the dealer and NCDOT DID NOT agree on a deal.

-- J Oates (jlosal@mindspring.com), August 31, 2001.

According to some Yahoo group sources, the NC Transportation Museum has purchased the Whopper Hopper and will be transporting it to Spencer in the coming weeks. The NCTM has established a fund for restoring the car.

-- mark huband (m.huband@att.net), August 31, 2001.

Yep, this has been all over the Yahoo discussion boards. CSX sold the "Whopper" to a Savannah scrap dealer about 2 weeks ago and, while there is some sort of effort by various organizations to gain it a reprieve from the shredder, it's fate is still undetermined.

I believe the deadline set by the scrap dealer to "put up or shut up" was today (Friday, August 31st). Any others know any updates on this?

-- Buck Dean (bdean@jngray.com), August 31, 2001.