With
the onset of WWII, sheet steel became in short supply due to critical
national defense applications. In 1942 the War Production Board
authorized the design of seven standard freight cars that would
utilize "composite" construction with wood replacing the
sheet steel wherever feasible. Saving approximately 2 1/2 tons of
steel when compared to all-steel construction, the war emergency
hopper was one of the successful designs. Over 11,000 of these hoppers
were constructed from 1942 through 1945 and many remained in service
either in original form or rebuilt with steel sides, throughout the
1950's and 1960’s.
