In 1989, Burlington Northern received a series of freight cars called “Boppers” built by Bethlehem Johnstown. These experimental aluminum cars had both side doors and roof hatches, and could be used as both covered hoppers or boxcars, hence the name “Boppers” for these boxhopper cars. They didn’t quite work out as intended, and in 2002, BNSF donated three of the cars to the Lake Superior Railroad Museum. Prototype No. 800000 sits between sister cars 800004 and 800001 at Duluth, Minnesota, on June 10, 2016.
