HOKI 5200 Limestone Freight Train 9-Car Set Kato 10-2007

The limestone transportation freight car which operated on the Dosan Main Line.
The HOKI 5200 is an open hopper car with a unique exterior shape and a 30-ton capacity. 20 cars in total were manufactured at Hitachi Works between 1958 and 1961. Two of the cars are equipped with an operating room to control the sliding gates on the underside of the vehicle body (used for unloading cargo). These cars used air pressure in units throughout the train to open/close the sliding gates and were always included in the formation. Privately owned by the Tosa Lime Industry, these freight cars were used for limestone transport trains between Togano and Ōnogō on the Dosan Main Line,transporting 100,000 tons per month on a 13-km section by piston transport with a heavy train of DF50s in tow.