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+--- Thread: Pet Food Manufacturer (/showthread.php?tid=4525)
Pet Food Manufacturer - TTRAK_andrew - 10-25-2011
While surfing the net for various topic I came across this web page:
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of the Todd & Sargent engineering and construction firm. They do a lot of work with bulk grain facilities, many of which are rail served. All of their site is worth exploring for inspiration for trackside industries but the IAMS pet food plant in Henderson North Carolina caught my attention. It appears to receive only bulk grain by rail, and that to an unloading shed and set of silos that could be modelled as separate from the main structure. This would make it a good source of inwards loaded covered hopper traffic without a lot of ground space being occupied. For someone wanting to model it more prototypically they even have their own switcher.
To find it on Google Maps use the address: 845 Commerce Dr Henderson, NC, 27537-7450
Bing Maps needs: peter gill rd, Commerce Dr Henderson, NC, 27537-7450 to get you on the exact site.
Regards,
Andrew G.
Re: Pet Food Manufacturer - railohio - 10-25-2011
There's one near Leipsic, Ohio, too:
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Receives inbound hoppers only. Has it's own trackmobile for moving them around on the property. It's switched weekdays by the D743 local north out of Lima.
Re: Pet Food Manufacturer - MountainMan - 10-25-2011
"Grain only", huh? Nothing at all like what they advertise is in their petfood, then.
Re: Pet Food Manufacturer - TTRAK_andrew - 10-25-2011
Well, I suppose it could be soybean meal and other granular/milled foodstuffs. I once heard a vet say that domesticated dogs and cats need a fair bit of vegetable material in their diets to replace the semi-digested vegetation in the digestive systems of prey animals that would have been eaten if the dog/cat was in the wild. When our cat catches a mouse, it eats ALL OF IT, except for the tail.
Regards, Andrew G.
Re: Pet Food Manufacturer - FCIN - 10-25-2011
Look's like IAMS pet food has a 70 Ton GE for their switcher. Here's another one Higgin's Premium Pet Foods, Hialeah, FL: http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=n9f48689c5jd&lvl=20.022951614663473&dir=353.4475265593146&sty=o&where1=Hialeah%2C%20FL&form=LMLTCC
Re: Pet Food Manufacturer - TTRAK_andrew - 10-25-2011
Higgins Premium Pet Food looks like a good candidate for an industrial switching layout. You can pick out the covered over grain/granular product unloading chute for covered hoppers. There are two spots for box cars, one of which has an angled platform to unload a box car located on the curve bringing the track from the switch back to parallel with the `main' track. A nice sized operation, giving me some good ideas. I could imagine one hopper or one boxcar being delivered every second day or so in the life of an
ISL.
Thanks for suggesting it Ed, Andrew G.
Re: Pet Food Manufacturer - TTRAK_andrew - 10-25-2011
I just checked out the Higgins Premium Pet Foods website:
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They specialize in bird feeds and feeds for small animals such as rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters etc. That would suggest that box cars would be used a fair bit to bring in bagged special grains/seeds and pellets as well as covered hoppers bringing in the bulk used grains and seeds - eg millet, wheat, etc.
Regards,
Andrew G.
Re: Pet Food Manufacturer - FCIN - 10-26-2011
TTRAK_andrew Wrote:Higgins Premium Pet Food looks like a good candidate for an industrial switching layout.I found Higgins many months ago while looking for industrial areas and still consider it a possible industry for the layout. Certainly an interesting structure with multiple car spots. If you rotate the views in Bing, looking eastward you'll see two covered hoppers on spot and then looking westward you'll see one. You can certainly see all the detail you'd need to model this facility, even as a low relief structure. Some good views of Higgins can also been seen in Google street view.
Any similar small to medium size feed mill operation would be a good candidate for an ISL. We tend to think of feed mills as being industries you find in more rural areas, but Higgins is a good example of one located in a dense industrial area.
Re: Pet Food Manufacturer - Londoner - 10-26-2011
I agree with Ed about feed mills.
In searching for a prototype to base my model on, I have come across many interesting examples such as this one
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://peoriastation.blogpeoria.com/2010/09/23/rail-users-series-american-milling-co-feedmill/">http://peoriastation.blogpeoria.com/201 ... -feedmill/</a><!-- m -->
Ken