05-26-2011, 01:11 PM
Technically speaking, any mining railroad qualifies as a "one-industry" layout, particularly coal mines, which bring empties in and loaded cars out, the simplest operation of all. This could also include a railroad servicing a paper mill, almost any manufacturing plant, a distillery of any kind and so forth.
If length of track is a factor, then a steel mill railroad that moves fuel and raw ore to the smelters and molten steel out to the rolling plant would be the same. Others in this category would be brick factories, tie manufacturing plants and so forth. Basic raw materials in and finished product out.
A quarry would be an even better example, bringing empties in and quarried stone out to the plant, to be trucked elsewhere as a variety of finished products.
And, of course, the tourist railroad remains the ultimate one-industry railroad - the "raw materials transport themselves to the "factory"., are hauled around for a while and then sent home on their own!!
I have always wanted to do a military railroad swerving the trenches of WWI or the German Atlantic Wall of WWII - a very specific example of a one-industry road. The best of these that I have read about was a former Russian coastal defense fortress, spread out over a relatively large area on a peninsula. The narrow gauge line that served the fort carried construction supplies, iron, steel and concrete mostly but also cannon to be installed, and also wood for the barracks, camp supplies and troops, and hauled ammo to the batteries. The only time it ever took anything away from the fortress came when the fort was decommissioned, and cannon and other items were moved to a connection with the regular Russian railroad for transport elsewhere. If the various turrets, cranes and other equipment were animated, this would be a very satisfactory one-industry layout.
If length of track is a factor, then a steel mill railroad that moves fuel and raw ore to the smelters and molten steel out to the rolling plant would be the same. Others in this category would be brick factories, tie manufacturing plants and so forth. Basic raw materials in and finished product out.
A quarry would be an even better example, bringing empties in and quarried stone out to the plant, to be trucked elsewhere as a variety of finished products.
And, of course, the tourist railroad remains the ultimate one-industry railroad - the "raw materials transport themselves to the "factory"., are hauled around for a while and then sent home on their own!!
I have always wanted to do a military railroad swerving the trenches of WWI or the German Atlantic Wall of WWII - a very specific example of a one-industry road. The best of these that I have read about was a former Russian coastal defense fortress, spread out over a relatively large area on a peninsula. The narrow gauge line that served the fort carried construction supplies, iron, steel and concrete mostly but also cannon to be installed, and also wood for the barracks, camp supplies and troops, and hauled ammo to the batteries. The only time it ever took anything away from the fortress came when the fort was decommissioned, and cannon and other items were moved to a connection with the regular Russian railroad for transport elsewhere. If the various turrets, cranes and other equipment were animated, this would be a very satisfactory one-industry layout.