05-30-2013, 12:14 PM
MountainMan Wrote:fast car Wrote:Corn syrup, flour and granulated sugar could have been shipped by rail, however bulk egg is a tricky item, due to it's nature. You have to realize it becomes a liability game in the event that contaminants are found in bulk items. Where did the contamination originate... from the supplier or from the tank car leasing company? This goes for both truck tankers as well as rail cars. Several smaller loads of bulk items are more manageable than a few large loads.
Sounds like the solution is to have your own chickens and process your own eggs. Otherwise, outside contaminants will always be an issue no matter how it is transported.
But if the OP wants to use rail transport, he can easily do so, since your plant used to use it as proven by the existing rail spur which is still in place. Too many modelers end up talking themsleves out of the layout they really want because of "realism" issues.
Outside contamination, whether it is introduced during the production process or in the making of the raw material itself, is and always will be an issue. We purchased pasteurized whole eggs and preceeded to repasteurize the eggs once they were in-house. It's a small price to pay for piece of mind. We went as far as to purchase our own frozen warehouse facilities and staff them with our employees to make sure there is accountability and everyone is reading from the same page.
I'm not really sure what was delivered to our plant by rail. It was probably used during the late 60's and all through the 70's. I started in 1984, retiring this last January, 2013 and it was never used while I was there.