General Rubber Company.
#1
Guys,Here's what's on my feeble mind for General Rubber.

Background:

General Rubber is a reclaim operation that turns scrap rubber into rubber pellets...They recieve scrap rubber by truck,process it and ships pellets out in covered hoppers..

I know this will call for combining 2 kits together.


My thoughts is combining these 2 kits:

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And using a Delux yard office:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/238-302">http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/238-302</a><!-- m -->


Here lays the problem.

Does anybody know of a covered hopper loading Facility in N Scale?

Any other ideas?
Larry
Engineman

Summerset Ry

Make Safety your first thought, Not your last!  Safety First!
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#2
Larry, a simple structure like the one shown below, into which the hopper is being spotted, should do the trick without being too complicated.
[Image: Foe-toesfromTrainPhotos2007third-22.jpg]

You could make it as a lean-to added on to your main Pikestuff building, as shown in the photo, or as a free-standing structure, although in both cases it should be a little higher than mine to allow workers to stand on the car's roof during the loading process. Run a pipe or two to the roof from the main building or, if you use them, the storage silos. and you're in business.

I'd use Evergreen corrugated siding for construction - the size of the corrugations shouldn't be a concern, as industrial buildings often use material with ones much larger than would be used by a homeowner. Make the doorways on both ends just high enough to clear your tallest cars, and you won't have to worry about interior detail. Add some strip styrene bracing, as required, to add some strength to the assembly.

Wayne
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#3
Come to think of it I do have a loading shed and piping left over from the ADM kit bash..

I am trying to have different industries instead of the run of the mill.
Larry
Engineman

Summerset Ry

Make Safety your first thought, Not your last!  Safety First!
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#4
How do they process the rubber to turn it into pellets? When I toured the Cemex cement plant in Victorville, Ca at the NMRA Convention in 2008, they received trailer loads of used/scrap tires which were dumped into a conveyor, taken to a big grinder that ground the rubber. It then went to the burner where it was combined with ground up coal & coke to fire the kiln for processing the cement compound into clinker.
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#5
Russ,I am basing General Rubber operation on Swan Hose reclaim operation.Swan recieved production scrap from manufacturers that produces rubber products and may be car defective floor mats,rubber fishing lures (like worms minnows) rubber balls that failed QC,and other like rubber scrap..They chopped it up and then blended it with a chemical (J-Flex 256?) and then blended it together to make rubber..I think they used a vulcanizer or Banberry Mill or some type of rubber making machine.The end product was sheet rubber that was use to make rubber garden hose..
Larry
Engineman

Summerset Ry

Make Safety your first thought, Not your last!  Safety First!
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#6
Ok, Larry. I'm not familiar with the company or process, but I guess my main question was is the machinery small enough to be contained inside the relatively small building that you want to model or does it need a huge machinery building adjacent to the structure you are planning. Sounds like the machinery is relatively small.
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#7
Russ,General rubber will be 160' long by the time I combine both kits...That should be sufficent for the choppers and other machines..

Swans reclaim plant isn't very large but,it feeds the main plant..

Maybe I need to rethink the size of the building?
Larry
Engineman

Summerset Ry

Make Safety your first thought, Not your last!  Safety First!
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#8
After restudying my original plans I discovered 2 flaws-no truck dock and the building may not be quite long enough due to inside storage of scrap rubber-translation I had a opportunity to talk to a guy that worked several years in Swan Hose's reclaim plant and he gave me a lot of insight.I was heading in the right direction but,overlooked some items-to include the J-Flex arriving in a (his words) tanker freight car.

Any ideas on a kit or kitbash?
Larry
Engineman

Summerset Ry

Make Safety your first thought, Not your last!  Safety First!
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#9
Brakie Wrote:Russ,I am basing General Rubber operation on Swan Hose reclaim operation.Swan recieved production scrap from manufacturers that produces rubber products and may be car defective floor mats,rubber fishing lures (like worms minnows) rubber balls that failed QC,and other like rubber scrap..They chopped it up and then blended it with a chemical (J-Flex 256) and then blended it together to make rubber..I think they used a vulcanizer or Banberry Mill or some type of rubber making machine.The end product was sheet rubber that was use to make rubber garden hose...

I am of the understanding that the process in question is merely one more of the many production processes where the compound known as "J-Flex 256" is in actuality, the newest high tech Flux offering from GERN Ltd.!
biL

Lehigh Susquehanna & Western 

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." ~~Abraham Lincoln
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#10
You're right on biL....the latest offering from Gern Ltd. is a product called K-Flux 1000, which has many benefits, one of which is when mixed with the scrap rubber pieces parts it temporarily reduces the volume of the scrap until production begins. For Brakie, it means he can store more scrap in a smaller facility!!!! Icon_lol Icon_lol Icon_lol
Cheers,
Richard

T & A Layout Build http://bigbluetrains.com/forum/viewtopic...=46&t=7191
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#11
Sorry guys,but, the J-Flex 256 will be coming from O'Donnell Chemicals Plant 7 in New Jersey in 17,360 gal tank cars.

Maybe if GERN would approach General Rubber they may be able to win over the 256 contract.
Larry
Engineman

Summerset Ry

Make Safety your first thought, Not your last!  Safety First!
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#12
If you process used tires, you will need a large elctromnagnet to remove pieces of steel belts from the ground-up rubber.
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#13
Sounds like a really interesting industry with a variety of rolling stock and structures! Looking forward to seeing how it develops.

Galen
I may not be a rivet counter, but I sure do like rivets!
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#14
ocalicreek Wrote:Sounds like a really interesting industry with a variety of rolling stock and structures! Looking forward to seeing how it develops.

Galen

The needed buildings arrived at the hobby shop so,I need to go get 'em and I plan to go there Tuesday to pick 'em up..I hope to start the General Rubber project this Wednesday..

As far as rolling stock General Rubber receives empty covered hoppers and ships rubber pellets.
Larry
Engineman

Summerset Ry

Make Safety your first thought, Not your last!  Safety First!
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#15
Larry, how about adding a foundation to the Pike Stuff building? This would make it bigger without increasing the footprint.Unless of course you want to enlage the footprint. Eek :mrgreen:
Johnathan (Catt) Edwards
"The Ol Furrball"

"I'm old school,I still believe in respect"
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