Interesting, but un-modeled industries

[nkp_174]

In my thread on Lima...in the Photography section...I included a little bit on the Lima Locomotive Works...which has me thinking...

What interesting shippers (real shippers) do you know of, but have never seen modeled?

Lima seems pretty cool to me...an army tank plant, a refinery, and a Steam locomotive builder all in close proximity. Both the Locomotive Works and Refinery were accessed directly from the Nickel Plate's yards.

I've never seen an army tank plant modeled...numerous materials in...and army tanks on flat cars out! Awesome.

Steam Locomotive (or diesel) builder...material in...many steam locomotives out. How else can one justify having Southern Pacific 2-8-8-4s and 4-8-4s, C&O 2-6-6-6s, NKP 4-6-4s, shays, and (insert other famous steam here) on your layout...without modeling such a railroad? I personally think a string of 2-8-0s is a pretty cool freight train. Modeling ALCO would allow 15 of Monogram's 4-6-4 & 4-8-8-4 kits to be a freight train! So cool.

A car builder would also be a cool industry...but I'd prefer a locomotive manufacturer...especially since we modelers tend to have an unprototypically high locomotive-car ratio.

What other undermodeled industries can you think of?

[Mileswestern]

Food products plants are VERY seldom modeled. Reefer & Boxcars in, Reefers & boxcars out. I mean like a Juice Plant, or an Industrial Bakery, or a Modern Cold Storage facility or even specialty factories like those in Idaho that make potatoes into french fries for the fast food industry.

Not enough people model furniture factories. They were present in every major city until the 1970's. Lumber on flats, in gons and boxcars, and boxcars out, usually the double door variety even in the 1900's.

Borax plants and they're huge expansive mess of dusty buildings and conveyor belts.

A serious ironworks complex that makes large iron parts for old bridges and even decorative stuff like statues and fences.

Telephone company service yard (This is a real industry!) Spools of wire in, empties out. Depressed-center flatcars, yay!

Large Machine works, I know the loading docks would be filled it all sorts of unusual items!

Not very many people model the huge ethanol or chemical plants scattered over the country.

How about a corn syrup processing plant! You never seem to find a good use for those modern cornsyrup tank cars.

Large railcar lessors, like GATX have HUGE facilities that repair, build, and maintain their fleets. I'm really surprised nobody has done this.

[doctorwayne]

When I get the second level of my layout built, I hope to include a quarry (not modelled, though, only suggested, with a siding disappearing behind a hill), a sugar beet loading station, turnip storage facility, furniture factory, cigarette factory, and a tannery, among other, more usual, ones. The first two and the last one will be in rural settings.

Wayne

[Mileswestern]

Do you have any photographs of these unique industries Wayne? The Cigarette factory and Tannery would be interesting to see.

[doctorwayne]

Nothing on hand, Miles, but the Special Collections Section of a nearby library has lots of old prints for viewing, and I think that they'll make copies for a nominal fee. My intention is to merely represent the industries, not to really model the operations in detail - I want them as traffic generators for the railroad as much as for their scenic value. I'd also like to include more textile mills, as that industry played a prominent part in the economy around my home town.

Wayne

[steinjr]

Do you have any photographs of these unique industries Wayne? The Cigarette factory and Tannery would be interesting to see.

The Library of Congress HABS/HAER (Historic American Building Survey/Historic American Engineering Records) has quite a few interesting sets of pictures, descriptions and plans/drawing of various industries.

Home page: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/...jectA.html

There are also other interesting photo archives available on the net - e.g. the Minnesota Historical Society's Visual Records Database at URL http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/

I did a quick search for "factory" and "plant" between 1930 and 1970, and a quick scan yielded at least these potensially interesting industries:

Beet Sugar Factory: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...geid=16217
Tractor Factory: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...eid=197294
Roofing plant: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...geid=76841
Boiler and Manufacturing plant: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...eid=144070
Bottling Plant: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...geid=75696
Wood conversion plant: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...eid=174278
Granite Finishing plant: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...geid=73923

Edit 12-25 - here is a bunch of other industries that looks fairly modelgenic:
Rilco Plant, Albert Lea, MN: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...eid=173383
(No idea what they made, but they have an interesting track arrangement)
Redi-Mix Plant, Willmar, MN: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...eid=150974
Mr Richards Plant, Savage, MN: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...eid=151238
Turkey Plant, Melrose, MN: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...eid=151400
Power Plant, Austin, MN: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...eid=151507
Packing Plant, Worthington, MN: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...eid=151919
Power Plant and Elevators, Worthington, MN: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...eid=151976
Alfalfa Plant, Luverne, MN: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...eid=152018
Seed Corn Plant, Dassel, MN: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...eid=152704
Chicken Canning Plant, Butterfield, MN: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...eid=152998
Boat Manufacturing Plant, Mora, MN: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...eid=153986
Fertilizer Plant, Fergus Falls, MN: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...eid=154518
Mixed industries, Fergus Falls, MN: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresour...eid=154521

I made a design based on the last one once:


Anyways - have a nice Christmas!

Grin,
Stein

[Mileswestern]

Thanks Stein,

There are some really interesting industries there! wow. The Marble finishing plant is very modelgenic.

[Brakie]

There are many industries that modelers overlook..
Here is a list of favorites.

Pillsbury.IN:Sugar,flour,corn starch,corn sweetener

Valley Produce.IN: Produce

Midland Foods Dist.IN: Food stuffs,paper products/plastic ware.

Standard American Knitting Corp.IN Cloth,Dyes,tread.

Roberts Distribution. IN:Beer,wine whiskey Tobacco products.

General Plastic Corp. IN:Resin/empties OUT: Plastic pellets/Empties.

Ideal Leather Co.IN:Hides chemicals empties OUTrocess Leather empties.


Now,think of this..A lumber company receives lumber as we know..It can also recieve roofing,Paneling and insulation.

Now let's look to the BRC list of customers.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.beltrailway.com/industries.html">http://www.beltrailway.com/industries.html</a><!-- m -->

As you can see there are many unusual rail customers that most modelers never think about.

[Bob C]

Just a couple I haven't heard yet, that PC handled: H.J. Heinz food processing and cannery, (plant served by B&O and PRR/PC/CR) inbound box and reefers fruit, vegetables, meat, raw ingredients, sugar (later hoppers + tanks),packing material (wood/paper/cardboard), coal (boilerhouse) - outbound boxes, reefers, tanks (products), gons (waste), PICKLE Cars (!!) - large brick multi-floor industrial bldgs. ; Glass manufacturers - large masonry structures/furnaces/distinctive stacks, inbound dry bulk material (sand, lime, etc. in hoppers/boxes), outbound product (flat sheet/plate, containers small & large) boxes, gons (scrap/waste)...again, HABS/HAER has photos to give you ideas. The gears are still turning, but the teeth don't meet like they should. :? Bob C

[nkp_174]

I like the idea of pickle cars out. There are some pretty cool, unique cars out there.

[e-paw]

I lived near a brass foundry, they had box cars in of raw materials and forms. the out going was gons of scrap and boxes of finished products.They burned natural gas piped in from public service but it could be back dated to a coal furnace that would add coal loads inbound and empties out.

[MountainMan]

Airplane factory: raw materials in - fuselages and wings out.

Pleasure craft manufacturer: raw materials - powerboats, fishing boats and luxury craft out, one per flatcar.

Heavy electrical equipment plant: raw materials in - massive transformers out.

Agricultural machinery plant: raw materials in - combines, harvesters, gangplows, harrowers, spreaders and planters out.

Explosives manufacturer: raw materials in - finished explosives out.

Nuclear reactor: fuel rods in - nuclear waste out in special "caskets".

Industrial acid manufacturing: raw materials in - acids out in special tankcars.

Quarries, such as granite, slate and marble: raw stone out to finishing plant, and finished products out from there - everything from roofing tiles to pool tables, countertops to tombstones.

[MountainMan]

Sewage treatment plant?

[Mileswestern]

Mountian Man, You're right. San Francisco had a water treatment plant on the embarcadero that recieved Chlorine tank cars in/ empties out.

I've never seen a munitions factory modeled...

IN _ Raw Aluminium, Chemicals, Nitrate (Tank cars and gons)
OUT _ Boxcars loaded with munitions out.

[MountainMan]

Mountian Man, You're right. San Francisco had a water treatment plant on the embarcadero that recieved Chlorine tank cars in/ empties out.

I've never seen a munitions factory modeled...

IN _ Raw Aluminium, Chemicals, Nitrate (Tank cars and gons)
OUT _ Boxcars loaded with munitions out.

You're right - that would be a good one, although "selective compression" might be a little tricky! Ammo plants like a LOT of space.

I visited the old Navaho Depot - an ordnance reconditioning and storage facility - back when I was in the Army. Fascinating place - an odd mixture of the old and new. WWII wooden buildings alongside modern assembly, and tracks everywhere. It was a bit like a time warp.