Pellets unloading
#1
While strolling along the Santa Fe Ave in Vernon the other day a big noise attracted my attention. A truck was unloading plastic pellets from a hopper. I approached the two guys at the truck, identified myself and asked if I could do some photos. They were very kindly and provided permission to do some photos.
I could not ask any questions because it was extreme noisy and the work was almost completed (I might have had to do the conversation in Spanish language anyhow).

[Image: IMG_0859.jpg?t=1311982910]

That is all of the very simple installation to unload from covered hopper to truck.

A permanent installation provides pipes to be ran into the top hatch of the covered hopper
[Image: IMG_0838.jpg?t=1311983110]

A hose is attached and runs under the wire fence
[Image: IMG_0837.jpg?t=1311821949]

to the installation at the end of the truck
[Image: IMG_0836.jpg?t=1311821945]

That looks quite simple for an industry.
Reinhard
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#2
Definitely interesting. Do you have more detailed pictures of what pipes went were?
Modeling New Jersey Under the Wire 1978-1979.  
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#3
Green_Elite_Cab Wrote:Definitely interesting. Do you have more detailed pictures of what pipes went were?

Sorry, more was not visible from my location. The two guys had finished unloading and wanted to get rid of me and my wife was waiting at the street front for me. May be a LA local can revisit the spot. It is private property but not fenced. The hole piping shall be better visible when no hopper is on the track.

It is at the south side of Caltex Plastic at the intersection of Santa Fe and Fruitland. Google streetview has also a string of hoppers on the track covering more details.
Reinhard
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#4
Very interesting, Reinhard. I think there are quite a few plastics companies in the Los Angeles area. A couple of questions are in my mind. I've never heard of Celtex Plastics, but I'm wondering if they manufacture the plastic pellets or are final users of the pellets? Of they manufacture the pellets, I would presume that they are loading them in the hoppers for delivery to other parts of the country. If they are the final user are they reselling pellets to a smaller plastics company? I guess it seems a bit strange to see a truck loading pellets from a hopper on a siding next to a plastics company. It is almost like the Celtex Plastics siding is used by the company for their own purposes as well as for a "team track" to unload pellets to trucks for other users.
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#5
Russ Bellinis Wrote:Very interesting, Reinhard. I think there are quite a few plastics companies in the Los Angeles area. A couple of questions are in my mind. I've never heard of Celtex Plastics, but I'm wondering if they manufacture the plastic pellets or are final users of the pellets? Of they manufacture the pellets, I would presume that they are loading them in the hoppers for delivery to other parts of the country. If they are the final user are they reselling pellets to a smaller plastics company? I guess it seems a bit strange to see a truck loading pellets from a hopper on a siding next to a plastics company. It is almost like the Celtex Plastics siding is used by the company for their own purposes as well as for a "team track" to unload pellets to trucks for other users.

Might it be that they manufacture their own brand of plastic goods, as well as wholesale and ship pellets to other local manufacturers who may not be rail-served. :?:

Andrew
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#6
According to their website http://www.caltexplastics.com/, they manufacture plastic products and distribute plastics. My guess is that they don't always use all of the pellets that they buy and merely buy in large enough bulk to distribute to smaller businesses that use a fraction of the freight car worth of pellets or don't have their businesses alongside the tracks.
Mike Kieran
Port Able Lines

" If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be " - Yogi Berra.
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#7
:? Ok, so I have been following this thread and I’m getting more and more confused. Is the truck being loaded or unloaded? It looks to me that the truck is unloading its contents into the hopper. Am I wrong?

While doing some research, I found this cool website with lots of great pictures. Eek

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://members.trainweb.com/bedt/indloco/nynjr.html">http://members.trainweb.com/bedt/indloco/nynjr.html</a><!-- m -->

Scroll about 1/3 the way down and you will see a truck being loaded from a hopper. They are using one of the upper pipes on the truck and of course it’s hooked up the bottom of the hopper, hence my confusion. Reinhard’s picture shows the hose being hooked up to the lower pipe on the truck and it appears to be going to the top hatch of the hopper. What do you guys think?

Mark
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#8
Southern Tuxedo Wrote::? Ok, so I have been following this thread and I’m getting more and more confused. Is the truck being loaded or unloaded? It looks to me that the truck is unloading its contents into the hopper. Am I wrong?

While doing some research, I found this cool website with lots of great pictures. Eek

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://members.trainweb.com/bedt/indloco/nynjr.html">http://members.trainweb.com/bedt/indloco/nynjr.html</a><!-- m -->

Scroll about 1/3 the way down and you will see a truck being loaded from a hopper. They are using one of the upper pipes on the truck and of course it’s hooked up the bottom of the hopper, hence my confusion. Reinhard’s picture shows the hose being hooked up to the lower pipe on the truck and it appears to be going to the top hatch of the hopper. What do you guys think?

Mark

I'm not sure, Mark. The web site for Caltex Plastics raised even more questions in my mind. The web site said that they convert "laminated multi-layer barrier products into custom pouches, tubing, sheets, and sheeting..." That sounds like they receive plastic sheeting in rolls rather than pellets. If that is the case I would expect them to receive boxcar loads rather than covered hoppers. Could it be that scrap pieces are converted back into pellets to be sent back for recycling?
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#9
After reading the thread again I start to think another way:
Checking out the foto's it look like that the piping is fixed to the Hoppers as stated also by Reinhard. Thus I think that the hoppers are only used as a storage device. After a short look at google maps I'm pretty sure that I am right, because I can't find a connection to any track.
http://maps.google.de/maps?q=Fruitland+A...6&t=h&z=19
Obviously the connection to the left is abandoned and cut back. The connection should have been to the former SP branch which has been rebuilt as what is now known as the Alameda Corridor.

The truck in Reinhards foto should therefor be unloading.

Below are two pics of Merlin Plastics I shot at Annacis Island. Merlin Plastics is a plastic recycling company and the pics shows the loading dock.
[Image: 1280_3766613136366462.jpg]
[Image: 1280_6536346562383963.jpg]
Thomas

[Image: 1280_6137653835326361.jpg]
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