I have room on my trackplan for one more medium sized industry. I want something that could see gondolas come in and out, but Im not sure what. Ive thought about a scrapyard, but that seems almost too generic if that makes sense. My layout is set in the midwest, but what do we have here that uses gondolas?
Almost anything can be hauled in gondolas. If I may ask, what era are you modeling?
Steel beams, pipes, steel plates, and like you mentioned, scrap.
These are just a couple of suggestions.
I've posted in the past about a small tank manufacturer in Los Angeles. A similar industry could be found almost anywhere. The tanks they make look like they are for compressed air for industry. The actual plant is not much larger than a large gas station, but they receive three gons loaded with steel every couple of weeks. They send out one gon loaded with scrap cuttings about the same time that the railroad brings in another three loads. They may have slowed down during this recession, but you certainly don't need to model a recession.
Until at least WW1, western railroads tended to use gondolas instead of hoppers for hauling coal. Until more specialized cars became common, flat cars/gondolas were the universal cars for bulk commodities not needing protection from weather. Gondolas were quickly made by adding side and end boards to a flat car - the height of the boards depending on the anticipated weight of the load. You couldn't haul as much of a heavier commodity (ore instead of coal), so lower sides would be used.
Even after WW1, side and center dump gondolas were often preferred over hoppers in the West.
my thoughts, your choices
Fred W
Unless you have hopper bottoms or side dumps, you're stuck with goods that can be lifted in or out. Steel loads are good, especially pipes and similar (Plastruct shapes). Scrap is good because it can be taken out with an electromagnet. Weatherproof final products that can be taken out with a crane -- maybe a flux roaster.
There's an interesting discussion on MREMag <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.mremag.com/">http://www.mremag.com/</a><!-- m --> about unloading coal wagons with side doors, hinged top planks and why you don't want to shovel from the top of a wagon full of coal.
My layout is based on a 90's-present time period. I know steel is one of te most common loads, does anybody have any more ideas for industrys that would use steel? My layout is set around a small town, so I dont see a giant steel mill being there, but I know there are smaller industries that use steel, I just need ideas. Im starting to like the idea of a Gern related industry.
Kevin, if you want something steel-related, how about a fabricating shop? Depending on what's being fabricated, inbound loads could be structural shapes, coils, or heavy plates. Outbound traffic could use flats, gondolas, or boxcars, depending on the product, or it could all go out via truck.
If you want a GERN connection, the plant could be one manufacturing flux milling or refining machinery, including flux roasters.
Some sheet and strip styrene and some odds 'n' ends from the scrap box could make into some interesting loads for outbound flats and gondolas.
I don't know about nowadays, but not that many years ago, sugar beets often travelled in gondolas, usually drop-bottom ones, and the cars often had built-up sides.
Wayne
Since your doing a modern layout, here's an idea. How about a company that makes bases or towers for those wind powered generators? Steel plates could come in gondolas, and your company, maybe the biggest employer in your town, could roll or fabricate major sub-assemblies for wind powered generators, such as the towers. Sub-assemblies could be shipped out in gondolas.
Just because its a small town, doesen't mean a small company didn't win a big contract.
Hmmm....I just gave myself an idea....
KevinKrey Wrote:I have room on my trackplan for one more medium sized industry. I want something that could see gondolas come in and out, but Im not sure what. Ive thought about a scrapyard, but that seems almost too generic if that makes sense. My layout is set in the midwest, but what do we have here that uses gondolas?
Everybody does a scrap yard..
Dare to trod a unbeaten path..
As food for thought I present the following.
1.Steel drainage pipes.
2.A foundry that ships steel shavings
3.A electric company pole yard.Receives electric poles in gons..I see these quite often on NS and CSX.
4.Steel rods of various sizes.
5.A heavy equipment re-builder..Ships scrap threads,blades etc.
Kevin, if you are modeling a small town on your layout, 99% of the freight on any train will come from someplace else and be delivered someplace else. Unless a small town has a large industry that pretty much dominates the town, they won't have enough industry to load or unload any train. Put whatever cars you are interested in having on your layout and let them pass through the town to staging. In the case of gons you could even have loaded gons going east and empties going west or vice versa.
Thanks everybody. So far I am between the heavy equipment rebuilder (I like heavy equipment), the wind turbine idea, or a gern related place. Not sure what Im leaning towards. But either way it looks like it will be a booming town, there is already a larege gravel pit and large grain distrubutor, sounds like a very prosperous place to live. Sounds like just the kind of place Gern would like to expand to.