Green_Elite_Cab Wrote:Not that the weren't industrial parks in the 1980s, but they weren't around then like the are around now. In those days, there was still branch lines with industries along them.
Actually, there were more rail served industries in industrial parks in the 70's and 80's then there are now. You can find examples all over the country where a rail spur serves an industrial area, but most of the customers have either closed or no longer ship/receive by rail. And yes, there were more branch lines that had industries scattered along them then there are today, but lines being abandoned or sold to short lines that couldn't build a traffic base have killed off a lot of them. I know of many such examples around this part of the country.
Industrial Parks as we've come to know them, started appearing all over the country in the early to mid 60's. Unfortunately, since then, many businesses have folded or stopped using rail service, so it's very common to see industrial lines that have a lot of unused tracks and structures on them. This in one reason, I prefer to base my layout in the late 70's to early 80's. Not only was it a more colorful era, there were more railroads too, which equates to more variety on your layout.
Just a local example of how industrial parks have changed:
An industrial park started being developed here in Frankfort, KY, in the early 60's, just outside of town at Jett, KY on the L&N. When I worked for the L&N through the 70's the following industries were located in Jett:
Southern States Co-Op - received tank cars of LP Gas
Lee Masonry Products - received box cars and bulkhead flats of brick which they unloaded at Jett and then trucked about 8 miles to the other side of town to their facility.
Frank F. Taylor Company - received box cars of material used for making baby beds and strollers
Union Underwear Company - received box cars of fabric materials and shipped occasional loads of unmentionables (tee shirts and undies)
Fast Food Merchandisers - received reefers of french fries for distribution to Hardee's
General Electric - Plastics plant that manufactured refrigerator liners which were then trucked to the GE plant in Louisville.
Our L&N local, always had work to do at Jett every day during this time and this doesn't even cover all the industries that were located here in town and the branch line to Old Taylor and Old Crow distilleries, which was operated by a second train crew six nights a week.
Around 1985, when the F&C railroad ceased operations, National Distillers built a tank car transload at Jett for shipments of grain alcohol that had been handled on the F&C.
Here's what exists there today:
National Distillers is now Jim Beam Distillers and they still receive the alcohol tank cars, but only now and then; maybe one or two per week when the Old Grandad plant is in production.
Strategic Materials Inc - loads covered hoppers with broken glass from the nearby Toyota plant for recycling. 3 or 4 cars per week
Washington Penn Plastics (the former GE plant) has actually expanded and is the main customer; producing various plastic parts for both the auto industry and others. R J Corman has car loads of plastic pellets destined to this plant stored in every available track along the line.
As for the other industries. Frank Taylor and Union Underwear both closed their plants in the mid to late 80's and their tracks were removed. Couldn't compete with foreign manufacturers. Southern States demand for LP Gas has fallen off, so they simply truck what they need from another facility and their track has been removed. Lee Masonry, constructed a new facility in Lexington, KY, and trucks the brick from Lexington to their facility in Frankfort. Fast Food Merchandisers sold their facility to another company who no longer receives rail shipments, so their track was also removed.
You can find examples like this all over the country. Didn't mean to hijack the thread, but thought it might give you some ideas and examples for a theme and era to model. Going backward in time equals more rail served industries - going forward equals less.
Justin;
If you are satisfied with your current track plan, then just go freelance and start building it. It can be anything you like and by freelancing, you aren't tying yourself to specific industries and car types. Your layout can be any railroad that suits your fancy, just make it believable and operate it like a real railroad. Pick industries that you like and provide good operation and equipment variety. You can do like a lot of modelers and just create your own railroad company.
Later on, if you decide you want to change themes and your layout, then you'll have the experience behind you and can build an even better layout.
By all means, go with Peco turnouts, at least for your first efforts. Won't cost you any more than other turnouts and they are very reliable. I have some that are 20 years old and have been used on several different layouts over the past few years and never had a problem with them. As GEC says, use flex track and if you can get a Dremel motor tool. They are really handy for all sorts of projects.
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