03-15-2014, 10:59 AM
Let's look at the rolling stock that comes through. It's overwhelmingly tank cars:
On one hand, that's understandable given that the biggest customer is an oil company, and another one is a renderer. On the other hand, it ought to be a reminder that contemporary railroads don't have that much boxcar traffic. On another thread, we found that typical boxcar loadings on NS and CSX in a given week were less than 10%, and that represents an average. It's a lot less than 10% in this area.
Some of the cars going to Mobil Lubricants are MBLX:
Others are going to Darling International, stenciled "inedible Tallow":
Cars for at least SHQX and UTLX are stenciled this way.
Cars for Ancon Transportation seem to be carrying steel in one form or another, in gons or coil cars mainly:
One thing to keep in mind is that gons and flats coming in with loads need to have these loads modeled. I think a good part of the appeal of boxcars for ISLs is that not only do you get the fantasy that you can have an industry that's just a piece of foamcore, but the boxcars don't need to have loads visible. But we're back to the problem that limited space isn't an excuse for being lazy. There's a lot to model in the real world.
On my various visits to Malabar, I'm lucky to see a single boxcar:
My guess is this is going to Ancon Transportation as well.
On one hand, that's understandable given that the biggest customer is an oil company, and another one is a renderer. On the other hand, it ought to be a reminder that contemporary railroads don't have that much boxcar traffic. On another thread, we found that typical boxcar loadings on NS and CSX in a given week were less than 10%, and that represents an average. It's a lot less than 10% in this area.
Some of the cars going to Mobil Lubricants are MBLX:
Others are going to Darling International, stenciled "inedible Tallow":
Cars for at least SHQX and UTLX are stenciled this way.
Cars for Ancon Transportation seem to be carrying steel in one form or another, in gons or coil cars mainly:
One thing to keep in mind is that gons and flats coming in with loads need to have these loads modeled. I think a good part of the appeal of boxcars for ISLs is that not only do you get the fantasy that you can have an industry that's just a piece of foamcore, but the boxcars don't need to have loads visible. But we're back to the problem that limited space isn't an excuse for being lazy. There's a lot to model in the real world.
On my various visits to Malabar, I'm lucky to see a single boxcar:
My guess is this is going to Ancon Transportation as well.