Southern Pacific Switching Layout

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Industrial parks are not really prominently pictured or mentioned in most of my books (or at the very least, they are not pointed out).

How true! This is one aspect of the railroad industry that seems to have been greatly overlooked for many years. One that in my opinion is the most interesting aspect of railroading. After all, rail shipments must originate and terminate at their customers.

Couldn't tell you how many times I've seen a photo or video of a crew working such and such an industry and thought to myself, "what are they shipping/receiving" - "what does this facility look like?", etc.

Perhaps with all the interest these days in industrial switching, we'll start to see more information about such operations. Even though my layout is currently in the planning/testing stage but can be operated, I've gotten more enjoyment from modeling and operating an industrial spur than any other layout theme I've gotten in to over the years.

It's great to see modelers like Jack Hill, who actual work in the industry, take the time to photograph and explain the way railroad service works at specific industries/locations. Hope to see more of this in the future. I sure wish I'd taken a camera with me years ago and photographed what took place at the distilleries and other industries around here!

Personally, I blame the "Good old Days" crowd. These are the people who stopped watching trains as Amtrak, state agencies and the Mega-Mergers began to take hold from the old railroads.

They lament the disappearance of the PRR, or the destruction of named passenger trains or whatever train from their child hood that got cancelled or abandoned, and just didn't care for the then "New" stuff. This is reflected in Hobby magazines, which constantly feature steam and transition era layouts.

Books on the 1970s are often full of errors and usually focus on how "things have changed" from the pre-merger years, not really on what is happening right that moment.

The other extreme is all the Modern day modeling, but that is less of a problem, with digital cameras (no picture is a waste of film), and bing maps and general information gathering mass. Anything from before the digital age does not seem to be well documented. It makes it a challenge, for sure.

I have a couple of short wheel base GE 45 ton locomotives that I picked up and they'll walk right through the turnouts without ever stalling.

My Trackmobile can handle it, so i'm thinking the Pecos are Go.

Once I actually start final construction, I'll put power feeders to every section of track and turnout so I don't have to rely on just the rail joints to feed power.

Definitely my plan to put feeders between every other section! no more losses from rail joiners.