Scrap Glass Loading Facility

[TTRAK_andrew]

G'day All,
The reported source of the glass for recycling:

I've been told that both facilities receive most of the scrap glass from the Toyota and Ford assembly plants.

suggests that it would be from a limited variety of glass types, mainly the laminated glass used for windscreens? If the auto plants make their own windscreens then the glass may be from more than just breakages but also from quality control failures, `end of run' left overs etc. Wiser people with direct experience in the motor manufacturing trade would no doubt have greater insight.
Never the less, this is an interesting industry. After looking at the aerial view of the Lawrenceburg facility it appears that three covered hoppers are loaded at a time and a reserve of nine other hoppers are waiting on the abandoned branch line the siding is located on. I can imagine a local freight dropping off a large set off empties say once a week and then on every visit to the area picking up the 3 loaded cars at a time, after placing empties on their place. I would imagine that would ensure a guaranteed supply of hoppers for the glass recycler and have the needed empties stored close at hand and not occupying valuable track space in a yard somewhere else. Something worth noting for layout operations, especially for Industrial Switching Layouts and Switching Puzzle layouts.
Regards,
Andrew G.