Industries with tank cars

[KevinKrey]

My new layout is fairly small, and nowhere near the size of my last one. So Im pretty limited to the amount of industry I can have on it, as I dont want it too crowded.

I have one area thats gonna be a pretty decent sized grain elevator. Its a simple one track spur with a large elevator. I know there are uses for tank cars in the grain indusrty, such as with ethonal, and there are industries using both grain and tank cars, but would there ever be some sort of need for a tank car at a grain elevator, maybe if they do more than just store the grain, I just dont want to have to add many other structures to the scene in order for a tank car to "fit in".
I also have another area on the layout with two spurs, and Im not completly sure what will go here, but would there be a need for a tank car at a paper plant?

I have industries that will be requiring open hoppers, boxcars, lumber cars, grain cars, flatcars, but Im kinda just wondering what kinds of industries would require a tank car, so I can add to the mix of what I can run.

[faraway]

I had the same problem and "solved" it by NOT building the industry but only the tank car unloading facility.

Here some kind of an overview how it is placed at the edge of the layout.


And a photo with more details. You see the pipes running to the industry in the "off".

[nachoman]

I can't give you specific examples, but I have seen many industries that take delivery of a tank car every now and then. Things like fuels, fertilizers, or pesticides may be delivered for an agri-business. These items may only be delivered 1-2 times per year, though.

[Sumpter250]

I also have another area on the layout with two spurs, and Im not completly sure what will go here, but would there be a need for a tank car at a paper plant?

There is a "slurry", the name of which I can't remember at this moment, that is used to coat paper for some printing purposes. It's transported in tank cars.

[doctorwayne]

I also have another area on the layout with two spurs, and Im not completly sure what will go here, but would there be a need for a tank car at a paper plant?

There is a "slurry", the name of which I can't remember at this moment, that is used to coat paper for some printing purposes. It's transported in tank cars.

That would be kaolin, Pete, a type of clay. At one time, it also moved in boxcars and, I believe, covered hoppers, although obviously not as a slurry.

Wayne

[Russ Bellinis]

A large bakery would have a silo for flower, and would also receive tank car loads of corn syrup, and box cars of bagged sugar, or it may have the sugar in a silo from covered hoppers, I'm not sure on that last. I think with what you have described I would do a large commercial bakery like a Nabisco, General Foods, etc. One industry would then receive boxcars, tank cars, and covered hoppers.

[MasonJar]

My new layout is fairly small, and nowhere near the size of my last one. So Im pretty limited to the amount of industry I can have on it, as I dont want it too crowded.

I have one area thats gonna be a pretty decent sized grain elevator. Its a simple one track spur with a large elevator. I know there are uses for tank cars in the grain indusrty, such as with ethonal, and there are industries using both grain and tank cars, but would there ever be some sort of need for a tank car at a grain elevator, maybe if they do more than just store the grain, I just dont want to have to add many other structures to the scene in order for a tank car to "fit in".

You could (as noted above) have a tank of fuel delivered occasionally, if the elevator has its own power plant.

I also have another area on the layout with two spurs, and Im not completly sure what will go here, but would there be a need for a tank car at a paper plant?

Kaolin, as doc notes, is delivered in tank cars. But they are often specialized to the industry. A lot of them in eastern Ontario say "OMYA", which is the name of a kaolin producer near Perth (I think). Paper could also have fuel, dye, or other bulk liquids.

I have industries that will be requiring open hoppers, boxcars, lumber cars, grain cars, flatcars, but Im kinda just wondering what kinds of industries would require a tank car, so I can add to the mix of what I can run.

I like the idea above of modelling just the unloading facility. That way, it can be for anything that comes in tanks - food grade commodities, pesticides, fuel, slurry, plastic pellets, all kinds of bulk goods that can be easily unloaded by air pressure through pipes. Some of these things come in special tank cars, others do not.

Hope that helps.

Andrew

[doctorwayne]

A paper mill would get acid in tank cars - they run solid trains of them through Hamilton, Ontario to the paper mill in Thorold.

Wayne

[eightyeightfan1]

We just had a derailment here in Connecticut where a tank car full of liquid latex spilled into a brook.

[Gary S]

I like Reinhard's idea also. It makes great use of the shelf space on the aisle side. And the unloading facility looks great too.

[NJ Devils Fan]

Here's a couple more ideas for tank cars:

On the NYS&W there was a customer that used to receive liqued fertilizer every spring. The customer - of course - was seasonal, and did not have a siding of their own. They were located about 5 miles from the railroad. They only required a siding close enough to them to offload their product into tank trucks to move it back to their facility. We had a "team track" that this customer used to receive their tank cars. The cars, from what I remember, were always GATX or NATX initialed. The siding was nothing special - it was "just a siding" with a bumper on the end. This siding was also used by another customer to offload grain cars. VERY EASY TO MODEL!

Another option for you - if you want to use a bunch tank cars - is taken from a another railroad up here in the great taxed state of NY. The MA&N has a "HUGE" rail customer in Rome, NY - East Coast Olive Oil. They receive inbound loads of differents kinds of vegetable oils that they mix to make different brands of oils used for cooking. Their siding is somewhat simple - 2 tracks - with numerous hoses and pipeing. Oil is pumped out of the cars direcly into the single story wharehouse and into smaller silos. Not much effort is needed to model this. All you need is - of course, tank cars (GATX, ACFX, UTLX) a wharehouse, a siding with 1 or 2 tracks and lots of hose or pipes.

As others have mentioned, paper mills did use tank cars too. But, some mills, like the one we serviced in Lyons Falls, NY, received chemicles too, which was used to treat the paper. Lyons Falls Pulp & Paper received Sulpher and Hydrochloric Acid (Caustic) to treat their paper. The Caustic was unloaded on a seperate track - room only for 1 car where it was piped into a large silo. The sulpher, meanwhile, was unloaded on the same track that the boxcars where unloaded on, and piped to God knows where. If you have a paper mill, just add another siding for the tank cars too.

Tank cars can be used for just about anything and can be unloaded, or used at just about any industry. They "fit in" just about anywhere.

I hope these ideas can give you "some inspiration"

Happy Modeling

[NJ Devils Fan]

Here is a few more idea's for tanks cars to show, again, that they can fit in anywhere.

The first, is taken from the pages of Classic Trains' magazine, Railroads At War II. published by Kalmbach. On page 46, it shows the ATSF Super Chief arriving at Albuquerque. The "Chief" is led by "new" diesel locomotives. These "new" engines require a "fuel stop" too - much like it's steam counterparts needed coal.

Anyway, at the station, parked on a side track alongside the platform, is a pair of tank cars. These tank cars are loaded with diesel fuel, and hoses are running from them, directly to the units of the Chief. This is how they used tank cars - to store diesel fuel for "pit stops" for arriving trains. Judging from the condition of the track used, it must have been a frequent move to get tank cars in and out of there.

Another quick tip is taken from the MA&N RR. They had a customer that received a liqued product called "iceban". It was a type of liqued used to clear roads of snow and ice buildup. Not sure what it was mixed with, if anything but I can tell you it was pumped into and stored in large "fuel type" tanks located next to the tracks. All you need is a large (whatever size is good I guess), a hose and some piping and BINGO - you have a cheap industry.

I think I beat this issue to death so I'll move on now. If you need some hints though, thumb through some railroad magazines and look at the pictures. It's neat to see what's going on behind the scenes. Or, just use your imagination to "make up" something moved in a tank car. It's your railroad..your the boss.

I hope I helped you with some ideas.