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I do not want to be misunderstood. All of you have been wonderful in trying to answer my questions. I am the individual asking the questions in not the best way to get the answer(s) that I need. Here is my last attempt to get what I need.
I need an industry idea for my 2 X 8 modular layout that would receive and transport Kadee 50' boxcars, both single and double door models. My thoughts were to use option # 2 of the Walthers' modulars to make a freight house to receive and to depart with freight materials. Provided below is the link to the Walthers structure (option 2) that I wanted to built.
http://www.walthers.com/exec/page/modular_transfers
My locomotive would be a Southern Kato NW-2. As previously stated my freight roster would include 50' Kadee single and double door boxcars.
Will the Walthers modular option 2 kit work logically with the Kadee 50' single and double boxcars? If not, what other structure kits idea and/or structure kits would you suggest to work with the Kadee boxcars?
I know that I have been struggling with these planning dilemmas. It is now time to make decisions and move forward. I have wrestled with this for way too long. I would value any and all assistance from my friends on this board in making this layout plan logically.
Thank you for being so kind and patient with this newbie.
Steven
Maybe this picture will confirm your ideas......no reason you couldn't "modernize" your structure or here in Central PA alot of older manufacturing facilities are being used in this manner.
http://moranlogistics.com/about/williamsport/
Might be some good modeling ideas on their website, Explore!
Chris
As I noted in the previous thread, it would be helpful to know a little more about your interests. If you're using a Southern Ry switcher, then I can assume that your railroad is in the southeastern region. Major industries in the southeast from the 1950's to the early 1980's (Southern was absorbed by Norfolk Southern around 1983 or so) would be textiles, food processing, chemicals, agriculture, furniture and a variety of other manufacturing.
I've never lived in an area that was directly served by the Southern, so I can't say for sure, but one good industry you could model would be a vending machine plant. There was one near me when I lived in Charles Town, WVa back in 1982/3, which had been served by the B&O. By the time I lived there it shipped everything in trucks, but the sidings and loading doors were still in place. The company was called Dixie Narco, so I'll assume they had plants in the deep south that probably were served by the Southern.
The building was a combination of early 20th century brick buildings, such as the Walthers kit you linked to, with newer corrugated steel areas added on.
I based the building on the left on the Dixie Narco plant in Charles Town. 50' Boxcars would be used to ship sheet metal, condensers and other supplies in, and finished vending machines out. You could also get some gondolas to handle the scrap metal that would result from the factory floor. The building had a fairly modest footprint, with manufacturing in one building, and a warehouse in another across the parking lot. Even with some truck docks on the warehouse, it would be easy to model in a small space.
Another good industry to model might be a corrugated box plant. Container Corporation of America used to have a plant along the Canton Railroad. They would receive large rolls of corrugated cardboard in 50' boxcars, then manufacture it into various sizes of packaging. The building itself was relatively small, but it was surrounded by a good sized yard for out door storage. I can't remember if the inbound materials or outbound products were stored outside, but it was all shrink wrapped to protect it from the weather. I believe most of the outbound shipments were by truck, so you'd need to include a loading dock.
After about 1970, 50' cars became the de facto standard boxcar, so again, anything under the sun could be shipped in them. Pretty much any manufacturing or warehousing operation would use them.
I hope you find this useful. Now, as you so aptly say in your title... Get on with it!
Lee
Route of the Alpha Jets www.wmrywesternlines.net
How true to a prototype are you trying to be? From reading this and a couple of other postings you've made, I have the idea that you're not modelling a specific vignette, but just something that is not obviously wrong for the prototypes.
Do you have some pictures, books, or websites you can refer to? I admittedly have an advantage in that I model an area of the country within 10 miles of my home, so I can just get in the car and go check it out. But I also have a number of "coffee table" books -- the kind with lots of photographs, and access to the archives of the New Haven Railroad Historical Society. I can look at these and see the types of lineside structures and industries that were around.
If you're modelling something that was possible on the prototype, almost anything goes -- in New England in the 50s, all kinds of brick and wood structures were around and in use. Your suggested structure would not be out of place.
If, on the other hand, you have a specific prototype industry in mind, go find a photograph, get a model kit that's close to what you want, and start kitbashing. If you can't find a model kit, you'll have to scratchbuild.
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford