What form of copper (slabs, rods, ingots, etc) and in what types of cars would would they be tranported in when going to an electronics company to be made into copper wires and cables?
Plano Models makes a copper anode which is pretty accurate to the anodes various smelters cast and ships to wire manufactures. The anodes are shaped like that so they can be moved via cranes which attach to the tabs on the top side, and placed in electrode baths for processing: http://www.planomodelproducts.com/webonly.htmlTruth be told, your going to not see those on open flat cars that often during shipment to the final facility. Kennecott/Rio Tinto uses flat cars inside their smelter/refinery complex in Utah, but loads the anodes into boxcars before shipping outside the facility (you can actually see the anodes sitting outside the casting room and being moved onto in plant flatcars at Utah in Google Maps https://goo.gl/maps/nfeoyTYuBHF2 ). I can't speak of the ASARCO and Freeport McMoRan operations in Arizona. I know during the SP days there were anodes shipped via open flatcar to a refinery far way from Arizona, but I don't know if that practice is still in place. Besides, it was likely once at the refinery the anodes were probably moved into boxcars before being sent to the wire manufactures.In short, use plain boxcars with waybills routing them back to Utah, Arizona, or an international trade destination were copper from places like Chile can be coming in; and only really show the copper anodes if you are modeling them being unloaded.
Electronics companies do not make wire. Wire and cable companies make wire. The electronic companies will have the wire delivered in boxcars or trucks.
I will concede the possibility that an electronic company COULD decide to make their own wire. This would be to take the profit from the wire and cable companies and/or to better control their supply of wire. If you have an example of such in the US, I would like to hear about it.
Ed