looking at walthers HO scale open air transload building kit i was just curious in real life besides being used as a open air transloading building, has anyone seen a similar looking structure used as say a fruit warehouse or some other distributor type business? also which of walthers' fuel oil dealers, McGraw Oil or Interstate Fuel are the most modern? which of them has the most up to date tankcar unloading pipestand?
There was a similar, but much, much larger structure in the South Boston Freight Terminal on the New Haven. I have the Walthers kit, and will be using it as a small rendition of the one in Boston. The original building in Boston was an LCL-type structure, and had 6 tracks between three platforms (shaped like an "E"), not one between two platforms. It also had more of a headhouse than a covered platform like the Walthers kit.
The NH had a large presence in South Boston, and many, many freight houses of all kinds (at least a dozen on one of my maps of the area). Mostly, they were used for LCL loading, unloading and sorting, plus the unloading of fresh food for the city and loading of fish from the fishing fleet. And that's not counting all the other goodies that came by rail back then.
The Walthers kit is really a "warm weather" building, but I think with a few changes I can winterize it for my Boston yard.
Paul A. Cutler III*******************Weather Or No Go New Haven*******************
I have this kit and am contemplating using it on a quayside as a ship-to-rail building. I don't think it will need much alteration, but if the "truck side" of the structure becomes a quayside with a flat area, then a step down in the form of a harbour wall to an area of water which ships can sit on the scenic variables are wide, i.e. sea or river, cargo or fish-dock, etc. There are a lot of ship models in close-enough scale, and if built as waterline models to just sit on the water they can be swapped around between operating sessions, changing the cargo type by changing the ships and freight cars.
So I have a question? When did this new word "transload" appear? I'm 66 years old, I grew up around the transportation industry, specificly my father worked in trucking industry management most of his life. I have been a student of trains since age 10 when he introduced me to model trains. I sold MATCO tools in both the Baltimore marine terminal shops and to the railroad intermodal/piggyback shops. Spent my whole life around the Baltimore seaport and transportation industry in many ways - NEVER heard this term until VERY recently.
Related US/North American terms I am very familiar with that have generally been used to cover this aspect of transportation, or related operations, many for the last 200 years:
Transfer Terminal, or simply "Terminal"
Teamtrack
Dryage
Freight House
Port, Inland Port, "Dry Port" (common term for the transfer of mostly marine containers from rail to truck that is located inland a significant distance from the marine port)
And this term Quayside - had to look that one up - just a pier or dock, or "Marine Terminal" where I come from here in the heart of the original colonies. Baltimore has a large number of places where ships are unloaded and cargo "transfered" to truck (dryage for local moves) or rail, every one has big signs that say "Marine Terminal".
And where they load and unload the "piggyback" (intermodal, TOFC, COFC) trains is called the Intermodal yard/terminal.
Understand, I am just questioning why Walthers called it what they did? Just what we needed, another new term......
As for the Walthers kit, as Paul suggests, a warm climate structure (maybe the name is a California thing?). In all of Baltimore history I can only recall a few "open air covered freight platforms" of that nature and those were part of/adjacent to closed warehouses/terminals.
And it better be in a fenced and guarded yard..........
Sheldon
UPDATE: I figured it out - it is a term from the other side of the pond.
Love when we combine two of my favorite things: history and trains.
Found an interesting site about the history of the term transload: https://www.commtrex.com/resources/member-spotlight/transload-insights/what-is-the-history-of-transloading-how-has-it-evolved-over-the-years-and-what-are-its-origins
Shockngly, it is quite old and has evovled to reflect trends/changes in transportation.
kasskaboose Love when we combine two of my favorite things: history and trains. Found an interesting site about the history of the term transload: https://www.commtrex.com/resources/member-spotlight/transload-insights/what-is-the-history-of-transloading-how-has-it-evolved-over-the-years-and-what-are-its-origins Shockingly, it is quite old and has evolved to reflect trends/changes in transportation.
Shockingly, it is quite old and has evolved to reflect trends/changes in transportation.
Yes, but the use of that term in North American lexicon is pretty new, it is apparently a pretty old UK term.
So I will still call them "terminals" or freight houses, or piggyback yards, or rail-truck terminals, or team tracks on my 1950's era layout.
caboose63 Also which of walthers' fuel oil dealers, McGraw Oil or Interstate Fuel are the most modern? which of them has the most up to date tankcar unloading pipestand?
Also which of walthers' fuel oil dealers, McGraw Oil or Interstate Fuel are the most modern? which of them has the most up to date tankcar unloading pipestand?
It looks like the McGraw kit is pretty early, with only wooden buildings. I have the Interstate kit. It has a corrugated metal office like a Quonset hut.
Neither kit has a modern platform for unloading oil. The Interstate kit just has a small boom which can be placed trackside. The Interstate kit's platform is for loading trucks, not trains. Walthers also makes a separate platform with multiple booms for loading and unloading tank cars.
Yeah, I know the OP here posted 14 years ago, but the information is still valid because many of us model older eras.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Having travelled the country extensively for business before retiring they are very prevalent in California particularly around the agricultural areas where trucks bring the products to a transfer point to load into railcars. California weather probably was instrumental in the open side construction of the facilities. Nonexistent here in northern Michigan where the fruit is processed before shipping in many plants and shipping is 99%+ by truck after processing.
ATLANTIC CENTRAL kasskaboose Love when we combine two of my favorite things: history and trains. Found an interesting site about the history of the term transload: https://www.commtrex.com/resources/member-spotlight/transload-insights/what-is-the-history-of-transloading-how-has-it-evolved-over-the-years-and-what-are-its-origins Shockingly, it is quite old and has evolved to reflect trends/changes in transportation. Yes, but the use of that term in North American lexicon is pretty new, it is apparently a pretty old UK term. So I will still call them "terminals" or freight houses, or piggyback yards, or rail-truck terminals, or team tracks on my 1950's era layout. Sheldon
Thanks Sheldon! I figure someone more versed in transportation/logistics can jump in with more authority. Not having experience in either area, I defer to those with it who can provide more clarity.
Every time I think of one of these images start floating in my head.
I live in Michigan, which was once criss-crossed with rail lines dating back to the era when the state was basically lumbered out, or to the grand old days when vacationers were delivered by rail to stations at places like nearby Bay View resort.
I especially can imagine old open air transload structures put into present-day use as farmers markets or craft shows. They'd probably be updated with railings around the perimeter to keep people from falling off. The old ramp means they're more-or-less wheechair accessible, although a troop of Boy Scouts might be standing by to do the heavy pushing up the slope. There's gotta be a merit badge in there somewhere.
I can even see an old rail car or two parked there, cut down for a new use, maybe in a not-so-artistic way. My town has an old station that nobody ever seems able to find a continuing use for. But there's an old cut-down box car standing alongside it, that once served as a seating area for one of the half-dozen or more failed attempts at using the old station for a restaurant. A car or two like that could be stuck alongside, furnished with cheap picnic tables to service the hot-dog stand at one end.
Fact is, if it's already built, covered (fully or in part), has or is near to basic utility service, and no longer valued to serve its original purpose, there are a million quick-and-dirty potential uses for a structure like this. That's especially in towns and cities where a formerly industrial part of town is trying to survive redevelopment efforts that haven't quite caught on. Or maybe they have.