Freight yard industries show yours.

[doctorwayne]

Bruce, I like your photo of the loader (I'm a big fan of "live" loads, although mine are loaded and unloaded by the very versatile 0-5-0) and it's nice to see a Baldwin in service, too.

Ken, I'm not sure if I've seen that particular photo before or not, but it would certainly be worth another look (and another, and another).   It's always nice to see an industry that, as Jerry says, "dwarfs the trains".

selector

Does locomotive first and second line repair count....as in...a roundhouse?

 

Why not?  Somebody has to keep the trains running in order to serve all of these industries. 

Here's my largest modelled employer, and the railroad's largest customer, too.  It's situated adjacent to a section of double-tracked main line that's probably the closest thing to a yard on my layout, as it serves as an interchange point/train make-up area.

The "yard" reverts to a single line as it heads through the plant and off to a staging track across the aisle:

I had to limit the height, as there's another level of the layout yet to be built overhead, but at a length of 6.5' and with three sidings of its own, it's a great traffic generator:

Wayne

 

 

[selector]

Does locomotive first and second line repair count....as in...a roundhouse?

[BIG JERR]

MAN ;thats big ,it just dwarfs those train cars ....nice work...Jerry

[CSX_road_slug]

doctorwayne

... keep your own pictures coming, too - we  all can take inspiration from seeing the work of others ...

 

OK Wayne, here's the only decent shot I have of a yard with industries beside it.  In fact you probably have seen it dozens of times already:

I guess you might also say I've got "a little bit of yard with my structures"...

[steamage]

 This is my favorite industry on my layout, the operating gravel loader. Tyco operating hoppers have been detailed and repainted into Southern Pacific. Visiting operators like to operate a switch engine to move the cars under a loader. An old telephone magnedo is used to bump the solonoid that lifts the plug at the  letting the gravel (real river sand) run out of the bottom of the hopper.  The gravel is dumped elsewhere on the layout. 

 

 

[doctorwayne]

Once again, thanks to all for the kind words, and keep your own pictures coming, too - we  all can take inspiration from seeing the work of others.

Wayne

[gshin]

 Wayne,

 I found your pictures very inspirational!  Nice work!

 

Regards,

Greg

[steinjr]

Allegheny2-6-6-6

 I've been making some progress on my Lakehurst yard and was wondering other then the obvious railroad related industries machine shop, rebuilding shops etc.What types of industries if any would populate  a freight yard. Not necessarily in the yard area it self but lets say bordering it.

 

Depending on era and location, quite a few industries could be found in or near freight yards, especially n urban surroundings.

On the west bank of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, you could in the late steam/early transition era find e.g: 

1) Railroad freight houses for less than carload traffic. Often had two or more parallel tracks in front of the building - boxcars on the second/third etc track could be unloaded using steel plates as bridges between the emptied boxcars on the track closest to the building and the car on the next track.

 Can create interesting switching on a model railroad layout if you need to pull empty cars from track 1, re-spot partially emptied cars from track 2 to track 1, and spot new loaded cars for unloading later on track 2. Could often be modeled as a long and low (one story) building, ie an aisle side industry, which you can reach over to uncouple cars in the yard beyond, with trucks at loading ramps right at the aisle.

2) Produce tracks - a specialized form of team track. I've seen produce tracks right in the middle of a flat switched urban yard, using just part of a longer track.

 Good destination for reefers. Can be modeled in the middle of the yard, if desired - may even create some interesting play value by making it necessary to ensure one doesn't block the road across the neighboring tracks to the roadway for cars along the produce track(s).  Can also create some interesting play value by it being a product that shouldn't wait for long before being spotted and unloaded. 

 3)  Some other industries along the sides of urban yards in Minneapolis, which could be switched by the yard switchers include mills and warehouses. Could probably best be modeled as tall backdrop flats behind the yard for a model railroad.

Just a couple of ideas - no warranties that they will work for your location, even though they are appropriate for the steamer era you like :-)

 Smile,
 Stein

 

[RedGrey62]

Many yards in the midwest have grain elevators nearby and it is usually switched by the yard crews.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Free-mo/photos/album/523779420/pic/1883990987/view?picmode=&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&count=20&dir=asc

Free-Mo module set featuring Frisco 29th St (North) yard in Wichita, KS.

Ricky

[rclanger]

Flynn

If I need inspiration, I just do a search for DoctorWayne's posts from the past.

I agree whole hearedly!  I have DoctorWayne tagged as one of my favorites.

[Flynn]

If I need inspiration, I just do a search for DoctorWayne's posts from the past. 

His is one layout I'd like to see in Model Railroader.

[BIG JERR]

bump , now come on Guys,you put a lot a money and time into yards and  or industrys ,cough up some picts ...... havent built it, show us a plan ..good Ideas are a terrible thing to waist....some of us are stalled out and need your picts to inspire us.....Jerry

[doctorwayne]

Forty Niner

Yours is something we all can do with enough practice and patience...

Thank you for your kind words, Mark.  I've quoted what I feel is the most important part of your remarks.

I've been in this hobby for a long time, and continue to learn new stuff all the time.  Some of it is from forums like this, some from reading books and magazines, and some from looking at the real thing.  However, if one gains that knowledge but doesn't put it to use, what's the point? 

 I probably benefited from building my own house in that I gained confidence to attempt things that would have intimidated me in the past.  So when it came time to build my "dream layout" (this turned out to not be it, as I lost about half of the original space to other "family considerations",   but that's another story) I wasn't too concerned about attempting something new.  Much of what I've shown is my first serious attempts - some turned out well, others not quite so, but I continue to surprise myself at what can be accomplished merely by just trying.  Obviously, it would be foolish to jump in the deep end on your first attempt, but success on a simple project will bring confidence, which will lead you to more ambitious ones.  The admonition to "just do it" most certainly applies - the information you need start a project has never been more accessible, and you may very well surprise yourself once you begin.

Of course, not all of our attempts will be as successful as we might have hoped.  I have failed ones that never saw the light of day, failed ones in use on the layout - "good enough" until I can do better, and failed ones just plain "good enough", at least for my requirements.  Sometimes stuff comes out so well that I'm totally satisfied with it.  Later, I'll learn something new about that particular subject, and suddenly it's no longer quite so "perfect".  Sometimes I'll live with the discrepancy and other times it'll niggle at me until I just have to correct it.  What's good enough for me may not be good enough for you (and vice versa), but don't let others impose their standards on you.  To be sure, we can take inspiration from more accomplished modellers, and, I hope, offer constructive criticism and helpful advice to those asking for it, but, ultimately, we have to please ourselves.  And, unless we've got bags of money, we have to do the work ourselves - that is the main attraction, for me, of this hobby. 

So, after you've decided on a project, done the appropriate research, and collected the materials, get to work.  You may come upon unexpected problems, but having already started the project, the solution usually presents itself fairly promptly.  On the other hand, pre-analysing things to too great a degree before starting will lead you to discover other potential problem areas, and they will continue to accumulate to the point where you're paralysed with fear of failure - that project may never be started.  Just remember that successes, no matter how small, will breed confidence, but failures are the things that teach you the most.  Learning the lessons taught will add to your confidence.

Wayne

[Forty Niner]

Could be for various reasons but I have to say your photos and layout are absotively beee-u-tee-ful!!! Photos like yours give me ideas for my own layout, I enjoyed looking at them very much and would love to see more.

Yours appears to be the kind of layout we need to see more of in the model mags. It's what I would call a "bread & butter" layout and I don't mean that in a bad way. You have all of the elements that are needed to bring it alive and add interest without it being "overdone" as we see in the model mags.

Yours is something we all can do with enough practice and patience, not the super detaled "over the top" fantasy layouts as I call them. I think you know which ones I mean. They're neat, but then there's "reality" and you are working more towards reality than fantasy.

Very nice job indeed!!!

Mark

[Big Boy Forever]

Great photos of yards & layouts, like cold water to a thirsty man on a hot day.  The photo by "doctorwayne" just above this post with the #27 steamer passing by the station, is nice. If the ceiling & lights were'nt there, it could be confused with the real thing, but the rails look like brass rather than steel. I have that station myself, by the way. 

No potential thread death here, that I can see as one poster has mentioned. Hey wait, that was "doctorwayne" who said that. What a contradistinction.

Keep'em coming. It's gonna be quite a while before I get my layout up.

[doctorwayne]

My thanks to all for the very kind words, although I wasn't looking for compliments.  

I do feel, though, that a surfeit of photos often seems to cool the response to many threads, which is unfortunate, as so much can be garnered from pictures.  I thought that if I could show what I was able to include by foregoing on-layout yards that others might benefit.  Of course, my solution won't be suitable for all, as it's based on the way my layout is intended to be operated.   I was hoping my post would encourage others to follow suit with some photos of their own work.

I honestly don't recall how long the layout has been around - I started the benchwork shortly after finishing construction on the house, (over 20 years ago) but worked on it only in fits and starts as money and time were available.  I joined here about 6 1/2 years ago, and had a couple of the scenes shown here finished by that time, so the mainline track must've also been in place.  I recall doing some of the water scenes not too long after coming here, but since I retired, I've done very little on the layout.    I'm currently wrapping-up my last major freight car painting and lettering work (fifty cars), and will move on to finishing the outstanding loco rebuilds, about a dozen, if I recall correctly.  After that, it'll be full speed ahead on the layout - as you can see in some of the photos, there are lots of unfinished areas, and I've yet to start on the second level which will cover about half of the current layout. 

Tom, that's a nice-looking layout you've got, and I especially like both your train station and the paint scheme which you've used on it - somehow, it reminds me of several of my own  :

Thanks for sharing your pictures.

Wayne

[Palpatine001]

I am currently building my HO Freight Yard and associated industries at the moment Bit of mess, but you can see the Oil Refinery, Gas Work and Coke Retort Tower being built next to part of the yard. I plan to add other "support" industries like Auto Repair Shops, diners, etc as I continue build onwards.

[RRTrainman]

I have several new industry's in construction right now, but some of my finished Industries are below.

Here's the yard.

And some of my trackside industry's

[jmbjmb]

The town where I live now has or had several industries right next to the yard.  From North to South.

a.  Wholesale grocery.  This industry is the classic car is almost bigger than the industry, yet it was still rail served until about five years ago.

b.  Propane:  Right out of the Walters Cornerstone kit.

c.  Warehouse.  No longer rail served.

d.  Tannery.  No longer rail served, but the track is still there.

The spurs to the first four all come directly off the last yard track.  Also they look like a modeler built them, you cross all three spurs within a hundred yards.

e.  Team Track.  Mostly used for loading covered hoppers with grain from local farms.

The above spurs are all on the west side of the yard, with downtown shops right across from the team track for a background.

On the east side of the yard was once a very large wood working factory and there is still a lumber yard, though the spur has been taken up.  These are all industries along the yard and don't include those on the connecting spur(s) (many of which are no longer rail served).

An interesting item, in a city this size (~20,000) houses and stores back right up to the yard and industries.  This thing was designed right out of a track plan book for a shelf layout.  One straight line with industries along it no more than 200 yards wide at the widest including railroad and industrial buildings, roads paralleling on both sides of the track.  Obviously whoever designed this didn't understand about avoiding track parallel to the benchwork.

 

[Motley]

I'm speechless too Wayne, amazing layout. Beautifully done!

[rclanger]

doctorwayne

Near the south end of town is the National Grocers warehouse.

Every picture is very good but I especially like this one.  You have a very, very nice layout.  But I have said that before, but seeing different areas of your layout deserve additional praise.

[cudaken]

  Dr Wayne, every photo was worth saving! How many years have you spent on the layout?

[steemtrayn]

doctorwayne

Judging by the lack of subsequent responses, it would seem that illustrating your answer with photos can be the "kiss of death" for a thread.   

My apologies.

Wayne

What can we say,We're speechless...

[doctorwayne]

Judging by the lack of subsequent responses, it would seem that illustrating your answer with photos can be the "kiss of death" for a thread.   

My apologies.

Wayne

[doctorwayne]

Because I didn't include yards (other than hidden ones for staging - stacked to save further room), I was able to include an icehouse in each of the towns on the layout.  Since I'm modelling the late '30s, though, most of them are merely commercial ones for dealers selling to the public.

Here's the main one, which supplies ice to all of the other ones on the layout.  It has the ability to ice cars if necessary, but the only nearby rail-served industry that uses ice is a fish packing plant, and it receives the ice by truck or wagon.  Outbound rail shipment of fish is usually in insulated cars, with the cargo top-iced at the fish plant.

All of the small towns along the line have small icehouses like these, usually situated within the same dealer's domestic coal yard:

Each of these smaller icehouses has about the same capacity as one of the 36' ice-service reefers used for ice distribution.  There are no provisions for car icing, with delivery to homes and businesses using trucks or wagons.  Here's one of the ice service cars, old 36'-ers with their bunkers removed.  (Someday I'll get around to removing the ice hatches, too. )

The larger city at the south end of the railroad does have a car icing facility, as will its counterpart at the north end when the second level of the layout gets built.  Both are major interchange points, with staging yards nearby.

Because I saved space by not having modelled yards, I was able to include many industries in most towns along the line, although the towns themselves are mostly much too close together.

Dunnville, the large town/city at the south end of the layout, boasts several sizeable industries in addition to the icehouse.  These include:

P&M Languay Pump Ltd.

Coffield Washer (rail service at the opposite side)

Wilinson-Kompass Ltd. - industrial hardware and supply, with rail service on the opposite side

John Bertram & Son - machine and tool manufacturers

Also seen in the photo above is the team track at lower left and the main passenger station in the background.  The latter includes the railroad's express business in the left wing, and a Post Office in the right one, both good traffic generators.

Near the south end of town is the National Grocers warehouse.  That's part of Wilkinson-Kompass vissible at left and the south end of Bertram's at right.  The lower level track disappearing between the buildings leads to two dead-end staging tracks which represent unmodelled industries, while the double tracks on the upper level lead to the south end staging yard.

One of the unmodelled industries is Dominion Bridge.  Here's a train from them with some parts for an overhead crane, heading north past Bertam's:

Also served by the same sidings is the Evell Casket Co.  I modelled only the street end of the building, using parts left-over from the P&M Languay factory.  The two sidings, under the south staging yard (parts of both can be seen at left, below) can stand-in for any number and type of industries, making them potentially huge traffic generators:

Also modelled in this town is Creechan's Fine Fuels, seen here from the north end of the team track's yard:

And finally, at the north end of town, Mercury Knitting Mills (also seen in one of the previous icehouse photos):

As mentioned, most of the smaller towns along the line have an ample amount of rail-served industry, and most don't ship to other modelled industries, meaning lots of car loadings moving on and off the layout via staging.  I had room to include an abreviated loco terminal in one town and will include a larger one on the second level of the layout, too.  With a staging yard at the south end of the line and another at the north (atop the south one) plus separate interchange tracks with other roads both north and south, along with the two "unmodelled industry" tracks, there was room left on-layout for lots of industry.

Wayne

 

 

[Robby P.]

 Here's a couple of mine.

 One of my town, but you can see the warehouse.

 

 Another one of my cement plant.

[leighant]

I wrote a post about industries near the yard on my layout.  But I forgot aboutg a resource on industries around a REAL yard.  For the past six weeks, I have been continuing a long thread on modeling San Antonio in the 1950s, especially along the Missouri Pacific.  In an early part of the thread, I listed the trackside spurs found along the MoPac, block by block, including the very concentrated warehouse district along and around the relatively small (model-size) downtown yard near the passenger station.  I found this information, often including commodities handled, from Sanborn's maps, railroad tariffs... In some cases, I found somne prototype pictures.  This discussion and list of industries starts at:

http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/t/174821.aspx

 

[Allegheny2-6-6-6]

MisterBeasley

This is the view looking into my 6-track yard.  To the right, there's a Swift meat-packing plant.  On the left you can see the ice house and the elevated platform for putting ice into reefers.  There's a small freight house beyond the icing platforms, too.

These industries are all on the "outside" of the yard.  There's nothing actually between the tracks.

If it fits your era, incidentally, an icing platform is an interesting "industry."  Not only can you add a stop before taking the reefers to the packing plant or brewery for loading, you can also re-ice reefers as through freights pull through town.  With express reefers, this can apply to passenger trains, too.  And then, of course, you have an excuse to add more ice-bunker reefers to your fleet.

 

 

Mr. B 

This is pretty much representative of what I am trying to do. I know that car shops and the like are not industries per say but rather railroad related. I have all of those in my engine servicing facility which is located at one end of the yard. Actually this new yard is located behind the engine facility and takes up two walls a total of 27' so the great vastness of barren Homasote needs something more then track and yard lights etc. To conserve room the main is fairly tight to the wall so back round structures and photo backdrops will be used extensively. I like the idea of the icing platform and of course lets us not forget the trusty tavern and maybe some accompanying buildings like a wrong side of the track hotel perhaps. Thanks for all the input always appreciated.

[jrbernier]

  Here is the 'basic' industry in my freight yard - the engine service area:

Jim