Need ideas for modeling insides of warehouses or enclosed structures

[Anonymous]

I guess that at least 50% of modellers don't work in manufacturing... which means that all those interesting factory shapes contain nothing but unknown mysteries for us. I recently spen t a couple of years in the "Real World" (My brother's description) outside the railway.
I learnt the following lessons:-
The railway works by the 1/2 minute.
We may be 19 hours late (a friend of mine's photo af an Amtrak crossing the
diamonds at Big Sandy Tx... it started in New York.... I put it in my ticket window to
cheer up the commuters) BUT we do know how late we are. That way we can scrub and start again or plan a catch-up schedule.

"Real World" industries don't necessarily know which month they're in... especially if the job is marked "URGENT"... unless it's the chemical industry... which is fantastic to work in.

"Security" gets the second lowest budget to "Waste and Recycling".

HOWEVER...

The bad news is that factory insides are full of lots of small unique details and machines that would take decades to model if they are to look right.

THE GOOD NEWS is... that most transport links are warehose facilities... the product is moved internally from various manufacturing sources to managed storage (which may be temperature controlled). These days this mainly contains aisles of racking worked by fork lift trucks and/or picking machines. Where there is a rail link the cars are loaded by the fork lifts... this started far earlier in the US than here... and brought about the changes in car door sizes from the 4' single doors of the steam era to the 8' and bigger doors of modern cars.
Load ramps do require one significant action... remove them before pulling the cars out... it makes a bit of a mess if you forget.

Most tanks and hoppers are discharged and loaded outside or only under shelter which allows plenty of ventilation. this avoids build up of gases (including fumes off of liquids). As anything fine powdered or liquid is usually piped there is also little need (except for very specific products) to load or discharge in a building which costs money to build and maintain. Grains and fertiliser discharging to silos seem to do so under lean-to shelters or in the open. The only real need is to keep off heavy rain.

Well, I guess that's good news if you like pallet racking and don't want to spend days modelling small machines.

[Anonymous]

I would suggest trying to locate an industry near where you live that fits the bill as closely as possible and contact them about making a visit. I did that with a local cement facility and they were very helpful. Un fortunately I haven't gotten around to getting started on my replica

Bob DeWoody

[Anonymous]

An interesting variation to your inside tracks would be an area where your view is from inside a warehouse and you can see through loading doors to the outside tracks where cars are spotted.

Mike Tennent

[AntonioFP45]

FJ&G,

Good to read that you're doing this. I've visited a couple warehouse and businesses with tracks inside when I worked for a transit company.

Sorry I don't have photos but maybe this will help a little. From what I can remember:

1. Tracks tended to be close to a far wall rather than towards the center of the building.
Metal "Danger" and warning signs on the wall. Water pipes on several walls with "Tee Juts" for fire hoses. High above on the exterior walls were slow turning exhaust fans.

2. At a warehouse distibuiton center I saw plenty of Forklift Trucks of various sizes. The dominat color: Yellow, but I also saw dark green and orange. Paint on these critters was always chipped and hydraulic oil streaks were visible. One place had a chainlink cage where small barrels of oil and parts were stored for forklifts.

3. Stacks and stacks of wooden pallets near a wall. Rusty used 55 gallon barrels scattered throughout the building were used as trash cans for the employees.

4. Near the tracks large, heavy, square metal plates used as ramps to be placed over the gap between boxcars and the platform. At the end of the tracks were the triangular shaped "bumpers". Rusty brown in color. Some litter on the tracks themselves.

5. Near a wall and overhead entrance door, the foreman's office. On the wall outside of his office were a couple of large Bulletin boards covered with paper. Nearby another bulletin board for Union issues. Next to foreman's door was the clock where shift employees punched in for work. About 15 feet above a large clock about 3 feet in diameter that can be seen from a distance. Near this area were wooden benches and tables for employee "break" areas.

6. Near the tracks and truck loading dock; a makeshift "open air" office for the Shipping & Receiving Clerks. Two or three old wooden "hand-me-down" office desks with chairs. On the desks: Stacks of paper, rule books, receipts, and bills on the desks. Nearby, were several pallet jacks and a pair of forklift trucks assigned to the clerks. Several hand dollies were visible. Trash cans filled with paper and carboard.

10-4!

[Anonymous]

This site has four photos of boxes and crates that you can download and print to use:
http://www.gatewaynmra.org/download.htm

You also might try a search on Google Photos for "factory interiors" or other such phrases.

Good luck!

Bob Boudreau

[FJ and G]

I'm soon going to start on the 2nd level of my layout and wanted to do something special that I've never seen done before.

I want nearly the entire layout to be tracks leading into 2 warehouses (or enclosed industries.

However easy it is to find photos of trains outside, it is SOOO difficult to find photos of trains inside warehouses or other enclosed industries.

BTW, you will be able (thru a cutaway of the structures), get to see the insides of the industries.

About the only article I can ever recall seeing was either in MR or RMC reg. an underground cold storage operation inside a limestone cave in southern Missouri on the BNSF (perhaps near Springfield).

Anyway, I'm tossing ideas around in my head and thinking orange crates, lumber, newspaper rolls. Trouble with all these ideas is that it's so hard to find photos.

Era modeling is from 50s to 1970, Santa Fe, freelance.