Building a scrap yard! Suggestions, comments, etc.

[jammin.madrid]

 First off, I would like to know how I can post pictures so I can show you guys my proposed layout.  If anyone can help me, in layman's terms, I would be grateful.

Hello everyone, I am new to model railroading so any comments, suggestions, tips, and/or criticisms would be greatly appreciated.  I am planning on modeling in HO scale, on a 2' X 8' (unbuilt) benchwork, a scrap metal yard.  After I get more space, I plan on expanding the layout to include the steel mill, coke and iron ore mines, etc. to make a feasible steel industry.

 The yard would receive scrap metal via rail or a trucking system from an unknown/hidden source.  The yard would also have non-usable items in a steel mill such as tires that another company would have to come and pick up.  I am planning on the scrap yard having its own dedicated switcher to move cars around to either be unloaded or loaded.  (When I expand I plan on having a seperate switcher that is dedicated to the steel mill and it travels to the scrap yard to pick up the cars that are ready for melting.  This way it makes it seem like the scrap yard and the steel mill are a part of the same company.  Or atleast it seems like a good idea in my head.)  I expect to have 3-4 excavators with a grapple and maybe one excavator with a cutting/pincer system to cut metal down to size.

Building wise I plan on having a shed for the switcher for maintenance and protection during bad weather, night time, etc.  Also I would like an office, which I would like to be a mobile home converted in to an office.  Port-a-potties for the yard workers.  An old box car to serve as a storage shed.  If anyone can think of any other buildings that I could use that would

 If I can figure out the whole picture mess I will post my pencil and paper plan soon so you guys can help me out.  Thanks for reading!.

[chutton01]

jammin.madrid

Also I would like an office, which I would like to be a mobile home converted in to an office.  Port-a-potties for the yard workers.  An old box car to serve as a storage shed.  If anyone can think of any other buildings that I could use that would

You mention portapotties, which would mean you talking a reasonably modern period - in which case using shipping containers as small 'sheds' around the grounds would be almost mandatory. Indeed, one of your yard's walls could be a row of double stacked 40ft containers, with garage doors cut into the long sides for access into the interior (something like this, although this Northeast Philly salvage yard left spaces between the containers so they could access the interiors via the end doors  - if you use it as part of the fencing, you'll need side doors cut into the containers).

[jfallon]

 Save everything! Whatever is left over from building a kit, be it a locomotive, rail car, or structure, most of it can be used for the scrap piles. My favorite scrap load for a gondola is a pile of horn-hook couplers! This one always gets a chuckle from the experienced model railroaders.

                                                                                      John

[HHPATH56]

With your rather limited space you may wish to do something like is shown in my photo. My construction began with Walther's Ashland Iron & Steel Blast Furnace, to which I added the Parallel Rolling Mill and an end for end Blower House Building. These structures are at the end of a 5 track ore loading yard,(with thirty ore cars,and two manually automated Hulett Unloaders, in the process of unloading a Walther's six bin ore boat (at the dock in the rather large harbor). Total cost, in the neighborhood of $1000, if not more! Incidentally, if you ever plan to have an ore boat, I suggest that you scratch build it, since the Walther's 3ft.Resin Ore Boat is not worth $300. I also have an 18 bin ore boat that is being loaded at a dock at another harbor, that I scratch built. In the metal scrap photo, note that the switcher that does the loading and unloading for the entire steel mill, has it's own short stub RIP (Repair-In-Place ) off of a double slip switch. It will also be covered with a repair shed. Also note the two sorted piles of scrap, being loaded by a fork lift back-hoe Cat,(onto a gondola, eventually) As suggested, you will soon have plenty of scrap sprues, etc. to turn into rusty scrap iron. Even with my much condensed Steel Mill complex, the total area is 3ftx8ft. Click on any photo to enlarge it. Then, click on the series of small photos, at the left, to view other parts of my 24'x24' HO around the room layout. To Post a photo or diagram, you must first place it in a photo Host (eg. Photobucket.com) You set up a dedicated album as one of your "My Albums). Below each photo will be four options. Click on the "IMG" option, and momentarily, the word "Copied" will appn,ear. Next go to the Trains.com Forum where you plan to insert your own thread,(or Reply to someone else's thread) Type in your text to accompany the photo. The click on ctrlV and a lengthy code will appear. Scroll down to, and click on "Post". Soon, your text and photo will appear,(at the end of the Thread). You can always click on Edit (at top of your text and photo, to correct typos, or add or delete items. Bob Hahn

[spearo]

For a great view of a car shredder yard go to www.bing.com and type in the address;

1509 W Cortland St, Chicago, IL

Click on"Bird's eye view" in the toolbar at the top of the map screen.

This will take you to a scrap barge loading yard.  At the bottom of the yard there is a set of tracks, follow them to the right (East) across the river and down to the right where you will see the auto shredder yard.  Lots of buildingd, conveyors, couple of excavators and tons of scrap piles and piles of cars.

Tires are sometimes used at the mills, they are melted in EAFs along with a heat, to get the carbon content correct in the heat.  I have seen this at a rebar mill in upstate NY.

[ajmott]

 At a clinic at our local club, a member did an *outstanding* presentation on clutter, how to use it in scenes. He presented it in a power point, and here is a link. (The download is a bit large at 9.2MB, but well worth it.) The era in his diorama isn't likely the same that you're modeling in, but the same basic principles apply. He shows how all sorts of semi-random, everyday junk can be turned into useful building materials for a scene. It should give you some interesting ideas.

[jammin.madrid]

This is my proposed layout.  To get the tracks, I layed some wax paper over the tracks and marked where the rails where.  Then I traced that on to some paper and then cut that out.  I also traced some #4 and #6 turnouts both left and right. 

 

In this one at the very front, where the track ends in a stub, this is where I plan to have gondolas waiting to receieve scraps.  And at the back, there is another track that ends in a stub, this is where I plan on having the shed for the switcher.  I think I am going to ave two main lines that connect to other parts of the layout (which you can see that run to both ends of the layout).

 

 At the edge of the layout (it is the main line that is around the middle of the table) there is some siding that I plan on storing gondolas that are awaiting for scrap, are waiting to be unloaded in to the scrap yard, or are empty gondolas that are waiting to be picked up by another "hidden" scrap yard that ships to this scrap yard.  The stub that would be holding cars to be loaded would also serve as siding so that the switcher from the steel mill can come and pick up the gondolas.

 Also in the foreground of this picture you can see this vast open space.  This is where I plan on having the gondolas and trucks being offloaded of their metal scrap.  This is also the proposed site of the office and storage sheds.  I do plan on running a fence in there.

 That is what I can think of now...  If anyone has any, suggestions about how to make the layout more efficient, or any other helpful advice, etc. I would appreciate them.  Thanks for listening to me babble.

 

P.S. since I am a newbie I know I might have used incorrect terminolgy, I am sorry.  Please correct me.

[mononguy63]

ajmott

He presented it in a power point, and here is a link.

That is a delightful presentation! I found myself chuckling at the final slides.

[wm3798]

 My N scale layout features a small scrap yard scene. 

It holds 2-3 gons at a time.  The scene shows scrapped autos that are stacked.  I purchased a commercially available set of resin cast stacks of autos, which to my eye appeared too tall.  So I used a razor saw to cut them in half, then added an old Bachmann auto to the top of the stack that showed the cut.

I also took some resin-cast tires and glued them over a small mound of foam to make the tire stacks in the foreground.

For the cars that are loaded into the gons, I used some thin brown thread to represent steel cable that would secure the pile for transport.

Since this is just a small corner of the imagined scrap yard, I've also built some other scrap loads using stuff leftover from other kits, and the accumulated crap I have around my workbench after 30+ years of modeling!

I built these loads using leftover parts from various freight car projects.  There's shim plates from Micro Trains Couplers, sprues, left over wheels and other debris.  I secured them to a piece of styrene with some clear matte medium, then painted it all a rusty color with some grimy washes to weather it.

I've also got a few commercially available scrap loads that I use.  I make all my loads so they are removeable so I can run empties in and loads out during my operating sessions.

A key to making an effective scrap yard scene is to have a means of loading or unloading the scrap in the gons.  I'm planning a little traveling overhead crane to complete this scene, but in the meantime, the front end loader is taking care of the work...

Lee