Thoughts and Ideas? I assume a brick factory would need hoppers of clay. Did clay every get shipped in covered hoppers ie "PS-2". I thought also they would need covered hoppers of sand and other bulk products. Obviously Boxcars out for finished products.
Does anyone know how kilns were fired in the 1950's and earlier??? I was thinking possibly coal fired and thus a need for coal shipments. I suppose the kilns could be electric if next door to a coal fired power plant.
My concern was a brick making might take up a bit more real estate due to the output of materials. Thus a tile factory might be more manageable.
Thanks for all the thoughts and ideas. Trying to get my industries planned out for my first layout.
Usually, the clay is the reason a brick producer is located where it is, so you'll most likely want to locate a pit or quarry nearby. Coal is often brought in and was the most common fuel.
Not all brick yards had them, but some used narrowgauge railways to carry clay from the pit and to bring coal to the kilns to charge them. The bricks had to be taken to the kilns from the molds and then to store or ship.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
A brick factory is not always near the source of clay -- there are several videos on You-Tube of clay railways in China that do nothing but haul clay from a distant source to the brickworks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WznzgvP9cts&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL7C6FE28DCAC214B3
mlehman Not all brick yards had them, but some used narrowgauge railways to carry clay from the pit and to bring coal to the kilns to charge them. The bricks had to be taken to the kilns from the molds and then to store or ship.
It all depends on the era and location. In the US, between 1850's and the 1950's, most brick works were built close to the source of the clay that they used, often on one edge of the clay deposit. As the clay was 'mined' it became farther and farther away from the works. This is why many industrial narrow gauge railways were built, and not just for bricks. One company that survived for some time was the Salt Lake Pressed Brick Company, in Salt Lake City, UT. (Later Interstate Brick, which is still in business.) The brick works in now a shopping mall, but there are some good resources out there. Particularly the utahrails website and the Utah state historical society.
Click on the last link for a photo of one of the clay trains from 1922.
Depending on the location a lot of factories began converting from coal to natural gas around the turn of the century. Natural gas at the time was cleaner and often cheaper as the demand for coal as a fuel was quite high. In West Virginia a state well known for massive coal production many companies in the northern panhandle converted to natural gas as it was also available near by and was cheaper.
One way to find relevant data would be to search the archives of the newspaper that was local to the area and era you are interested in. It is amazing how much better newspapers were written 50 to 100 years ago when compared to what passes for journalism in today's bird cage liners.
Clay was also shipped in boxcars either bagged or loose.
As far as clay mines there could be one nearby but,clay was bought by the bid contract so,a nearby clay mine could be outbid by a lower price per ton..
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Actually a brick works is well suited to largely being modeled as flats on a backdrop due to the sheer size and scope of the largest ones. One impressive brick factory that was rail served was Purrington Brick in East Galesburg IL. It dates from an era well before covered hoppers although it struggled on into the 1970s. It was directly on the Santa Fe line (and old maps show it was served by the ATSF) but it was also served by a spur line from the CB&Q. I think eventually only the CB&Q served the plant. The key was the availability of the right kind of clay and shale.
There is a decent amount of info, with photos, on the internet
http://www.historicalbricks.com/brick_history.html
Thiis link has other links: http://www.burlingtonroute.com/docs/route/puringtonbrick.html
http://www.umvphotoarchive.org/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=any&CISOBOX1=Kilns&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOOP2=all&CISOBOX2=purington+brick+works+(east+galesburg%2C+ill)&CISOFIELD2=subjec&CISOROOT=/gales&t=s
Some slight elements of the old plant remain visible today
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nfry/sets/72157622765284408/
http://www.umvphotoarchive.org/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=any&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOROOT=/gales&CISOBOX1=brick
Dave Nelson