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Busy Lineside Industry
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One source for inspiration is two pdf you can buy here on trains.com (look under The Information Station) on "Lineside Industries you can Model." I bought both and found useful suggestions in each. Some examples are pre-modern, but there are several that could fit on a modern line. <br /> <br />One I've selected as an inspiration is a Seagram's bottling plant. According to the article they receive all kinds of beverages in different tank cars, which requires precise spotting of each car. In addition, they ship packaged beverages in 20' containers on the rails and on trucks. There is no mention of receiving, for example, packaging materials by rail but I've decide to add that. A bottling plant is a good choice because its something which typically has not been sent off shore in recent years. (I also recently drove by Coors plant in Golden, Colorado and they have a lot of railroad activity.) <br /> <br />The pdfs also had a good discussion of an auto plant, a petroleum facility, and several articles covering forestry-related industries that could apply to modern rail. For modeling earlier eras there were industries such as a steel mill and a plate glass plant. <br /> <br />Another option, for the modern era, is an intermodal yard. Perhaps not quite as exciting to model, but it can justify lots of traffic and an interesting variety of equipment. <br /> <br />Finally, from personal experience I could suggest the Redwood City (California) Port/Building Materials facilty. While this is a large facility the railroad portion can be modeled in a small area with the rest represented on a backdrop. This bay side port receives barge loads of raw material supplies such as rock, some of which are processed there and others of which are simply stored and shipped. The materials are shipped out via truck to local destinations but also extensively via rail. Because the approach rails move over city streets the switchers run only at night, but activity is very busy at those times. There is a runaround track and even a small yard. Cars are exclusively hoppers -- but there is a lot of variety within that type. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />
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