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Shipping concrete products by rail

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  • Member since
    January 2001
  • From: SE Minnesota
  • 6,847 posts
Posted by jrbernier on Saturday, November 10, 2018 9:28 PM

  Back in the late 60's I used to see 40' boxcars with pallets of bricks.  They were the kiln fired clay type.

Modeling BNSF  and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin

  • Member since
    May 2004
  • 7,500 posts
Posted by 7j43k on Saturday, November 10, 2018 8:52 PM

My impression is that plants that produce concrete blocks and bricks and similar things don't ship by rail, because their customers are far too close.

If ya wanna ignore that irritating idea, the car at the top of my list would be a bulkhead flat--easily loaded by fork lift.  And the bulkheads help head off longitudinal load shift.  Which, of course, is why they became popular.

Now, if your plant made some sort of sooper-special concrete product that hardly anyone else could make, then rail shipment starts becoming more likely.

Yeah, I'd go with bulkheads.  And pallets, of course.  And lots of banding.  Lots.

 

Ed

PED
  • Member since
    April 2016
  • 571 posts
Shipping concrete products by rail
Posted by PED on Saturday, November 10, 2018 7:05 PM

My late 70's layout has a concrete plant. Inbound products include rock, sand, cement and fly ash. I would like to add an outbound product. The plant makes concrete blocks, bricks and other finished concrete products. Would those products be shipped by rail in late 70's?  Flatcar? Boxcar?

Paul D

N scale Washita and Santa Fe Railroad
Southern Oklahoma circa late 70's

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