(poll) What is the most difficult and easiest type of industry to model.

[danmerkel]

Easiest? How about no industry at all??? MODEL RAILROADER did an article on an "industry" that was nothing more than a spur that went through a gate then behind a hill... presumably to go to a remote location. This could be used for coal, timber, or any industry that didn't sit trackside. I think theirs happened to be an explosives factory... on one wants that close at hand.

A little fancy track work and you could fool them with empties in & loads out trains as well.

Hardest? That would depend on the definition... an oil refinery would be tough to do model wise, a steel mill would require lots of tight trackage, a quarry would require a huge amount of space, auto assembly would require lots of trackage as well... it's a tough call.

dlm

[jkeaton]

Easiest: LCL freighthouse (great for those modelling up to the steam/diesel transition).

Hardest: Oh, boy, there are many. Shipyard (I really like this one!) Steel Mill. Aluminum smelter. Oil refinery. Chemical plant. But each, if you're interested in the industry, would be worthwhile to do.

Jim

[Bikerdad]

Easiest?? Since I don't really consider a team track to be an INDUSTRY, I'll have to pass on that. Probably sports betting. Just put a small nondescript building next to the tracks with a couple of cars in front, and voila, done.

Hardest? Shipyard. Probably as complex as petrochemicals or steel mills, with the added complication of both the ship(s) and water. Shipyards take up lots of space, have fun cranes and gantrys, etc. One good thing about a shipyard is a lot of different loads can go into one.

[ericsp]

QUOTE: Originally posted by bpickering

QUOTE: Originally posted by ericsp
I agree that a realistic oil refinery is the hardest industry. I am planning on building a 24,000 barrel/day refinery on my layout. I have years of research invested in it. Good thing I don't need any permits.

What, are you single? [:D]

As Maxwell Smart would say "And loving it."

[Jetrock]

Easy industry: An interchange! Any type of car, no structures at all necessary, foreign roadnames a plus!

[Anonymous]

I'll toss my hat into the ring,

While many people have said steel mills would be the hardest to model, and while complex and large, in my opinion any petrochemical plant would be more difficult, due to piping, cracking towers, and the numerous storage tanks with the associated piping involved.

Having seen and toured both types of facilities, my vote goes to petrochem, but both are daunting endeavors if modeled realistically. Steel mills do enable one to run a more varied number of car types.

Just my opinion.

SRVfan

[Anonymous]

Easiest: Generic one box-car a week warehouse

Hardest- Steel mill

[Anonymous]

I have to say this:

Real Estate!

Acquiring space for HO empire.. err.. trains is very very difficult sometimes.

[PennsyHoosier]

Easiest-- the PennsyHoosier Micro Brewery (as if I need ANOTHER hobby!).

Hardest--shutting down the PennsyHoosier Micro Brewery.

Both are "life sized," so to speak.

[Fergmiester]

The most difficult,I think would be a working brewery or in this case a micro brewery[:o)]

[Texas Zepher]

I agree with John Colley.

Easiest by far is a team track. Just any old track, curved or straight ,laid out in a field where a wagon or truck can back up to the flat or box car. If you want to get really fancy you can add a dock. I saw one in St. Louis, vintage 1980, that was a track run over the top of a demolished building. There was a Frisco box car sitting there with chain run between two posts in front of it that said, "no parking loading zone". The sign looked like someone doodled it with a magicmarker. I think, hope, I got a picture of it.

Hardest - Steel Mill. Specialized buildings, specialized equipment, size, volume of cars in and out. Most of the ones I've seen people try to do on layouts look, well, like toys.

I also considered an open pit mine because of the size, or perhaps an operating ship to train container loading dock.

[Anonymous]

if u want to consider railroads an idustry like i do they can be both simple and hard depending on the complexity

[Anonymous]

Easiest: Grain Elevator, team track

hardest: Oil efinery? Steel mill? Harbor?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by bwtpwb

I am just starting, so they all seem difficult to me!!

I'm with you on this. But I should add that there is a lot of knowledge available in this forum all one needs to do is ask.

[bpickering]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ericsp
I agree that a realistic oil refinery is the hardest industry. I am planning on building a 24,000 barrel/day refinery on my layout. I have years of research invested in it. Good thing I don't need any permits.

What, are you single? [:D]

Permitting (from the Spousal Overunit...) has been a big delay in many of my extracurricular activities, like motorcycling, war gaming, and modelling. Despite the aroma (not to mention the detriments of MEK), I still had to do some convincing to get the "permit" to put a vent fan/paint booth in the hobby room. It's not as cold here in WA as I grew up in MN, but was still uncomfortable to be gluing out in the garage with the door open.

Back on-topic:
Easiest- freight station (before the rise of TOFC/COFC)- as mentioned previously, who knows if those boxcars are empty or full
Hardest- how 'bout an open-pit mine? Haven't done too much research, but from a "Discovery Channel"-level knowledge, I can think of the following:

• Tough from space consideration (although maybe inside a helix?)


• possibly narrow gauge running down to the actual dig or lots of big trucks on the road up to where hoppers would be loaded


• one or more BIG diggers (and some of the modern continuous loaders are both big and complicated)


• perhaps a pre-processing center at the rim (crushing ore before loading into hoppers?

Brian Pickering

[douginut]

easiest- commuter stations, suburban

Hardest- lattiswork elevated structures and palladian stations.

Doug, in Utah

[steveblackledge]

i have a small creek with a sunken GP9 in the middle that fell off the bridge in a storm, a tug or ocean going vessel would'nt go up to my team track, a portable conveyor belt or ramp can be used to load boxcars, gondolas and hoppers etc and would be simple to build

[Anonymous]

I have a walthers barge and a tug for it. It serves the steel mill, oil refinery and powerplant across my virtual harbor. That eliminated alot of space hogging industries.

[steveblackledge]

the easiest type of industry is one that goes up to / against the backdrop, you don't need to bother with detailing the sides, and if you only model the rear of a building you only need a few vent pipes and A/C equipment etc,etc , you won't nead to bother with door's or windows unless you want a fire exit or two, a steel frame building clad in steel sheet has to be the easiest,,, the worst job i would like to tackle would be a refinery or something like that, apart from the labour time involved you will have higher overall construction costs.

over to you

[cwclark]

easiest...a loading dock...hardest..an oil refinery...

[Anonymous]

Easiest-A Team Track in G scale
Hardest-A Petrochemical facility in Z scale :D

[RedLeader]

Easest: Any warehouse that uses boxcars.

Hardest: An open pit coal mine. A shipyard. The panama canal!. Any steel mill or petrochemical refinery. Any military base.

[AntonioFP45]

QUOTE: Originally posted by coal drag

A subway would be easiest. All you need are some steps going underground.

One of the harder ones I would think would be a steel mill, to do it justice.

Re: Subway.

Don't forget though, some modelers actually like to "see" their subway trains and do "cutaway views". Takes quite a bit of work to do model tunnel supports, 3rd rails, and station details.

Just my 2 cents!

[ckape]

CBQ_Guy, thanks for the tip, but the Walthers bins are still too small. The next size up bin from the 3 Rix ones I've made is about 8 or 9 inches in diameter, and then the next two are even bigger. I figure I can use Evergreen's corrugated siding sheets, the grooves aren't exactly the right shape but I figure at that size nobody'll notice.

[coal drag]

A subway would be easiest. All you need are some steps going underground.

One of the harder ones I would think would be a steel mill, to do it justice.

[CBQ_Guy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ckape

While a grain elevator can be easy to model, it can just as well be hard. Right now I'm working on modelling a rural elevator that has half a dozen large grain bins (only half of those are small enough to be model with the Rix bins), about the same number of multi-bin structures, and a few smaller bins.

Have you checked out the Walthers grain bins? They're HO scale but I thought they looked big to me, almost O-scale at 5 1/4" diameter. They're much larger than the Rix models.

http://walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-3123

Hope this helps and gives you some more options with your model.

[BRAKIE]

IMHO Boxcars,Tank cars,covered hoppers and steel coil cars are the easiest..That's one reason I use so many!! [:0][:p][:D]

[ckape]

While a grain elevator can be easy to model, it can just as well be hard. Right now I'm working on modelling a rural elevator that has half a dozen large grain bins (only half of those are small enough to be model with the Rix bins), about the same number of multi-bin structures, and a few smaller bins. It's a mess of conveyors, piping, and catwalks.

But still, I'd say a refinery one of the hardest things you can do.

As for simple industries, concrete unloaders can be as simple as a set of conveyors spaced to hit the two bays of a covered hopper that unload into a waiting truck.

[krump]

easiest = manufactured home builder
difficult(est[:D]) = widget maker --- the pieces that come with very tiny door jams