"Oddball Industries"
Since its very beginnings, the railroad has been inexorably linked to heavy industry. Coal, rocks, timber, steel, machines and all manner of refined items, it's safe to say trains have hauled it all. And Model Railroaders, in their zeal to faithfully reproduce their prototypes in miniature, have been right there, watching, photographing, recording, and of course building their models depicting all manner of rail-served industries. Some industries are so oft modeled they've practically become cliches... coal mines, steel mills, grain elevators, just to name a few. Which is not to say they're not fun to see and operate-- but I have been wondering recently about other industries that aren't so often represented, what other rail-served industries have folks modeled which aren't so common or downright unusual?
As usual, I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions, and photos if you got 'em!
John
Well, when I first built my GERN Industries Gibson Works, it was the only one in the world, so I suppose it was somewhat unusual. The modelled portion represents about 1/3 of the above-ground facility, and there's an extensive mine (unmodelled) extending out under adjacent Lake Erie (similar to the salt mines at Goderich, Ont.). The ore mined is flux (as in a state of flux) and is processed into many products used in almost all industries. The original idea is my brother's and dates back to the mid-'50s. I saw it as a traffic generator, and built the complex shown, combining Walthers kits with scratchbuilt sections.
Here's an overall view of Gibson Works, which is about 6 1/2' long and approximately 20" deep:
Inbound loads include processing machinery:
...along with empty shipping containers (paper bags, cloth sacks, barrels, and drums), lubricating fluids, and repair parts:
Outbound loads include various packaged flux products, usually in boxcars:
A large portion of product shipped is in bulk, either as powder or granules, and it travels, for the most part, in covered hoppers or converted boxcars (the flatcar is an idler, as clearances restrict locomotives from entering):
The older part of the plant can also handle covered hoppers and boxcars for shipping, and it also receives inbound loads of packaging and processing machinery:
...however, much of this area is now also processing liquid flux products:
...which is shipped in a growing fleet of company-owned tank cars:
My brothers churns out ad info when the mood strikes him - here are a few examples:
There are now approximately three dozen GERN modellers worldwide, some with large complexes, others with small warehouses, and some just running a GILX car or two and enjoying the advertising, which I send along as I receive it.
Remember:
Wayne
As part of the Kashimoto Lumber Company complex, I'm going to have a plant that makes specialty wood shapes:
Not exactly a new idea - I noticed the prototype when I was in Agematsu in 1964. The product went out in all-door box cars, banded onto pallets and handled at the JNR freight house.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Less-commonly modeled industries on my East Texas layout had a peanut butter factory and a creosote treating plant
I have a small portable layout which represents an “in plant industrial railroad” except that the “industry” is government-owned...a U S Navy blimp base. Traffic includes helium in special tankcars and munitions in special boxcars...plus aviation fuel, etc.
The layout under construction includes a shrimpboat harbor with seafood shipping plants...
Banana boat dock that originates trainload banana shipments north once a week when the banana boat comes in.
Sulphur export terminal with special sulphur gondolas.
Small shipbuilding yard that makes barges.
Oystershell dredging as raw material for Portland cement.
Raw sugar import terminal. (at right)
Salt for refrigerator cars brought in in company-service cars.
Cotton compress and export terminal. Just a background so far...
A similar prototype--
Grain bagging plant (for export to countries that do not have bulk handling faciloities)
Ship chandlery.
Cooperage/ crating company\
Related prototype in a port area- a sling service
At one time, I planned a tea blending plant, but have nixed the idea.
The layout under construction is part of an impossibly large layout I once dreamed of.
Less-commonly modeled industries “imagineered”:
Carbon black plant
Wine barrel manfuacturer
Oilfield equipment distributor
Oilfield drilling fluids (“mud”) distributor
Concrete sewer and drainage pipe manufacturer
Fiberboard container manufacturer
reactor vessel fabricator for Refinery and chemical plants
Tetraethyl lead antiknock compound plant (“Ethyl”)
City street and water department –chlorine gas, asphalt, gravel...
Electric utility service yard- poles, cable reels, transformers, etc.
This is a very big etc.
Coffee roasting plant
Meat (including horse) pet foods byproducts canner
This is a related prototype- an inedible byproduct oil rendering plant near the Fort Worth stockyards.
Cottonseed oil mill
cotton oil mill sheds, Harlingen
City produce terminal
Grocery chain wholesale warehouse
Cold storage warehouse
Aluminum siding manufacturer
Coathanger manufacturer
Sears Roebuck warehouse regional distribution center
School supply notebook and tablet manufacturer
Newspaper warehouse (paper and ink)
Freight forwarder
Concrete step, fountain, and yard ornament manufacturer- this actually existed about 200 feet from the bedroom where I grew up--
Molasses terminal
Industrial gases
Mine include the Stave Brothers Cooperage (barrel factory):
...and Spock's Wingnuts (Bigger ears for a better grip - the logical choice):
They both have their own boxcars:
I've built a couple of other industrial buildings, but have yet to determine their products or business names. I've thought of making one a barrel hoop factory (supplier to Stave Brothers), but I can't come up with a catchy name for it. I'be also thought that a winery might be a good industry for my layout, too.
I try to be careful about using too much humor, because jokes have a short shelf-life and then they seem silly. Still, I always admired John Allen's tounge-in-cheek names for towns, businesses, and geologic features, so I like having a few business names that make folks chuckle.
Phil, I'm not a rocket scientist; they are my students.
WOW those are impressive, I have to start thinking more out of the box, as the thread suggests!
Doc, That is really neat!
Phil, how about 'Hoopdee Ring' or 'Circle Clasp' or something like that.. The 'Hoopdee' one being more facecious & comical of course..
Wayne!
That is truly excellent modelling! Too many details to take in all at once. Amazing work on the structures. Even more amazing work on the tank cars.
Thank you for sharing
Dave
P.S. Please can you guys (i.e. excellent modelers) please stop taking me back to the drawing board so often!
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Thanks for your very kind words, Dave.
hon30critter Wayne! That is truly excellent modelling! Too many details to take in all at once. Amazing work on the structures. Even more amazing work on the tank cars. Thank you for sharing Dave P.S. Please can you guys (i.e. excellent modelers) please stop taking me back to the drawing board so often!
I have often suggested that doctorwayne and his layout be banned from these forums.
It is supposed to be about ordinary every day modeling, not extraordinary museum quality efforts.
doctorwayne's efforts put us all to shame. Fortunately, he has permitted me to live in his garage so that I may visit his layout whenever I want to.
Rich
Alton Junction
The layout I am building will have an oil refinery with a coking plant (which is probably an unusual model), a dry bulk transload terminal, and a tomato processing plant. If I can expand, I plan to add a mini-mill and orange juice plant.
Some other possibilities are:
Mulch plant
Natural gas fractionation plant
Propellant plant
Transformer manufacturing plant
Turbine manufacturing plant
Space shuttle booster plant
Helium extraction plant
Ammonia and ammonia products plant
Water treatment facility
Sewer farm
"No soup for you!" - Yev Kassem (from Seinfeld)
mmmmmm...Blue Circle Audio is in the process of expanding their transformer factory by getting into the tube business as well...
Yep, my little Emerald, Leemer & Southern has a high end electronics firm as a customer out in the middle of the northern plains/southern prairie region....
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
John,While there are many rail served industries very few is modeled simply because most modelers don't think outside of the common modeled industries we see on just about every layout..
Heres a short list of possible industries based on the prototype.
1.Pet food manufacturing.
2.Peanut butter producer
3.Jelly producer.
4.Steel distributors.
5.Grocery distributor
6.A diaper manufacturer
6.Alcohol beverage distributor
7.A tobacco warehouse
8.A plastic pipe distributor
9.Frozen food manufacturer
10.A bakery such as Crispy Creme
There are many other types of manufacturers that one can model just by thinking outside of the normal layout industry box.The list is endless and ripe for the picking..
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Larry's right about the selection of industries applicable to rail service, and one should also keep in mind that some industries are particular to specific eras. You won't find too many coal dealers nowadays, just as you wouldn't have seen factories producing wind turbines in the '30s (windmills, yes, of course). One of the nearby communities here used to print an annual business directory of local industries, with a short description of the products made. Some of them were familiar to me, but many were not and it was a simple matter to spend an afternoon touring the industrial area to see which ones were rail-served and which ones looked interesting as possible models, either using just the name for a different industry, or using the building as inspiration for a model.I have several industries either on my layout or not modelled but represented by staging which may not be common in some areas, but because I'm from the industrial city of Hamilton, Ont., were "just another business". Those modelled include:
A grocery warehouse:
A casket manufacturer:
An industrial supply warehouse:
Machine tool manufacturer:
Pump and compressor manufacturer:
Washing machine assembly plant:
Textile mill:
...and, represented by staging, numerous facilities too large to model, but shipping interesting, and appropriate to my era and locale, loads. These include:
Carbon black processor:
Automobile component factory:
Steel plant:
Steel fabricator:
Bridge and crane manufacturer:
Scrap yards:
All of these, and more, in one town.
Too often our industries are too small to justify rail service, so if you're pressed for space (and few of us aren't) consider modelling fewer but more-to-scale industries, then let staging represent those for which you don't have adequate room. When I get around to finishing the second level of my layout, there'll be lots of modelled (or partially modelled) industries, including a quarry, tannery, cigarette factory, and a furniture manufacturer, and unmodelled industries (represented by staging) will include slaughter houses, and a rendering plant.
doctorwayne When I get around to finishing the second level of my layout, there'll be lots of modelled (or partially modelled) industries, including a quarry, tannery, cigarette factory, and a furniture manufacturer, and unmodelled industries (represented by staging) will include slaughter houses, and a rendering plant. Wayne
When I get around to finishing the second level of my layout, there'll be lots of modelled (or partially modelled) industries, including a quarry, tannery, cigarette factory, and a furniture manufacturer, and unmodelled industries (represented by staging) will include slaughter houses, and a rendering plant.
Even more reason to ban Wayne from the forums.
I have a Jiffy Pop plant that makes Jiffy Pop Pop Corn. Incoming are wood, paper, cardboard, aluminum foil, wire, corn, cooking oil, salt, and machine parts.Outgoing is scrap metal, general paper scrap and waste products, and the main product, cases of Jiffy Pop Pop Corn.I once had a Possum wood lumber plant on another layout. The mill logged the Possum wood tree. After treating the wood with various chemicals and stains, it could be turned into any type of wood known to grow anywhere in the world.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
Wayne, you made my day with your wonderful GERN Industries post! Not only is it the best laugh I've had in a while, it's a fine inspiration for other imaginary industries.
Beautiful modelling, too.
Thanks.
Tom
I like to make my visitors look for things. This unobtrusive loading dock door is in the very back corner.
Off on the other side, cars from this plant supply the immense demand of Lake Wobegon...
The artwork for this reefer is courtesy of our own Fritz Milhaupt.
The Strumpet Brewery provides a variety of fine malt beverages
Other model stockyards full of cattle, but I chose hogs. This lets me use the interesting double-deck stock cars seen behind this small pen.
Finally, it's not an industry, exactly, but my layout has its own LHS. The name honors the shop in Chelmsford, MA, where I buy most of my trains.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Hijacking this thread—or maybe reviving it after its normal “sell-by” date...
One good source of interesting and unusualk, but PROTOTYPE rail-served industries is a document like one I happened to acquired ages ago...from 1973.
“Southern Pacific Freight Tariff 1517-F, list of private industries located at common points on lines of Southern Pacific... and also other lines.” It gives industry and commodity information for any given “station” name (meaning not a depot building but a named point of a railroad), ONLY for places that are both located on the SP AND one other railroad. If SP doesn’t go there, it doesn’t list that town. If ONLY SP goes there, it doesn’t list that town.
The tariff also lists WHICH handles that industry. When a car is billed over the SP to go to a “town” where SP is not the only RR, a station agent can quickly see whether the industry is on HIS line or the other line.
I was able to assemble a list of MoPac industries in San Antonio from the 1973 tariff.
Alamo Fuel Co wood, coal, salt
Allen Allen lumber, building materials
Asgrow Texas Co. seeds
Bain Peanut Co peanut shellers
Calavo Inc avocados
Wm Cameron Co. building materials
Celotex Corporation roofing
Century Paper Co paper supplies
City Public Service Board gas plant warehouse
City Public Service Board Leon Creek power plant
Crowley Feed Co Grain products
Cudahy Packing Co packing house products
Davidson Corp building materials
Delaware Punch bottles, syrup
East Kelly Air Force Base
Gebhardt Mexican Foods Chili products
Gillis Hood Security public warehouses
Irwin Steel Co iron & steel
Karotkin Furniture Co furniture
Kelly Construction paving contractor
Leesch Lumber Co lumber
Liberty grain co grain, mill products
McNeel A M paving materials
Mission Ice Fuel Co ice
Moncrief Lenoir steel building materials
Monterrey Iron Metal Co scrap iron
National Incorporated wholesale grocers
Nationwide Papers paper products
Nelson & Sons hides
Prasel Lumber Co building materials
Rainbo Bakery bakery products
Scobey Fireproof Storage public warehouse
Seven Up Bottling beverages
Steve Sash & Door millwork
Superior Woodwork millwork
Tambo Mftg Co road machinery
Trottner Iron Metal scrap metal
Union stockyard
Vaughn Geo C. Sons building materials
Williams Distributing Co beer
Then I was able to cross locate many of these on Sanborn’s maps and other sources to develop an HO layout plan for the Missouri pacific in San Antonio in the transition era mid-1950s. (I showed this last summer...)
I have built a number of low relief industrial models after prototype structures that I had saw in Los Angeles.. I thought they were better looking buildings than what I come up with my own design, and they are from the area that I am modeling.
The Strongheart Dog Food Company.
The Cyclone Fence Co.
On my old layout I had a cat food plant named after my late feline friend Eyore.
My current layout has a bakery that primarily produces chocolate-chip cookies. Inbound loads include boxcars of chocolate chips, airslide hoppers of sugar, tank cars of corn syrup, and covered hoppers of flour and grain.
Except for an unknown business in West Berlin that I converted to a lumberyard, the rest of the industries on my current layout are true to the prototype within the time frame of Google Earth. (Stone Inc's facility was abandoned recently enough for the old building, siding, and loaded gons to show up on an overhead view)
- Brox Industries, hot-mix plant at Marlborough Junction, Mass.- Stone Inc, stone cutting business that produces (produced?) granite countertops, also at the above location.- William Reisner Corporation, a scrapyard and recycling facility in Clinton, Mass. Track arrangement is prototypical (switchback!) except my version of it scraps rail equipment.