Planning a Short Line PT.3 Choosing Industries.

[Brakie]

OK.You have the motive power..

Now let's chose industries.

In choosing industries I highly recommend that the traffic to and from these industries leave and enter through interchange instead of being connected.

The type of industries we model should reflect the area we model.If we model(say) the Northwest then we should carry lots of lumber.If we model (say) a industrial area we should have boxcars,lumber cars,coil cars,tank cars etc.If we model the grain belt we should be heavy in grain hoppers.

Let's take a closer look.

In choosing industries we need to consider the era we model.By doing this you can add several different types of industries to include shoe manufacturers,tanneries,small power plants used for local industry complex and other such industries.

In compiling your list of possible industries we can use several research methods,books from the library on local history,the internet and my favorite driving through the area we plan to model-we can also take notes on local industries,names of rivers,creeks,connecting railroads etc.Be sure to take lots of photos.

Is bigger better?

I think so..I fully believe 5 or 6 large industries beats 20 small industries that is drawf by a 40' boxcar.Unlike small industrie the larger industries can have more then one spot or can use more then one type of car.

We can have our largest industry along the back drop and still have more then one spot and (say) a unloading area for cover hoppers or tank cars.

Remember.. "The more spots you have at a industry the more switching value you get in return." Sorry,I long forgot who said that but,I remember that line.

So,let's hear your thoughts and if you wish you can add your list of industries-I am still working on my list beyond Land Star Grains.

[BR60103]

You can make your industries more flexible by making the names non-specific. "Smith and Sons" will accept a bigger variety of cars (in different operating sessions, maybe) than "Doofenschmirtz's 2-56 Nuts and Bolts".
Having extremely specialized cars can spur you to building rare industries that won't generate much traffic -- I know someone who built a pickle plant so he could run his pickle car. Something like that (did anyone have more than one?) is better off in a run-through freight, or running between fiddle yard and car ferry.
If you have a lot of oddball cars, you could designate a railway car builder or rebuilder. A source for all those pristine models.

[steinjr]

Old news, and I know Brakie knows this from way, way back, but probably worth mentioning again for any new readers - the most general industries on a layout are simple spurs without any buildings at all:

- interchange/exchange tracks : where someone else has left cars for your engine to handle, and where your engine leaves cars for someone else to handle.
- team tracks: where any car can be spotted for industries that are not located on a spur, to be unloaded into a truck of some kind

A simple interchange track gives you "the world" - any kind of traffic source or traffic destination can be "beyond" that track, traffic can go from that track to any industry on your layout, and from any industry on your layout. And you don't have to make it an interchange with a foreign road, you can also have a track somewhere where a passing train from your own railroad has dropped off a cut of cars to be switched by you, or will pick up an outbound cut of cars from your industries - same concept - a general source and destination for traffic of any kind.

And at a team track (you can use a different name if you like, same function) unloading can be done by a tank truck with a hose, a flatbed truck with a crane on, a forklift and a simulated metal "bridge plate" for unloading stuff from a boxcar, an end ramp to drive off vehicles off a flatcar, or mobile conveyors to empty a bulk car of some kind. Plenty of room to model interesting varying loading and unloading equipment, only requirement for a team track is room for a truck on a gravel patch or concrete apron alongside the track - your archtypical aisle side industry.

Smile,
Stein

[MasonJar]

In choosing industries we need to consider the era we model.

... snip...

Is bigger better?

I think so..I fully believe 5 or 6 large industries beats 20 small industries that is drawf by a 40' boxcar.Unlike small industrie the larger industries can have more then one spot or can use more then one type of car.

In considering the era, remember that the further back in time you go the more likely your industry, regardless of size, would be served by rail. In the days before the Interstate or Provincial Highways improvements, truck traffic was a tiny fraction of what it was today. In 1931, there were 165,855 "privately owned and common carrier motor trucks" in Canada (according to the Report of the Royal Commission to inquire into Railways and Transportation in Canada (1931-32)). The vast majority of these would be concentrated in the major cities - Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. There was no cross-country road network resembling anything we have today so these trucks were involved in very short distance hauling. The report notes that this is the very impact the railways were concerned about. Small towns at a distance from major centres, as well as cross-county hauling were still the domain of the railways.

So even small industries would be rail served, providing they were located in the "right spot" - i.e. along the tracks in a town or village not served by decent, year-round roads. The railway might not build a spur across town for them, but they might offer the industry some land near existing trackage, or where a short siding could be easily added.

Remember too the "less than car load" concept which is "extinct" today.

Andrew

[Brakie]

Andrew wrote:Remember too the "less than car load" concept which is "extinct" today.
----------------------------
I am not to sure about that if one considers Road Railer services and railroad owned trailers..

LCL may have changed from boxcars to trailers...

[Brakie]

Stein,Industries found on Team tracks/distribution tracks is the next installment.

Thanks for the preview.

[eightyeightfan1]

Sidings with no industry next to it could also be "imagined". Maybe an interchange for an industry thats "off the layout", such as a coal mine(empties in/loads out), or a company that may be situated "a couple of miles away from the main line"

[steinjr]

Sidings with no industry next to it could also be "imagined". Maybe an interchange for an industry thats "off the layout", such as a coal mine(empties in/loads out), or a company that may be situated "a couple of miles away from the main line"

Reminds me - someone (Tony Koester?) once described a pretty elaborate variant of that once - he had a non-modeled industry (maybe a paper plant) "in the aisle" that had a several tracks and spots (also not modeled on the actual layout).

You were supposed to leave a a cut of cars for this industry on a track that ran out to the edge of the layout. The cut of cars had to be sorted into a specific order ("to make it easier for the plant switcher"), according to which track inside the industry the car was for. A diagram of the imaginary industry and switching instructions for the imaginary plant were provided for the crew that was supposed to leave the cut of cars.

Grin,
Stein

[CAR_FLOATER]

Hi Stein -

Yes, it was Tony K. We used to do this on the WM Job on the old Allegheny Midland. THis job was short, but packed full of "play value" because of the job that switched WestvaCo paper.

I have a similar siding on my layout, where I did not have the room to build the extra siding to the scrap yard, so I will have my crews spot those cars at the end of the siding, while cars for the crane track will load out on the far (open) end of the siding. Also, many of my industries are multiple spots or multiple tracks. I model the New Jersey waterfront, and a tiny Walthers factory (even one of the "big" ones) wouldn't be very realistic as built right out of the box.

CF

[steinjr]

Thanks, CF - I sorta had the feeling it was a paper plant at one of Tony's layouts I was remembering (I haven't seen it in person, just read about it somewhere).

Your layout also sounds very cool - anywhere where we can see pictures or a track plan of it ?

Smile,
Stein

[CAR_FLOATER]

Hi Stein -

Thanks...Yes, check out - <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/1705">http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/1705</a><!-- m -->, and
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/1691">http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/1691</a><!-- m --> for more info on my layout.
These are my blogs on the Model Railroad Hobbyist website.

CF

[steinjr]

Hi Stein -

Thanks...Yes, check out - <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/1705">http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/1705</a><!-- m -->, and
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/1691">http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/1691</a><!-- m --> for more info on my layout.
These are my blogs on the Model Railroad Hobbyist website.

CF

Ah - recognized it when I saw the first picture of the high line along the wall and the peninsulas - I have seen some progress shots from your layout on the Yahoo marine railroading group before. Very nice layout - thank you for the links, Ralph!

Smile,
Stein

[Ralph]

Not to veer too far from Brakie's thread but I do want to extend a welcome to Car_Floater. Welcome aboard! I enjoyed reading your blog and look forward to more. Rails and waterfronts have always appealed to me. My layout features a carfloat but its rather simple and not as realistic in setting as what you have going on. Nice work! It's always good to meet another Ralph as well!

Ralph

[CAR_FLOATER]

Hi Stein, glad to know you are following my progress. We met at the NMRA convention, correct?

And thank you, Ralph, that makes two other Ralphs I know in model railroading now, and the other one lives in the same state I do!

Ralph, aka Car Floater

[steinjr]

Hi Stein, glad to know you are following my progress. We met at the NMRA convention, correct?

I wish. But sadly I have not been able to make it to any NMRA conventions yet - I live in Norway in Europe, and only spend time in the US when we visit my wife's family in Minnesota in the summer vacation, and there hasn't been a convention that has been convenient for that yet.

Anyways - sorry about hijacking your thread, Brakie - please go on with your choosing industries theme.

Smile,
Stein