Anybody got any bright ideas?

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I have a space about 16" X 32" that needs an industry. Rail service is already provided but can be altered somewhat. Here’s a photo of the space available.

What I’m looking for is maybe some kind of industrial complex that’s not too tall. The main line out of town is immediately to the left. Time frame is the sixties, scale is HO, location is the (generic) Southwest. As you can see in the lower left, the track is buried in the street so I can’t alter the approach track but could possible add a turnout within the complex.

Another alternative would be to put a smallish industry with industrial and/or commercial buildings around it.

Anybody got any bright ideas?

Tom

2

How about just a field and maybe some junk or debries with a sign that says “Industrial Property For Sale - Has Existing Rail Service”. The railroad could use it to store seasonal or otherwise out-of-service cars.

What region of the country is this and what are some of the other things already on the layout?

That pink paint scheme covered hopper looks a whole lot more like the mid 1980’s to me.[;)]

3

How are you fixed for rail-served industries in general? Do you think you need more to provide operational interest, or is this purely a “scenic” industry. I’ve found that my layout needs more industrial sidings for spotting and picking up cars.

I think you might be able to add a curved turnout in the left foreground to get into the area, or maybe something from the other side.

There was a discussion a while back about adding a meat-packing plant. It’s a good one, because it packs a lot of different activities into an area which you can configure a lot of different ways. You can provide a stockyard with stock car traffic, plus refrigerator service going out for the finished product. Through the late Transition Era, you could add an icing platform for ice bunker reefers, too. Search around for that thread, and you’ll find a lot more information.

A brewery would be another point of interest, mainly because it’s a brewery.

The space is big enough for several generic “light manufacturing” buildings that could be rail-served. This would be another option that would give you options for switching cars. A furniture factory could take wood loads in and boxcar loads out. A small fuel-oil dealer would get an occasional tanker, or in a pre-war layout you might want a small-time coal distributer that could get a hopper of coal now and again.

4

A medium-sized lumber yard, complete with chain link fence around it, might look good there…a front end loader or two, some guys stacking lumber, a flatbed unloading/loading, a watchdog, etc.

5

Stupid question, but do you have spurs to each of your industries so you don’t foul the rail traffic?

End of lines would be good places for small yards, Railway express agencies, intermodal and truck transfers. You could add roads in and out to enhance the idea that this area isn’t a contained “valley” of industires.

Maybe something like:

It should fit. It’s 5-1/4 x 25 x 3", Overhang 11-3/4 x 1-1/4" These really came into use during the 60’s.

or perhaps:

Just a few humble ideas.

6

Thanks for the quick replies. I knew there was something I forgot. The location is a generic southwestern area.

The pink hopper was a gift and is required to be on the layout at all times. Whether or not it actually moves is another story entirely. [:-^]

The area needs one or more industries to provide additional switching. Right now, the town only has only four industries and I would like to provide one or two additional locations.

The curved turnout is a good idea which I had not considered.

Tom

7

A wrecking yard. Small office,one crane loading scrap metal into gondolas.Buncha rusty cars.

8

Ya know, you don’t see many hospitals on a layout. (just an observation)

9

From the pic, I don’t see the rest of that lower track past the riser.

Do you plan on a portal where that lower curving track crosses under? Or is the upper track to be a bridge? Just wondering where you could place a curved turnout and still have it accessable away from scenery/ structures.

A siding may be doable, but it might get tight and crowded.

10

The track ends there. A curved turnout could be put right after the end of the paved road in the lower left allowing me to put a second track which would route towards the front of the table. There is also room to put a turnout after the track straightens, allow a small two track yard or two tracks for an industry.

Tom

11

Barreled oil and gasoline bulk storage/ distributor.

Chuck

12

Walthers oil Depot.

A string of tank cars there will provide a nice variety without need for adding switches.

13

T’were it mine…

I’d pull that track, and re-lay it in a tighter radius, so you have room for structures on both side of a single spur. Of the two curved turnouts on our layout, one was pulled, the other is never used, it is non-functional because not one of 50 locomotives can cross it without derailing, Peco, 17" inside radius, 19 inch outside radius.

Then I’d stuff an industry in there that could grow over time. Something that could end up very complex, with a bazillion tiny pieces. A lumber yard, suggested earlier, could be such an industry, but there are others. An office, one lumber shed, maybe a sawmill, these could get you started, with a gravel and weed infested yard around it, but over time it could grow up to be densely populated with buildings related to the expanding business. A foundry, with a shrinking scrapyard around it, to make room for more buildings, is another idea. An industry that supports a rail maintenence facility, like a coachworks, is yet another, since your enginehouse is close by, and it’s obviously a heavily industrial area.

Goal is to get the area looking “finished” as soon as possible, but to allow for the most modeling pleasure over successive years as possible. Below a certain radius, you will have to consider short freight cars and motive power. That may rule out a coach works, I can’t tell radius from the pic.

Can the pink car be painted? Weathered? Does the contract specify it has to appear in each photograph? Can it be part of a significant train wreck, with explosions and fire? One clause in my contract has Dr. Suess’s “Grinch” train on our layout, but since ALL trains are usually parked in hidden staging, it’s not a real problem. As I often note, the “real good” trains shouldn’t be on permanent display, they have…more “impact” when rolled out unepectedly, and on “special” occasions.

YMMV.

14

ff:

The Southwest has had creameries, ironworks, scrapyards, and warehouses like anybody else, but since you have only so much room, why not use the industry to add a little character? Put in something you might not find elsewhere. Here are some ideas:

-a warehouse of the Charles Ilfeld Co., “Wholesalers of Everything”.

http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2812273190030894601ZqhDYk

-a dry ice plant fed by a nearby CO2 well

-a large trader in Native American goods

-a medium-sized food processor that makes something like tortillas or chili sauce

-a uranium mine

-a factory that produces color pigments from uranium ore

-an electronics plant - there are several in the Abq. area, but I don’t know if this industry was as common there in your era.

I’m sure people native to the region can come up with many more that would say “Southwest” to a viewer, rather than “Walthers catalog”.

15

Scrap metal processor. No buildings just piles of rusty scrap and a couple of cranes with magnets to move it around. Free forms to fit the curve of the track. Piles can be as high or low as you want them. One possible building would be a small one story office/security building at the entrance and a large dog or two.

16

In Canada you will find that employees of a mill will build a outdoor hockey rink in vacant land next to their workplace during the winter months. Then they can have a game after work. This can be lit at night by makeshift lighting, including headlights or a single light on a pole. Could make for a nice night time scene. Being the southwest how about a company Baseball diamond.

17

Clever.

18

Thanks to everyone. There are some good ideas presented. You’ve provided me with a lot to think about.

Tom

19

Some parts of the southwest (here in Phoenix, for example,) fruit and produce are big. Mostly out-going traffic; during the seasons, lots of reefer traffic being switched to the siding. If you still have older reefers, you would need a way to ice them.

Another option might be a complex of stock pens, representing a large meat packer off-scene. This would require a lot of switching for unloading stock cars and bringing in reefers to pick up the finished product.

Or, as someone suggested, a brewery, just because every layout needs one!