I figure I may as well drop this thread here. Can anyone please provide me with any information on automotive fatories served by rail? A picture, a memory, a recollection of what is accepted by rail, or any other information on the relationship between RRs and automotive factories. All information accepted.
THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!
The Saturn plant in Columbia, TN, has an eight track auto rack loading yard and what appears to be three tracks going into a building in another part of the plant, both serviced from a small CSX yard immediately adjacent. The plant itself is gigantic - a gymnasium filler if modeled in HO.
In Mapquest, enter Saturn Parkway and Main Street, Columbia, TN. The plant is due west of the cloverleaf intersection.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Plants are normally switched on a very rigid schedule. The plant gives the railroad the list of cars it wants spotted by car number. They ask for specific cars because the different cars may have different parts (black dashboards vs. red dashboards). The railroad switches out and lines up the cars in preparation to switch the plant. When it comes time to switch the plant the dock foreman has the cars ready to pull(bridge plates out, doors closed), the switcher pulls the cars and respots the plant
ASAP wit the cars in the exact order requested by the plant. As soon as the switcher clears the doors are opened and the plant forklifts start unloading the parts. It has to be done as quickly as possible to minimize the interruption in the flow of parts to the assembly line.
Dave H.
The Subaru plant in Lafayette, Indiana has rail service from NS, but all we do is ship the finished cars out via rail. There are no incoming shipments at the plant other than trucks. I’m not certain, but I think that there is a 12 track loading “yard” at the plant, and NS has expanded a yard nearby recently to keep the autoracks we need close by. The NS mainline going to Peoria, Illinois from Frankfort, Indiana goes right in front of the plant too, if that helps.
If you can get the Walthers book on the auto industry “America’s Driving Force”
Also try to track down Jim Hediger’s multi part article in Model Railroader about rail served auto industry. I think it was within the last 6 years or so.
Dave Nelson
86’ high cubes were built to service the parts supply to the auto industry primarily. Exterior sheet metal parts, Motors, dashboards, seats, etc. Any large bulky item that can be handled in volume. Most of these parts had special racking to maximize cargo capability and mimimze damage. The cars were in dedicated service. TOFC cars were converted to carry frames and they used to be plentious. I would really rethink havng an auto plant. They are as big as steel mill buildings. An auto supplier sending a car or two of parts every day for Just in time delivery may be a better option.
Thanks everuyone. what I’m probably going to have is a small auto factory with one track for incoming and one for outcoming. in light of these posts, however, I may have to change that.
Also check out GM’s Orion Assembly Plant near Lake Orion, MI. This plant has tracks for parts, auto racks, and a coal fired power plant. It is served by CN via a yard NW of the plant with a wye connection to what’s left of the GTW Cass City Sub, which eventually ends up at CN’s Pontiac Yard.
It’s probably too big to model without lots of compression, but I think the track layout lends itself well to an around-the walls approach.
Thanks, odave, that has helped me some just by glancing it over. I will probably use an element or two from it.
I built a representative assembly plant on the N scale layout at the Delmarva Model Railroad Club.
It’s not based on any particular prototype, but the traffic flow is based on my recollections of the GM plant that was in Baltimore. There’s a small yard to the left where the incoming cars are staged and sorted, an enclosed unloading bay. There’s another enclosed unloading bay on the left side for paint and chemical cars and other miscellaneous inbound traffic, then three long tracks for loading auto racks.
The office building is small, but functional… It’s built from DPM modular parts and some scratch/bashed modifications.
The finished cars emerge from the opening on the far right and stay in the storage lot prior to loading. The office that’s elevated above the loading track is based on the arrangement at the Baltimore plant. The loading tracks were long enough to handle about a dozen racks.
In modeling a major traffic generator like an auto plant, it’s probably more important to represent the the flow of railcars than to accurately model the buildings or track plan. Obviously you’re going to have to truncate everything. This plant occupied an area of a right triangle, measuring about 3’ x 4’ along the square ends. As small as the track plan appears, it could handle about 30
Thanks Lee, that is perfect. Could you PM me some pics from other angles, please?
That’s all they is, they ain’t no mo. Unfortunately the brain trust that runs the layout now decided that having actual industries modeled got in the way of their speeding passenger trains… The model is currently in “storage”…
This is the back side of the tall part in the back… It’s one of those Art Curren style “two face” buildings…
Lee
Oh well, I can work with those. I have a good amount of room for it. Thanks again, that is perfect. Actually, Lee, I am very glad you added that rear view.