Hi I was wondering if any of you had a MODERN cement plant that you could share. I think I know how I want to build mine but I could use some inspiration. Thanks! [8D]
Are you talking about a plant where they make cement? These things are huge! Walthers produced a model of a typical one a few years ago.:
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-3098
If you are talking about the silos where the processed cement product is shipped:
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-3019
Jim
I would listen to the last person carefully. They are big. I put together “Hoffa’s Cement”, which comes in three different kits. My wife gave me one kit thinking it was the whole plant but it was only 1/3 of the whole thing. So, silly me, I went out and bought the other two parts and assembled the whole thing. It takes up a lot of real estate on my layout but I haven’t had the heart to retire it yet. Make sure you check the dimensions of the total footprint before you do one of these.
Yes. I know they are huge. That’s why I want one! i was thinking about Valley Cement from Walthers but I cant find one to save my life.
It looks to me like the corrugated metal buildings in the Valley Cement kit could be built from rearranging the walls of a Glacier Gravel kit. Maybe some cutting here and there, and maybe it wouldn’t result in exactly the same shape, but the look would be basically the same.
Finding Medusa Cement and Glacier Gravel is probably easier than finding Valley Cement. Could scratch build some other buildings since cement plant walls aren’t that detailed.
Probably already thought of this which is why you’re looking for pictures for inspiration, eh…?
Here are some prototype photos that may be of use:
Monolith, CA http://www.woodcop.com/tca_monolith_main.htm
Victorville, CA http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2269734 and http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1433358
Years ago there was a good article in MR on modeling a cement plant - probably the inspiration behind Walthers producing the Valley Cement kits. You should be able to find it witht he magazine index. Space is a must. I have a 2x8 foot space for my cement plant and I’m leaving a bunch of things out simply because that isn’t enough space - not to also have tracks so I can delivery coal and haul away cement!
–Randy
Arizona Portland Cement west of Tucson occupies an area of approximately 1/2 mile square, plus a long, long conveyor for several miles to the site where they acquire the raw materials, plus another 1/2 mile square parking lot for the trucks that distribute the finished product throughout Arizona. An entire layout could be nothing but a model of this facility.
To get an idea of how all those pictures of the Monolith plant go together, bring up your favorite map/satellite view program and have a look.
Those itsy bitsy dots are 150 ton mine trucks…
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Are you thinking of the article Add A Cement Plant To Your Layout in the July 1994 issue of MR? This article did not get into the actual modeling of the structures. Rather it discussed the different structures and their purposes. There was an artists drawing of one large facility showing how one such plant could be arranged, as well as four large photos showing portions of the plant from which the drawing was derived.
The author also included a small plan showing a facility on his layout. His criteria for the facility was that it had to fit a 5 by 6 foot site inside a 30 inch radius return curve.
Probably the one I’m thinking of. If it showed the one plant along the river where they loaded materials to barges, that’s the one.
–Randy
Hmmmm, not sure. The article says that the one of the plants shown is Blue Circl Cement in Ravena, New York, and that it is (was) served by Conrail and also barges. The sketch shows a barge facility, but there are no photos. I think there was another article that also showed silos along a river, but I’d have to look harder for that one.
I’ve seen the Walthers Cornerstone Series one and it looks excellent.
Making cement is one thing. It takes a very large operation. Kilns, hoppers of raw material and machinery to pulverize it to a very fine dust takes a lot of room. There are cement batch plants have the footprint of a good sized duplex. These plants mix the aggregate and powders to fill the ready mix trucks. There are also portable batch plants with no buildings at all. They would have a portable tower or trailer as a control center. It takes a lot to make cement powder but it does not take much to batch it out.
Pete
So if I model one of these distribution plants, could covered hoppers bring in the “dust” or is that always trucked in?
Yes they could. In fact, I believe the Walthers’ Medusa Cement is set up for that type of operation. The tracks and hopper car enter the covered shed (to keep the dust dry) where the dust is unloaded. The covered conveyor lifts the dust to the top where it is distributed to the silos. It looks like the silos have doors for trucks to enter. The trucks take each load to where ever there is a concrete batch plant. As said before, the Medusa Cement kit is just a cement distribution point, not a cement manufacturer.
I do not believe this structure has a way to distribute the cement from the silos to the train, you would have to add piping from the silos to the shed, IMO, if you want to be that presice about it.
You’ll notice that a Valley Cement kit includes a Medusa Cement kit as part of the complex. However, there is a conveyor that leads from the cement production area to the Medusa silos as well as the shed having a conveyor lift to the silos. It would appear that the distribution silos are set up to recieve dust from the adjacent plant and by hopper car, which doesn’t really make sense to me. Why would a plant that makes cement also bring it in by rail? You could probably make it more realistic by removing the conveyor lift and replace it with piping from the silos to the shed.
Keep in mind I am no expert, it just looks to me like that’s the way the kits are set up.
Portland cement dust and fly ash are just a couple of products that can be train loaded to a batch plant. The aggregate can be brought by hopper or hopper bottom gons also. Depending on the specifications of the mix would depend on the aggregate and how much of each product. Newer cement mixes also contain fibers almost like fiberglass that adds to the strength and little need for rebar.
There are also concrete product producers that rarely get modeled. These would be the concrete block makers, The pre-stressed concrete bridge makers, Cement tank, stairs, Jersey barriers, retaining wall blocks that look like stone are all products made with concrete. Any one of these places may or may not include a ready mix truck operation. The company I work for delivers aggregate to many of these places. Most do not have cement trucks but use a lot of aggregates.
Pete