How many tons of cement would the HO scale Medusa Cement hold?

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I have the HO scale Walthers Cornerstone Series Medusa Cement Company kit. How many tons of cement would it hold?

2

I have absolutely no idea why you want to put cement in this model but I compute about .0013 tons – that’s pretty close to 2.6 lbs.

3

Grrrrroooooaaaaannnnn. lol

4

I did some fast calculations:

Portland Cement - 94 lbs/cubic foot

Each tower will hold about 850 tons of Portland Cement(rounded down as I am not sure what the wall thickness is). The total capacity of 6 towers is around 5000 tons of cement(about 50 100 ton cement hoppers)

Jim - My math may be a little rusty!

5

Wow I was thinking 250 tons per silo and 2000 tons total.

6

Mike, why don’t you call the Medusa Cement Company in Charlevoix, Michigan and find out! Ask them what their capacity is; I can’t see why they wouldn’t tell ya’ after all they are about the sixth or seventh largest Portland Cement Co in the good ol’ USA.

7

Just because it can doesn’t mean it does. Max. Volume has some excess capacity.bult in for emergencies like a deraiilment preventing emptys from getting to the plant.

8

I understand. I’m just trying to figure out the traffic flow. I’m just wondering carloads on average would be delivered and how often.

9

Mike,

I am sure that in the spring of the year, the cement plant will be filled to maximum capacity - they are going to have lots of foundations/footing poured. By the end of the construction season, they may keep the silos filled to the historic bare minimum they need to get through the low volume winter months. Paying interest on product that is not going to be used is not good business practice.

In the home construction business, we can get good deals on product at the end of the season as suppliers clear out inventory(convert to cash) to the minimum needed levels for the off season. If a builder has cash and wants to have materials for a ‘spec’ house start - they get the materials in advance and then can keep the crews working. They have a half completed ‘spec’ house to ‘show’ and give the potential buyer the option of floor coverings/paint/mill work if they buy the house…

Jim