I was looking for a few industries that’s served by or with box cars (refrigerated and non refrigerated box cars) and tanker cars.
For tankers, I was thinking oil, dairy farmer, salt, moving from farm to plant) water, liquid fertilizer, gas, etc.
For box cars I was thinking produce, cattle/life stock, the shipping docks (such as in LA), etc.
I say salt for water cause in amboy, CA they use to have their water hauled in. Y rain cause it was so salty. They also have a salt harvesting farm there to.
Back in the 1960s, there was a Swift plant in my hometown, which I think was a byproducts plant. There were a lot of tank cars and some refers there. The plant had a lot of pipes leading to a grid of storage tanks. There was a main building that was was made of corrugated steel and cement, as I recall.
The paper industry uses a significant amount of both boxes and tanks, along with others depending on what form of raw material the process is started with. Also, along the line where I worked there is a plant that, at the time, made Hawaiian Punch. Corn syrup inbound in tanks, filled bottles outbound in boxes.
I would like to do something different. My cpuaka brain is.coming up with the same basic ideas as alot of others. .I was thinking of having a small forest somewhere on the layout, so I could do a disillery served by the rails (box cars bringing in supplies.
You haven’t mentioned era, and that could make a big difference. Livestock haven’t normally been shipped by rail in the U.S. or Canada in 50 years or so. Those cylindrical things are tank cars — not tanker cars.
Sorry. I’m a traditionalist. If the established terminology works, I think changing it is unnecessary and can lead to confusion. As far as I know, tankers are ships, trucks, and sometimes airplanes.
When I was a kid growing up in the 60’s in a northern suburb of Reading PA there was a very large battery plant (made lead acid batteries for vehicles). I remember seeing tank and boxcars on their property.
Oil arrives in tank cars, flour and sugar arrive in covered hoppers, Packaging materials arrive in box cars, and finished products depart in refrigerated cars.
The Baker Boy plant in Dickinson does not do the baking, instead of putting the finished product in the ovens, the run them through huge freezers, and then after passing over a metal detector they are packaged for shipment. The stores, bakeries and resturants that purchase the product do the actual baking and then call it “Fresh Baked”.
There are so many such industries I can’t name them all. Here are some examples from my layout that take reefers, box cars, and/or tank cars. Not all of these are finished, weathered or “planted” in the scene yet.
This rural fuel dealer receives diesel fuel and propane.
This plant makes well drilling fluid from barite. It can be shipped in 55-gallon drums in boxcars, but also loaded in pressurized covered hoppers.
Here’s part of a feed and fertilizer business that receives bagged product in boxcars.
At left here is a printer that takes paper in boxcars, while at right is a grocery distributor that can take reefers or boxcars.
Here’s another distribution center that primarily takes reefers, but can also receive shipments in the occasional boxcar.
This industry is a lime plant that ships crushed stone in covered hoppers, but it also has this dock to receive stuff in boxcars and flat cars.
Here’s a salt plant. It receives some inbound shipments in boxcars, and another part ships bagged salt, also in boxcars.
Yet another part of the salt plant takes inbound chemicals in tank cars, which are unloaded here.
Since we’re nitpicking terminology, we should clarify something else, since several people have mentioned “reefers” (with two e’s together to be correct) and the OP wrote “…I was looking for a few industries that’s served by or with box cars (refrigerated and non refrigerated box cars)…”
A “refrigerated boxcar” is a refigerator car or reefer. There are some insulated boxcars that are “non-refrigerated” but which are usually classed as RBL. The RBL stands for refigerated bunkerless (w/ loader in this case), so it’s technically a reefer, but without a means of holding ice (what goes in the bunker, at least in the old days) or a refigerator unit to cool it. Properly insulated, the mass of the load helps keep the temperature right. Alternatively, the insulation is sufficient to keep the load from freezing in the winter presuming normal travel time to the customer.
And there are a few boxcars that are insulated. How that’s parsed between RBLs and insulated boxcars I’ll leave to someone else to explain.
Then there are just regular old boxcars that come in a variety of flavors.
This adds even more complexity to the OP’s original question. Things are often not as simple as they seem.
On my empire eight wheel tank cars tend to run from staging to staging. The only places they might unload are at the JNR’s diesel fueling facility (one car a fortnight, more or less) and at the Forest Railway general service spur (less frequently.) My one four wheeler runs up the TTT to the big colliery about once a week - the company store also refuels diesel trucks. The anhydrous ammonia tank unloads at the magazine once a month - the mine operators are very sparing in their use of explosives. Some of that diesel goes into home-mixed ANFO.
There are blocks of boxcars that never get switched out of my through freights. Others can go from staging to almost anywhere, or vice versa - as long as anywhere has a freight house. The road network was largely undeveloped in my prototype area in 1964, and the JNR was still very much in the LCL/small consignment business. Most industries didn’t have direct to the door rail service. On my layout the only ones that do are the big colliery (which has the company store as well as mine supply spots) and the forest railway (and associated sawmill.)
Some model railroaders subscribe to the theory that every car in their roster has to have some spot where it will be placed for loading or unloading. I do not. I run entire trains of cars that are never switched, including one (of ultra-modern high speed cars) that spends almost all of its time in a cassette.
As for tankers, I’ve known several. They all answered to, “Sergeant.” I’ve also encountered some of the seagoing variety, back when I was a wet behind the ears cadet. IIRC, tanker staff drew extra pay, level depending on cargo hazard level.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - tank cars, no tankers)
Rob, nice work there from what I see. Mlehman, thanks for what you said about terminology. When I got back into trains, I meet a guy who has a PhD in mechanical/science field who worked on helping build and launch space shuttles and rockets back from. The time when the US first landed on the moon. He was into mrr and he referred to tank cars as tankers sometimes. I don’t think anyone would call him stupid or anything. I feel that as long as people know what you referring to or have a good idea, then if not all bad I think but its just me. As they say everyone has their opinion.
I hope you and the other forum members didn’t interpret my comments as saying, or even implying, that you or anybody else is stupid. If anybody feels that way, then I apologize very sincerely for leaving that impression. The “tank car” identification is a very minor point, and one that many very smart and famous people in the Media don’t understand. I wanted to mention it for the sake of holding onto the established terminology, at least in the Kalmbach Forum. I had no intention of insulting or belittling or embarrassing anyone.
Tom,Here’s the rub…Some railroaders use a lot of “railroad speak” to include terms like high roof boxcars,standard boxcar,tankers,flatbed car,lumber car,pin slack,shake 'em loose,king pin and some rather colorful monikers I can not use here.
Heres another tibit.That lumber car would be nothing more then 65519 to a switchman.The switch list will tell you where it goes.
A tank or tanker car would be nothing more then its number and load for train placement to that switchman…
Traditionally brine has been used to make chlorine and caustic soda or sodium hydroxide. The chlorine is strictly tank car or truck but the caustic soda can be liquid or bagged pellets utilizing both methods of shipping.
