I have an area on my layout where I mocked up this structure (see image below) from the City Classics Smallman Street Warehouse kits and components. I REALLY like the way it turned out BUT the problem is I have no idea what industry to make the structure represent.
I am modelling QGRY from Montreal to Quebec City with modern day freight operations. The layout is proto-freelance with a time and place to keep me honest BUT I subscribe to the ‘my railroad, my rules’ philosophy of liberal interpretation.
I am already planing on a Paper Mill, Grain Silos, Cement Works, Auto Yard, Lumber Facility, and some generic industrial switching locations. This structure will be big enough to be a good Customer with multiple spaces for deliveries and pick-ups.
Any thoughts on what industry could ‘fit’ this structure in the modern day era and Quebec locale???
The first thing that came to my mind was a furniture factory. It would take lumber loads in, perhaps interacting with your lumber facility, and boxcars both in and out. You might see an occasional tank car come in, too.
I’d suggest something related to the automotive or household appliance industry. Possibly a manufacturer of smaller components or subassemblies that would be shipped elsewhere for final assembly. The multi-story structure has largely gone out of favor nowadays, but that style of building was common for these industries a generation or two ago.
It was mentioned that multi-floor production facilities have fallen out of favor in the modern era, and that is more or less true - a facility like you propose would most likely have repurposed, very likely as a self storage facility (or back-office operation such as a data-center - it would be remodeled for that purpose). However, it is also possible that the building houses multiple small industries, often tradesman and the like (think theatre sets, custom cabinets, one-off manufacturers, print shops, small boutique bakery etc).
Of course, if you like that style of industrial building, then just give it a vague logistics sounding name, and go with it - here’s a street view of a building somewhat similar to your design on Trumball Street in Elizabeth NJ (right across the street from the erstwhile Singer Building, just rotate the street view to see that impressive building) - note the name on the signs is CKC International. What do they do? Good Question (they have a home division, which is nice I guess), but if Conrail hadn’t remove the spur trackage back in the day (looks like Conrail did it according to Historical Aerials, but one can’t be sure), then they’d probably getting a boxcar or two nowadays…
What comes to my mind is a manufacturing company-in modern times a garden hose manufacturer with in house reclaim(scrap rubber) and banbury or a mattress company…
In other words, based upon a review of the above replies, it can be pretty much anything that you want it to be. It’s easier to eliminate what it cannot be, such as a steel mill, cement factory, or electric works.
As a warehouse, it can be used for a wide variety of industries, but more like as a source of light manufacturing or as a distribution point.
Here’s the rub…In modern times that would be trucked/(maybe by the mills truck fleet) since it faster…If the lumber is coming from Washington State or Oregon then rail would be cheaper for the long haul.
Also most railroads reject short hauls and those short hauls could take up to three days including terminal dwell time…
Perfect! Thanks for the great suggestion… GERN Industries is a wonderful inspiration for an imaginary industry. I wasn’t even considering anything other than trying to find a prototype industry that would ‘fit’ the time and place. Much more fun to have at least one fictitious industry!!!
Am thinking about modelling the Quebec Poutine Works. Inbound would be cheese, potatoes and light brown gravy powder (in hopper cars, of course) along with packaging and other assorted supplies. Outbound the finished product.
Anyone else have other imaginary industries that they model???
[^o)] Hmmm, I’d have imagined that the gravy would be in tank cars, the cheese curd in reefers, and the potatoes in those colourful Bangor & Aroostock box cars. Not sure how to transport the finished product though, steel mill bottle cars perhaps[?] [:-^] [(-D]
Hmmm, I’d have imagined that the gravy would be in tank cars…
Cheers, the Bear.
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Thought about tank cars for the gravy but realized that the gravy may be to thick to flow prototypically!!
Since we use only the thickest gravy, it may be more ‘realistic’ to ship in the powered mix and make it onsite. We may come up with a lighter maple syrup gravy variation that we will be receiving by take car in the future.
I think that I read somehere that GERN produces an industrial FLUX food additive. I wonder if GERN is still in existance producing FLUX nowadays and if the Quebec Poutine Works could be a customer???
All good suggestions here. ChuttonO1’s comes closest to mine. Your bldg reminded me of the old South Boston Navy Yard drydock bldg on Drydock Ave, South Boston. Theatre sets, furniture, military ordinance, etc. But a repurpose that would enable any kind of rail and truck traffic you want would be a huge recycling center that could draw from all over the country: paper, plastics, rubber, metals, chemicals, textiles. I can’t get a link to work right here, but put “51 Drydock ave., south boston” into Google street view.
Yes, but - You can justify rail service by saying it’s my model railroad, and I can do what I want with it.
The building mockup reminds me of some of the old New England factory buildings, except the design is more the early 1900s. A manufacturing big just says served by rail
Another thought came to me. If you like construction equipment, the plant could assemble backhoes, front-end loaders and such. That would give you an opportunity to ship them out on flatcars. For variety, you could have a construction company with a fenced-in equipment yard elsewhere on the layout, or a construction site, and you could swap out the models of equipment to get different flatcar loads.
Mr B - Guess you’re referring to the hundreds of old textile mill bldgs that dot New England, later to become shoe factories, then incubators, then huge fires that burn for two days . . .
Well, you’re either going to be prototypical or you’re not… it doesn’t make much sense to create a fictional industry and then insist on strict reality for your rolling stock. There are, however, tank cars with steam heaters which are used to ship tar sand crude, which is also too thick for tank cars.
For a name for your industry, how about Quebecquois Regule Authorizee de Poutine, or QRAP. Don’t worry, you’ll get it on the drive home…
