Industry Suggestions for 1940 Steam Layout

Model Railroader Prototype information for the modeler
1

I’m thinking about a layout set in 1940 in a fictitious mid-sized town in the Mid-Atlantic region. Steam, point to point, L-shaped, about 10’ x 10’, with a 18-24" inch width. I don’t have any locomotives or rolling stock that has to be used. My plan is to have one major industry. There will be other industries, but I’d like one that serves as the focal spot and sees the most action. Although it doesn’t have to be, I am picturing it as the town’s major employer.

The scenery and buildings are my primary interest, but I would like to have some operational options as well.

I’m searching for an industry that would have mutiple spots that require specific spotting. I’ve been reading how corn syrup tank cars have to be spotted at specific locations based on syrup grade. Is there a time appropriate equivalent? Something to make it a little more challenging when switching.

I don’t have a problem paying for books, if you have any recommendations that would be applicable to my chosen era.

Tom

2

Off the top of my head - how about a breakfast cereal or candy plant…boxcars of grain and cocoa in, reefers of cream and butter in, boxcars of sugar (I think 1940 is early for corn syrup -here’s a list of syrups https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_syrups) and flavorings in, boxcars or reefers of fruits and nuts in, tankers of vegetable oil in, hopper and tank cars of fuel for the powerplant and steam kettles in, boxcars and reefers of cereal and candy out. My father worked as an engineer in a General Foods plant in Edgewater NJ for several years in the late 40’s and my mom’s home town of Naugatuck CT was the major plant of Peter-Paul, the maker of Mounds and Almond Joy, so the location and timining are right.

3

Perhaps an auto assembly plant? Possibly a chemical or munitions plant.

4

Check out this site. It is worth exploring.

https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/manufacturingstates/

Rich

5

While I’m modelling the late '30s, GERN Industries is a fictional entity used by more than 50 modellers as a traffic generator. It’s suitable for almost any era, from the mid-1800s, right up to present day.
Here’s my version of GERN…

It’s served by three tracks, with the ones to the left and right able to utilise boxcars flatcars, and gondolas, and boxcars, covered hoppers, and tank cars respectively. The centre track, under the silos, is for covered hoppers only. The track going between the buildings is the mainline.

There’s more info (and pictures) to be found HERE

Wayne

6

I have a leather tanning company. My layout is more Midwest, so it might not be appropriate for Mid-Atlantic, but it is your railroad so you’re free to create any fiction you’d like.

Tanning turned out to be a good fit. This kit had several structures, and filled the space well. The instructions had a page about tanneries and their freight traffic, so I ended up with several new pieces of rolling stock and a few vehicles. I also have a small packing plant, providing a ready source of hides for tanning, and I decorated a couple of boxcar kits for hide service.

Another possibility might be an icing platform. It probably wouldn’t be a major employer, but it can generate a lot of rail traffic. Ice bunker reefers are appropriate for your era. Depending on other industries, the reefers might be pre-iced before loading, or top-iced after loading, or both, or through traffic needing ice between loading and unloading at some intermediate facility. I have a brewery and the packing plant on my layout, and having Railway Express reefers and even a whimsical reefer for haggis suggests even more industries.

Another era-appropriate industry might be a carfloat. My carfloat holds 18 40-foot cars, and can serve as either a source or destination for pretty much any kind of freight.

7

Corn syrup existed at the time, but the R&D to turn it into a food additive doesn’t happen until the 50s. Wide spread use isn’t until the 80s. It is extremely unlikely that anyone would be receiving shipments in multiple grades (hence multiple spots) in the 40s.

8

1940 may be early for high-fructose corn syrup but it is far from early for corn products that might go in bulk. Look up the history of the Corn Products Refining Company, particularly after 1906, as corn-oil products (used in frying, salad oil, mayonnaise, margarine, etc.) and corn syrup for cooking (Karo, anybody) became significant.

I would note that a great many ‘liquids’ would not come in tanks, even partitioned specialty tanks like those for gasolines and lubricating oil – they would be in carload or LCL right up to large carboy size. Many products… margarine and mayo certainly two… would leave by the box load whether or not some of the ‘raw material’ was bulk-tanked.

This might provide some interest in an ‘alternate history’ in which, say, the railroad-owned REA took up running local and regional LCL trucking where individual railroads themselves couldn’t, as an adjunct to existing last-mile express business on passenger trains. Much of the complex inbound traffic could be handled by multiple typical '20s style top-lifted containers either sequentially switched around to unload like a boxcar in sections, or at a cross-dock facility, or gantry-crane lifted to waiting chassis or to the ground for small-truck access…

9

Mid Atlantic region. How about fish processing? Reefers outbound boxcars inbound with gons and open top hoppers for waste products. Cat food manufacturing next door will give you some local switching.

Chicken processing is another mid Atlantic industry.

1940s. 42 and upwards to 46 was war years where every available business was used for war production. Sub assembly for larger items were regularly handled by small companies. From seats to cockpit gauges could be made anywhere. The Cleveland tank plant was just a large assembly area that built Sherman’s with parts from all over the US. They also built Grants too. I could see a mid Atlantic machine shop turning out gears, handles, or complete transmission assemblies for all those trucks sent overseas.

Just something to consider.

Pete

10

The DT&I served Campbells Soup Plant received airslide and covered hoppers of flour and other grain products, reefers from the west coast with various vegatables (tomato’s were locally grown), boxcars with tinplate, cardboard, pallets, coal and oil for the boilers. Then outbound lots of RBL’s and XLI boxcars to send out the finished cans of soup. The DT&I had several hundred cars for the outbound shipments and also cars from various other railroads.

Rick Jesionowski

11

Mr B , Ahhh, but do you have the smell…it’s not for nothing that the end of line for box cars was hide service! Speaking of hides, here’s one for you. How about a meat processor. One of the byproducts is hides (I have a Jimmy Dean - yeah, the sausage guy - pigskin jacket), think of all those expensive leather jackets and all those shoes. And, you also get tallow, lard and suet (reefers for the last) as further byproducts,

12

Tom,

I would suggest looking up the Winston-Salem Southbound over on Model Railroader Video Plus. Its a mid-atlantic layout with lots of good small industries. They even did an article in Model Railroad Planning a couple years back on expanding the original layout into an L shaped switching layout.

13

Late4Dinner is Late2Reply.

Rich

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user=“Late4Dinner”]1940
[/quote]
Everything went Rail back then.

15

Mr DTI, since we’re talking 1940, I don’t think covered hoppers would be hauling grain yet - think box cars with grain doors.

Since you mention Campbells, for many years, the “Home of Tomato Soup” was in Camden NJ. The PRR would clean up a bunch of stock cars (yes, the Pennsy had stock cars http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=4688099 in HO http://www.bowserorders.com/.sc/ms/cat/HO%20Cars%20Bowser--K-9%20%26%20K-11%20Stock%20Car) and use them to haul the red fruit from South Jersey (soil, rain and sun ideal for for the plant) growers during the harvest.

16

There’s a lot of good ideas here. Thanks to all.

Beausabre, I was born in Camden, and grew up in Camden County. My grandfather worked for the Victor Talking Machine Company. I have thought about modeling Camden in the pre-WWII era, but I don’t have the knowledge or skills to compress that much track. I guess I could do a “based on Camden” theme.

Mr. Beasley, if Walthers still sold the Empire Tannery Complex I would jump at it. I live in an area devoid of train shows, and the eBay prices are ridiculous.

Rich, that site is a useful resource. Thanks.

Dr. Wayne, unfortunately my Dad was out of work for a long stretch of time when I was a kid, and we ate a lot of Flux. I’m afraid Modeling GERN would bring back unhappy memories. I appreciate the input however.

Seriously guys, I appreciate all the help.

Tom

17

Mid-Atlantic?

Anything involving metals. Foundries, machine shops, fabricators. They could be making stoves, auto parts, power tools, construction equipment, anything.

Chemicals. Fertilizers, explosives, gunpowder, paints, solvents, acids, oils, lubricants, gasoline, rubber products, asbestos products.

Wood products. Lumber, lath, spindles, clothespins, flooring, turpentine, wood alcohol.

Leather. Leather, gloves, soles, aprons, belts, power system belts.

Food products. Flour, meal, bread, baked good, processed meats, suger, molasses, meat, rendering, oils, bone meal, animal food, pet food, cold storage facilites.

Near navigable waterways. Shipyards, grain piers, coal piers, general merchandise piers, car ferries, people ferries, lighters, barge traffic, ore unloaders.

Big cities. Freight houses, team tracks, produce terminals.

Of course everything is coal powered so there might be several retail coal dealers and every major industry will have a coal dump forits own internal power.

Also early 1940’s means war effort, so industries will be making stuff not associated with the company normally. The Easton Safe Co (Easton, PA) made 40mm anti aircraft guns (found that out by reading a builders plate while visiting the battleship USS Texas). Baldwin Locomotive Works made tanks. Birdsboro Foundry made tanks (was called “Armorcast” during the Korean and Veitnam Wars).

Pick a city and see if there are Sanborn maps, then cruise around them to see what industries there are. Go “Historic Aerials”. Pick a city and find an aerial photo taken in the 1940’s, then look for industries. The photos are usually detailed enough you can make out track arrangements.

Historic Aerials has aerial photos of Camden in 1940 and 1948, topo maps for 1930, 1943 and 1953. Topo maps are handy to find railroad lins quickly then sw

18

Maybe MisterBeasley or Beausabre can weign in on this. I’m interested in the types of rail cars servicing a meat-packing plant in the 50s (slightly off-topic). Obvious incoming cars would include cattle cars but did anything else arrive by rail such as lye in tank cars or was rendering performed at another facility? Outgoing cars would be reefers and probably box cars for hide shipment. Would the hide/tallow boxcars be owned by the major railroad (SP/ATSF) or by a private company? I also seem to recall reading that open gondolas were used for transporting inedible offal. Is there anything else I’m missing?

Tim

19

Tim.

I remember seeing a video/ tv program about gelatin manufacturing. They received bones in open top hoppers and drop bottom gondolas.

Pete

20

My packing plant was a small one with a single siding. I brought in normal stock cars and double-deck stock cars for hogs. The stock corral outside had hogs. The plant would use ice-bunker meat reefers for its products and hide-service-only boxcars. I didn’t have gondolas-of-guts, but that’s another possibility.

The tanning company took in hides, but also used acid (chemical tank) and salt (covered hopper.). It could also bring in fuel oil for heating and processing. Finished leather going out would go in generic boxcars or trucks.

The tannery kit had already been discontinued by Walthers when I bought it. I found mine still in stock at Trainworld. Other places are still advertising them for sale now. If you can’t find one, find a picture and get a bunch of DPM sections and make your own. The kit was Cornerstone Modules, so recreating it with DPM wouldn’t be difficult. It’s easy enough to make roof sections and loading docks out of styrene or poster board.