During a railfanning trip saturday, I cam across a highsided ex-woodchip gondola, carrying corrigated plastic tubing such as the kind used in drainage systems.
I thought that having an industry based off of this type of pipe would work on an upcoming layout of mine, but I have questions.
Was the pipe loadied in a factory? a Team track? Where was it unloaded? A supply company? a Team Track?
Would anyone happen to know any info on this kind of load?
Here’s a photo
That is a light, bulky commodity, but doesn’t really need protection from the elements. It probably ships in boxcars in most cases, but that is a pretty inventive reuse of the wood chip car.
Speculating further, my guess is it was loaded at the factory, although it could also have been loaded at a wholesale distributor.
Most likely its destination is a building or farm supply company. However, it could also be destined to a highway maintenance facility or even a farmer, in which case it could be unloaded just about anywhere. The stuff is light and not fragile so tossing it over the side to unload works OK.
It was more then likely loaded at the factory and will be unloaded at the receivers siding or transload track(modern term for team track).
The receiver was more then likely a pipe or construction material distribution company.
These construction material distribution companies is overlooked by modelers since its outside the normal layout industry box we all have used at one time or the other.
Anywhoo these companies also receive various pipe sizes, steel plates,various types of construction steel and rebarb.They may even receive bricks and cinder blocks from time to time…
Definitely looking for out of the box industires, my other ideas I had were an Cell Phone manufacturer (Mind you I’m setting it in the 90s so these are brick sized cell phones) and a Grease reclamation facility (collects Grease in trucks and Ships it out to various in parties in tank cars)
Wow! What a excellent idea for a industry…I have seen these grease trucks at fast food and other chain restaurants and never had the thought cross my mind that could be a industry that uses tank cars…
In the sample photo, the B end doesn’t go all the way to the top of the sides. As opposed to the A end.
Ed
The “a” end is hinged at the top and will lift up from the bottom. This allows a front end loader to unload the car from a platform or ramp. In the past I have seem these cars loaded with hay bales.
That’s also an interesting reuse of one of these. In many cases, they had lifts that would tilt the car up on one end and dump the chips out. But using it as a loading/unloading door for hay is brilliant.
I have seen them loaded with ‘mulch’ - The end door is swung up and locked in place. A small Bobcat Skid Loader removed the material and it is trucked out.
Jim
Yeah, but I highly doubt in real life that it would be practical, don’t know of any companies that would need grease in bulk. 
True,but,it has to go somewhere I would think…I might do some on line research on that subject since I’m curious where it does go.
I’ve never seen anyone collect lubricating grease, but there’s a big business in collecting used lube oil from industries and garages. After consolidation it might be shipped to a refinery in tank cars. Going the other way I’ve also seen lube oils and anti freeze shipped in tank cars.
If you go to Google Satellite View (or similar aerial photo service online) to the east side of Mendota IL you will see the extensive factory and storage center for Advancesd Drainage Systems-- they make that black corrugated plastic pipe in an astounding variety of sizes. The business is rail served by the BNSF and on Google you will see both covered hoppers (presumably with plastic pellets) and tank cars on their industrial tracks. I have seen the local switch the plant and chatted with the crew at the crossing on East 5th Road – that is just west of I-39.
I have not seen them ship finished product by rail but the idea of using a wood chip car is interesting because the load would be high volume but low weight. The stuff could probably fill an 89’ auto parts boxcar and not exceed the weight limit.
If I was to model the corrugated plastic pipe, it strikes me that the threaded rod in some brands of stick deoderant, painted dead black, would come pretty close!
Dave Nelson
BioDiesel Plant… Some make it from used cooking oil.
Just saying… [:)]
Soap. Some brands can/are made from used cooling oil or grease and lye. When I was young, my mother used to make her own laundry soap by saving cooking grease.
I think even some types of shoe polish are made from recycled grease. Printers ink is used motor oil with lampblack added.
Good information.
I also found this information.
The used cooking oil is processed and recycled into a high-demand product called Yellow Grease. Yellow Grease is frequently used as a high-energy liquid feed additive for animal and the pet food industries.
So,yeah,Yellow Grease could be shipped in tank cars.
When I worked at a restaurant a long time ago I was told the old grease was used to make make-up. Every so often a truck would come and pump it out of the drum by the dumpsters. According to wikipedia yellow grease as it is known is used to feed livestock, and to manufacture soap, make-up, clothes, rubber, and detergents. Recently it has also been used to make biodiesel. I saw on California’s Gold with Huell Howser a guy who modified his diesel car to burn it after only filtering it.
Not bio-diesel, but Safety Kleen was know for shipping used oil for recycling in bright yellow tank cars.
Safety Kleen still exists, but I am not sure if they still maintain a fleet of tank cars.
ETA: Safety Kleen was purchased by ClearHarbors a few years back, but I still don’t know about their tank car fleet.
Darling International’s San Francisco oil & grease recovery plant ships its products in tank cars.
Route a car to the Grand Canyon Railway every so often. They burn it in their steam…
Or ship it to the soap factory two states over.
Time was, your own road would use it - for lubricant. (Firemen were once called Tallowpots for a reason.)
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964