I know this is the stupidest question that has ever been asked on this bulletin board, but I do want to know some serious suggestions about an appropriate industry that would receive and send appropriate freight from a 50’ Kadee PS1 boxcar. I know that a paper mill would be an option, but I was wanting some other options for industries that would receive freight or send freight from a PS1 boxcar. Please help this newbie who is trying to plan his layout.
Hi!
I think there are a number of us - with me high on the list - that would argue about you having the “stupidest question”. Trust me, if you are sincere in the question - it ain’t “stupid”.
A 50 ft PS1 car would be working on a late '50s thru '70s or so era, and its cargo could be most anything of light to moderate weight with a need for shelter from the elements. I would suggest possibilities of furniture, paper products, almost anything you would find in a grocery that was non-perishable, auto parts, tires, liquid refreshment in retail containers, most any packaged product, etc.
Hope that helps!
Mobilman44
Thank you mobilman. Those are wonderful suggestions. I am serious about the question and I am trying to find a sugestion for a two track freight yard. Thank you for taking my question as serious. I am very grateful for your help.
During the 40-foot-box-car period, it was easier to list items not shipped in them than not. On some railroads, box cars represented over half of all their rolling stock. They were ubiquitous, wide-roaming, and were the most versatile of all cars in their contents: from corn to coal, from paper to puzzles, from hides to hammers, ad nauseum.
Mark
Some more ideas: lumber, grain, finished paper products.
I am sure more will have other ideas. And it is not a stupid question, it made me think for a bit [8D]
Thank you pathfinder for affirming my question. Many times on this bulletin board we do not get affirming responses. I was just looking for a suitable industry for my new Kadee 50’ PS1 boxcars. Would furniture cars be delivered and received in double door PS1’s instead of single door PS1 boxcars? I thought lumber and furniture were managed in double door cars. Please advise.
Furniture had a low-volume-to-weight ratio, so shippers desired high volume (taller, longer) box cars to put more stuff into a given car. Single doors would work fine for furniture (is the door to your house bigger than a boxcar’s door?) but there’s nothing wrong in using a double-door. Lumber was shipped in both single and double-door boxcars, although double-doors would be handier and likely preferred by shippers and consignees for ease in loading and unloading lengthy pieces of lumber. A lot of 50-foot boxcars were used for shipping automobiles and auto parts and so had special interior fittings. Thus, those wouldn’t be a railroad’s first choice for sending to a furniture or lumber client.
Mark
M:
I tried to think of some more high volume, low mass products and came up with a few plants that might work:
-a molded fiberglass plant making small boats, water tanks, or truck hoods
-a foam rubber or plastic factory. These would recieve tank cars of chemicals, or else covered hoppers of plastic pellets, depending on the type of material produced.
-an appliance distributor’s warehouse
-a factory that produced metal food cans or plastic bottles, or fiber drums