I am modeling a low volume coal dump area on my small N scale PRR inspired diorama/layout. It has a spur leading up to next to the raised area where trucks unload into the hoppers(only two at a time) Could it be plausible to have a loading dock on the other side of the spur (adjacent to the coal dumpsite) that could service a couple box cars when coal loading is not going on? I just want to put in some added interest in a small space. The loading ramp would be used to service the goods needed at the soon to be added 50’s era roadside gas station/auto repair facility just “down the road” on the other side of the layout. Let me know how far from reality this would be and I’ll reconsider…I don’t want two businesses fighting over track rights! My other hobby is cars, hence the car inspired gas station area. Thanks ----Rob
Do it up. The local granite sheds here used to have a shared track for loading granite slabs onto flat cars that the feed store / tack shop / local farm shop used to use also.
Sounds plausible enough to me. The PRR had multiple industries on single sidings. An example is on the Northern Division on Packer Island (middle of the Susquehanna River between Sunbury and Northumberland) where both Central Building Supply and Independent Oil Co. shared a single spur. I could find others if I went back through the maps.
I’m sure a team track could have ramps at the end to accomodate different types of cars & traffic. You could even have a pit where roadsalt, sand, etc could be dumped & loaded onto waiting trucks. The highway dept in your town s/b busy this time of year getting ready for winter. They may even have some sort of portable conveyor to pick up the salt/sand. This way, the spur could handle several different types of cars. It would give your switch crew an extra job to pull out the empties & respot a loaded car at the location.
There is something much like this near Leadville. There is a dump ramp as you describe and the foundation for what looks like a loading dock a few car lengths down from it. I think this is quite possible. I say go for it.
Rob, if there’s one thing I’ve learned in 53 years of scale model railroading, it’s that there’s a prototype for everything! Even plastic boxcars and snap-track! So knock yourself out. But shared sidings, as you’ve discovered from the replies so far, are quite common.
Many a small town had a team track. In a neighboring town (now twenty years ago) there was a team track that served a coal dealer (with an elevated dump), lumber yard, implement dealer and an oil dealer…All independent of one another and all on one track.