WELCOME TO THE NEW CASTLE INDUSTRIAL RAILROAD

HOW CORN SYRUP FLOWS

2011-01-25T23:49:00.003-05:00

This time we'll look at a beverage company that receives tank cars of corn syrup.

The track layout is very simple.

Here we are looking north. The middle track is the main. To the left (west) is the appropriately named "west siding". This double-ended siding serves as a storage track for loaded cars and can hold about 26 tanks. The track on the right (east) is where tanks are actually spotted for unloading. This track is also a double ended siding (switches at both ends).

The east siding has three spots where tank cars are actually unloaded. There is room to store six more cars between the unloading spots and the north switch.

Tank cars move in a continuous, conveyor-like fashion from the interchange, to the west siding, then across to the east siding for unloading, then back to the interchange.

The cars show up at the interchange in spurts. One week will see four or five cars arrive; the next week twenty will come in. It all depends on the ebb and flow of the plant's ordering process. Tanks are taken up the line based on tonnage, i.e. how many cars the locomotives can pull up the grades, factoring in such things as snow, leaves, wet rail etc.

Like water flowing to the sea, all tanks eventually make their way from the interchange to the west siding at the plant. Crews try to keep cars on the west siding lined up in date order...with older cars at the north end and newer cars to the south..but this is not always possible.

The track here is on a grade. On a good day, the locomotives can pull a dozen or so tanks out the north end of the west siding. Remember this track holds just under thirty cars, so digging out the oldest cars can make for some interesting switching. For instance, sometimes the oldest cars will be on the south end of the siding, buried behind a dozen newer cars. The simple move would be to pull everything out of the siding, set out the old cars on the main, then place the newer cars back into the siding. The problem is, the locomotives can't pull all those cars out of the siding. So instead, the block of old cars is shoved out the south end switch onto the main, the locomotives will then pull the remaining cars back into the siding, cut off, go out the north end of the siding, then back down the main to couple on to the cut. See what I mean about interesting moves?

Two geeps dig in to pull a heavy cut of corn syrup tanks off the west siding track.

It's not unheard of for the local to shove tanks ahead of the locomotive from the previous town, so that day's newer cars can be placed on the siding from the south switch. This avoids having to pull too many cars uphill out of the north end when getting them in order. All of this would make for interesting scenarios on a model railroad, keeping crews busy and on their toes.

When a crew arrives at the plant, they check a mailbox located near the east siding. In the box will be paperwork telling the conductor which cars are empty. It could be one, two or all three cars. After pulling chocks and making sure all steam hoses are disconnected, a conductor will couple all the cars together.

Cars on spot are separated by about five feet, sometimes less, depending on how the car's manway lines up with the walkway platform. Once coupled, the cars are shoved down to the south end of the siding. The empties are set out here for pickup later in the day when the crew comes back south through town. Once the empties are set-off, the crew pulls north again to respot/spot the loaded cars.

Views of the gangways at the unloading spots.

The plant always unloads the three spotted cars from south to north. So say two cars are empty and the northern-most car is not yet fully unloaded. The crew shoves everything down to the south end of the siding, drops the two empties, then pulls back north with the partial load and it becomes the new southern-most car. Two new cars are then spotted for unloading above it.

Remember that the east track can hold nine cars total: three on spot and six more stored above them. After several days, all nine of those cars will be unloaded and the crew brings another block over from the west siding. And so it goes.

The crew comes off the north end of the east siding (unloading track). They have just shoved today's empties down to the south end and then pulled back north spotting the new loads. Once all the cars on the east track are empty, nine more will be brought over from the west siding.

The steam unloading facility is quite simple and would be easy to model.

Cars are spotted on a pretty good grade, so a smart conductor will spot the car so the manways align with the plant gangways; close the angle cock on the car ahead; then walk back and put the car into emergency by opening the angle cock on the rear of the car he just spotted. After reclosing the angle cock, he'll place the chocks; tie up the handbrake; then cut away and spot the next car.

When switching is completed, plant personnel replace their blue flags and reattach the steam lines.

MAKING THE GRADE

2011-01-23T11:58:00.002-05:00

January 23, 2010

It's been a busy week, so not much layout progress to report on. As a test, I raised the elevation of the warehouse track using a Woodland Scenics 2% incline and 1/2" foam roadbed. I like the visual contrast that the elevation difference offers, and it follows many prototype situations.

I once saw a similar raised spur at a Georgia Pacific mill, with a low cut-stone retaining wall separating the tracks. Perhaps I'll incorporate something like that.

Because the NCIR is a small switching layout, I can weigh my cars pretty heavy. The additional weight helps the cars track better and nicely simulates the mass of the real thing. Another benefit, as you can see below, is that cars will not roll when spotted on a slight grade.

If you look closely at the bottom of the photo above, you'll see that I began shaping contours at the front edge of the layout. I am AMAZED at how much a slight upward slope draws the eye into the scene.

Playing with the camera settings:-)

I'm working on a new post describing switching operations at a beverage plant. Stay tuned...

OP SESSION -- JANUARY 13, 2011

2011-01-14T00:02:00.006-05:00

Photo journal of today's operating session..my brass RS11 really needs some paint and weathering!

The 318 is parked at its usual spot behind McMinn Asphalt

Heading east across Commerce Street...

and passing Dal-Tile. No work here today...

Our crew pauses at Packaging Corporation of America to unlock and remove derails. The storage siding is in the foreground, dock track is to the rear.

The 318 ties onto today's inbound cars, left on the interchange by CSXT.

Watching from Ann Street as the crew inspects the cars and performs a brake test


The crew pulls the inbounds down to the fouling point, then uncouples.

They grab the two CSXT boxcars off the siding...

and couple them to the inbounds.


With all the loads now coupled together into one string, the crew begins classifying cars using the main and siding. The starch hopper is not needed today; it goes onto the siding. The GT car is to be spotted at the dock, and it too goes onto the siding temporarily.

The FBOX goes to the warehouse; it is set out on the main.

The CN car goes to the dock. The ELS box is not needed. Both go on the siding for now.

Finally, the two CSX boxcars (both going to the warehouse) are coupled to the FBOX. The crew shoves the three loads down the main, clear of the warehouse switch. They leave room for one more car between the three cars and the switch.

They left room on the main because this CSXT hi-cube spotted at the warehouse is a partial load that needs respotted. The crew pulls this car from the warehouse and throws it out on the main with the other loads.

With the CSXT respot out of the way, the crew can pull the empties from the warehouse spur.

They couple back to the loads on the main, then spot them at the warehouse. Some jockeying is required to get the car doors lined up with the warehouse doors.

Still holding on to the empties from the warehouse, the crew goes down to the dock to pull two more empties there.

Making the joint...


All the empties are now set out on the interchange for pickup by CSXT.

Having dropped the empties, the crew returns to the siding. They uncouple the starch car and leave it on the siding, taking the three boxcars with them.

Now it's a simple move to spot the GT and CN cars at the dock.

Finally, the crew pulls back with the ELS car (remember it wasn't requested today)...

and places it back on the siding with the starch hopper.

The crew shuts down the 318 and climbs off. They'll complete their day at another switching operation across town.

INLAND CONTAINER

2011-01-07T20:58:00.228-05:00

I always enjoyed switching Inland Container in Biglerville, Pennsylvania. I decided early on to make such a facility the main industry on my industrial switching layout. Thus my entire railroad is based upon this design element.

Inland manufactures raw paper into various types of cardboard packaging material. The manufacturing process is quite interesting. Read more about Corrugated Cardboard Manufacturing and have a look at the video below.

Paper rolls arrive at Inland via a steady stream of boxcars. Corn starch, an ingredient in the adhesive used in the manufacturing process, arrives in covered hoppers. Finally, Inland reloads several empty boxcars per week with scrap paper to be recycled by the paper mills.

There's always a virtual kaleidoscope of boxcars at Inland. Switching the plant is complex, despite the simple track arrangement.

Here is an AERIAL VIEW of the plant.

Track consists of a mainline, two storage sidings and two spurs serving the plant. The storage tracks hold loaded cars off-spot until needed by the plant. (Often one siding is used to store Inland cars and the other used to store corn syrup tank cars for another industry).

Here is a simplified schematic of the plant:


Looking south down the mainline. Two storage tracks are at left. The Upper Dock spur curves off the main and continues upgrade into the warehouse.

A closer view of the upper dock (warehouse). Note the boxcar spotted outside the door for scrap paper loading.

Looking northwest at the lower dock.

Up to four cars may be spotted at the lower dock and four more at the upper dock (inside the warehouse). The plant typically unloads four to eight boxcars of paper per day. Often, one or more boxcars are only partially unloaded and need to be respotted.

The plant unloads one or two hoppers of starch each week. Due to the location of the starch silo, the hoppers must be placed as the next-to-last car on the upper dock spur. These starch cars usually take two days to unload.

Finally, the plant reloads previously emptied boxcars with scrap paper. These reloads are spotted on the upper dock spur, outside of the warehouse. Inland will specify which empty car(s) are to be respotted for scrap loading.

Here are a couple video clips from our locomotive:

Inland is usually switched daily, and sometimes twice per day. The plant often requests cars from the day's inbound interchange as well as off the storage tracks. Crews will drill cars into spot-order using the storage tracks and main. Once the spots are in order, crews will pull empties from the plant. Lastly, the crew will spot the inbounds. Switching can get complicated respotting partial loads back into the plant, respotting empties for scrap paper loading and digging specific cars off the storage tracks (classifying them for either the upper or lower dock).

On some days Inland requests only cars from the inbound interchange. Other days, all requested cars come off the storage tracks. Most days it is a mix of both. I suspect that Inland is really unloading the cars in date order based on when they were initially loaded and released from the paper mills. With different mills across the country supplying Inland, boxcars show up on the interchange in very random order. I believe that the seemingly random car spotting requests is Inland sorting the inbound loads by mill and date shipped.

My 1/48 scale Packaging Corporation of America plant captures most of the operational elements of Inland Container. I'm having a ball operating the layout! No two days are ever the same, just as on the 1:1. You'll notice my layout has only one storage track to hold cars off-spot, instead of the two tracks on the prototype. However, as mentioned previously, the second track at Biglerville is often used to store cars for other industries along the railroad.

For more information, see my OPERATIONS and VIRTUAL SWITCHING pages.

GENERIC PROTOTYPE MODELING

2011-01-07T18:58:00.002-05:00

Modern industrial railroading, up close and personal. The size and mass of O scale allows one to capture this perspective on a layout, transporting operators into the scene. The location is eastern Pennsylvania, but could be anywhere in the country.

My NCIR has no specific geographical location, other than being in the eastern US. This may seem like heresy when compared to popular layout design thinking, but I wanted prototypical operations and scenery without the limitation of one specific location. My wife and I travel extensively and visit many interesting areas across the US and Canada. My layout may be set in Pennsylvania for now. Later, I may think of the NCIR being located on the Delmarva Peninsula. A few years later the railroad may be in Virginia or in upstate New York.

Industrial switching layouts (ISL's) are great for this type of "generic-prototype” modeling. Modern industrial park architecture is often similar from one city to the next (those large shoebox designs are good for some things). My scenery, while based on an actual industrial branch near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is generic enough to pass for many locations in the eastern US. My second-hand locomotives are representative of those found on small switching operations today. Since I stage inbound cars on the layout, there is no need to own locomotives for the connecting railroad. As for the name New Castle Industrial Railroad: the Industrial Railroad part was easy enough; I happen to like the ring of New Castle and it is a name found on many state maps.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

2011-01-07T18:55:00.000-05:00

The NCIR operates a short segment of industrial trackage spun off by a Class I railroad. The line is one of many owned and managed by parent company Pioneer.

Crews are dispatched to operate the NCIR on an as-needed basis, usually several times per week. Operations can take anywhere from one to several hours.

Pioneer will shuffle locomotives between divisions due to mechanical issues or changes in traffic levels. Alco RS11 no. 318 (former Kankakee, Beaverville & Southern) is current power on the NCIR. RS3m no. 102 (a former Conrail Altoona rebuild) seems to draw the NCIR assignment whenever the 318 is down for repairs.

I should mention that there is a prototype New Castle Industrial Railroad, which operates north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The 1/48 scale NCIR, however, is a figment of my imagination blending ideas from several prototype operations.

TRACK DRAWING

2011-01-06T22:50:00.001-05:00

The drawing below illustrates my trackplan and industry location. This no-frills illustration doesn't include scenic elements and finalized building footprints, which are currently being tested.

Overall layout size is 25' x 10' with a minimum curve radius of 45". All switches are #8's except the switch into Dal-Tile, which is a #6.

I'm using Atlas O sectional track to design and test the layout. Final track will be handlaid to P48 standards using Right-O-Way Code 125 steel rail and wood ties.

For orientation, New Castle Junction is on the right. Interchange takes place here between NCIR and its Class I connection (actual NCIR ownership ends at the Ann Street underpass). The switch where my industrial lead diverges from the Class I is theoretically located a short distance east of Ann Street (off layout).

The New Castle Industrial Track once crossed the New Castle Secondary at grade near Ann Street and continued east to the Osram Sylvania glass plant. The glass plant shut down and the crossing was partially removed just before the sale to NCIR. A gravel lot at the end of this truncated track serves as a transload for Premier Chemical. Premier transfers magnesium oxide powder from covered hoppers to trucks. Occasionally, NCIR will spot a tank car of liquid product here. The remaining segment this track is used to store loaded cars off spot.

West of the interchange is Packaging Corporation of America's large corrugating mill; the reason that this trackage exists today. PCA receives boxcars of linerboard and covered hoppers of starch. The mill also ships out scrap cardboard, which is recycled by the production mills located in the south and midwest.

From PCA the industrial track meanders west, curving through a wooded marsh, then entering the Commerce Street district. Here, Dal-Tile Incorporated (DTI) receives inbound tank cars of kaolin slurry. Track is out of service beginning a couple hundred yards west of the Commerce Street crossing. NCIR's locomotive is kept at the current end of track west of Commerce Street, next to McMinn Asphalt's large storage yard.

SCENIC INSPIRATION

2010-12-27T22:57:00.011-05:00

My New Castle Industrial Railroad is set in a generic location. However, using ideas from prototype locations helps me immensely when planning layout scenery. Although I pull mini-scenes and details from many different geographical locations, there is no substitute for using an actual area to achieve the overall layout atmosphere that I'm after.

My scenic inspiration is a Norfolk Southern industrial branch located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

The "North Side" industrial lead is located just east of NS' Dillerville Yard. The branch diverges from Amtrak's electrified Harrisburg - Philadelphia mainline at Cork Interlocking, crosses Manheim Pike, then meanders northwest to serve several industries...including Packaging Corporation of America and RR Donnelly.

Google Maps View:

View Larger Map

Bing Map

The photo below (taken in 2006) looks west from the SR 72 bridge. The North Side is the track at far right, curving behind the Lancaster Malleable Castings plant toward Manheim Pike. The huge facility at left is the Armstrong Flooring plant. That's NS local H23 and its actually backing east out of Dillerville yard. The train will reverse through Cork Interlocking, then cross over to the westbound main. The local will travel a short distance west, then shift the Alumax plant before making a run up the Lititz Secondary. Sadly, all the industrial buildings in this photo are gone today!

This Google Street View below looks south from Manheim Pike. You can see that Lancaster Malleable Castings is gone and the North Side runs through the remaining debris field. Catenary in the background is Amtrak's Keystone main.

View Larger Map

Of course on my New Castle Industrial, the Ann Street overpass takes the place of Manheim Pike.

Across the street, McMinn Asphalt batch plant makes an interesting scene. I am modeling McMinn's equipment storage yard on the layout.

View Larger Map

The North Side continues across Dillerville Road and on to RR Donnelly, at Steel Way. On my NCIR, the end of operable track at Commerce Street will mimic this view:

View Larger Map

My NCIR is an independent operator that purchased industrial trackage cast-off by a Class I railroad. Interestingly, this scenario almost played out on the North Side before the Conrail. split. Apparently the sale fell victim to associated moratorium on line sales prior to the takeover by NS/CSXT.

So, the prototype North Side serves my scenic purposes pretty well. The area will offer plenty of ideas to copy from!

FIRST OP SESSION -- October 31, 2010

2010-10-31T18:18:00.176-04:00

This week I completed benchwork construction, built a temporary model of the Anne Street overpass at New Castle Jct., and conducted my first real operating session. Because it's such a milestone for me, I chose to photograph the session as I went along. Pardon the lack of scenery, amorphous buildings and large red track pins:-)

It's a cold November morning as we head to the New Castle Industrial Park. We get a glimpse of the railroad as we cross the Anne Street Bridge. CSX dropped seven cars on the industrial lead overnight. Looks like PCA has a full compliment of boxcars at the warehouse/dock and there are a couple cars on the storage track...

We arrive at the north end of the industrial park, off Commerce Street, where RS-11 no. 318 is kept tied down. Our engineer arrived a few minutes before we did and 318 is already alive and idling in the morning sun. He performs his walk around inspection and we go inside the office to retrieve our paperwork...

We find our switchlist in the fax machine:

ISS New Castle 7 November 2009

CSXT Inbound
TR 405543 Pulpboard
TR 405418 Pulpboard
RBOX 303309 Pulpboard     *Spot Warehouse*
NAHX 99628 Mg02     *Spot Premier*
EEC 3150 Pulpboard     *Spot Warehouse*
GTW 306636 Pulpboard
WC 21084 Pulpboard     *Spot Dock*

New Castle Holding
RBOX 33604 Pulpboard     *Spot Warehouse*
CSXT 136007 Pulpboard

PCA Dock
CN 405690 Empty    *Pull*
CNA 419309 Empty     *Pull*

PCA Warehouse

CNA 419341 Empty     *Pull*
CSXT 136026 Empty    *Respot Dock*
CSXT 141068 Empty     *Pull*

We go over the switchlist on the way down to New Castle Jct, thinking about the moves we need to make. Here we are at PCA. Stopping to unlock switches and remove derails at the plant...

Then we tie onto our inbounds, charge air and inspect the cars...

Inspection and brake test complete, we pull north a few carlengths and prepare for our first move...spotting the Premier hopper. We make our cut on the main...

Then we go into the holding track, grab the two boxcars and bring them out on the main...

With the holding track now clear, we can tie back onto the hopper and spot it at the far end of the holding track, near the underpass...

It takes another 30 minutes or so to build our inbound loads into spot order and deal the others into the holding track...

Now we run light into the plant spur to grab the outbounds...

CSXT 136026 is an empty, which PCA requested to be respotted at the dock for scrap cardboard loading. To do this, we tie a handbrake on the CN car and leave it on the PCA spur...

This allows us to kick out our CSXT car, coupling it to our inbound loads on the main...

Then we go back and grab our empty CN...

Spotting the inbounds. With all the fork trucks and personnel at the dock and warehouse, we try to make one pull out and one shove back in. Much safer than shifting cars on the plant spur...

Two cars spotted at the dock: a loaded WC hi-cube and the empty CSXT...

Setting off the outbounds. Viewed from Anne Street...

Time to warm up in the cab and complete our wheel report as we run light back to the end of track at Commerce Street...

THE REAL DEAL

2010-10-23T17:26:00.006-04:00

A SMS Rail crew prepares to drill inbound cars at the Pureland Industrial Park in Swedesboro, NJ. Photo by Carl Perelman courtesy of railpictures.net.

Below is a video I shot in 2009, showing an SMS Rail crew switching within the Pureland Industrial Park in Swedesboro NJ.

Trackage at this end of the industrial park is very simple, nearly identical to the New Castle Industrial Park plan. There is a mainline/interchange track, a siding used to store cars, and a warehouse spur (in this case the Home Depot Lumber Distribution Center).

A Conrail Shared Assets local shoved inbound cars onto the interchange track from the east. The video opens with the SMS crew rolling up to the interchange from the west to classify and spot the cars. The video follows the crew as they drill the cars via switchlist using the mainline and siding.

As you watch the video, you'll notice a few interesting things:

Watching a savvy crew shift railcars can be fascinating. Note how the conductor and brakeman work efficiently as a team. One is making cuts and hitches, the other tends the main switch. Later, the brakeman rides a few carlengths, then drops off so that he is in a position to make a cut after the conductor makes the hitch. Using similar practice, even small layouts like the NCIR can provide three people (engineer/conductor/brakeman) with an hour or more of fun.

Notice how the crew begins by making the "big pull", then effectively builds two trains by dealing cars into the siding and interchange track. This method is much quicker than "cherry picking" individual cars, yet the shifting still takes some time. And sorting the interchange was only half the day's work. The crew still needed to pull the Home Depot spur, sort out empties vs. cars to be respotted, then shove the new loads and respots back into the warehouse.

So without further adieu:

SMS Baldwin 9069 from Jack Hill on Vimeo.

My goal is for the O Scale NCIR to give operators and viewers the same perspective as seen in the video. The track is near eye level, resulting in a view like that of a conductor on the ground. My main track and siding are on a convex curve, so I have to "walk the train" to find car numbers and make cuts. The size of 1/48 scale locomotives and rolling stock nicely captures the mass and inertia of the real thing...i.e. sometimes I really do need to put slack on the pin to uncouple!

Until next time...

BACKDROP

2010-09-26T22:13:00.042-04:00

My backdrop is 1/4" Masonite hardboard screwed to a frame of 1" x 3" birch. I ripped the strips from a single 4 x 8 sheet of birch plywood.

I painted my backdrop using Sherwin Williams "Soar" for the upper portion of the backdrop color, and "Sonething Blue" toward the horizon. The resulting blend nicely simulates a muted November sky.

STRETCHING A SIMPLE SPUR

2010-09-03T15:17:00.006-04:00

I appreciate all your comments and feedback regarding the blog. It seems that a lot of folks are interested in prototype operations that take place on simple track arrangements. That being said, let's look at a transload facility that offers a lot of switching potential on a small amount of track. The company is FMC. The commodity, soda ash (Sodium Carbonate to be proper).

PPG operates a glass plant, located along Norfolk Southern and served by an NS crew. NS delivers and spots all sand and limestone necessary for glass production. PPG needed more capacity for receiving and storing soda ash, the third ingredient in glassmaking. Rather than rebuild their existing rail infrastructure, PPG and FMC Chemical worked out a unique alternative. Hoppers of soda ash, loaded in Wyoming, are delivered to our railroad. We deliver the hoppers to a spur near the north end of the railroad, just a few miles short of the NS interchange. Here, the soda ash is transferred into highway trailers and trucked the final miles over to PPG. All of the soda ash comes to us via CSX, so perhaps PPG/FMC are saving additional money through the non-NS routing.

The rail infrastructure needed to pull-off this endeavor is quite simple:

Aerial Photo

FMC leases a spur track, which holds 4 three-bay hoppers, as well as the former railroad depot that serves as a job office. Surrounding the spur and depot is a gravel lot. Soda ash is loaded into trucks with a self-propelled conveyor unit. This unit moves from car to car, placing its low-profile horizontal belt under the individual hopper bays. Semi trucks make round trips from the spur to PPG’s plant, where the soda ash is stored in silos. PPG goes through a lot of soda ash, so anywhere from 1 to 4 cars are spotted per day here.

FMC spur and leased railroad depot

Just north of the transload spur, the railroad constructed another spur that holds 5 hoppers. Loaded hoppers are stored here, waiting their turn to be unloaded down at FMC. There is also a runaround track here, since we often turn at this station if there is no work to be done farther north.

Left to right: storage track, run-around siding and mainline. The FMC spur is in the far background.

Track-level view looking south

Looking railroad north toward the run-around and storage track

Transloading equipment

OPERATIONS

Spotting hoppers at the FMC spur entails a lot more than just pulling four empties out and shoving four loads in. For example:

The soda ash hoppers are spotted in date order and come in several series: 1000; 40,000 and 50,000 numbers. Due to nuances in car height (1000’s bays are lower than 40,000’s and 50,000’s), FMC requests that the second car from the switch (the #2 car) be a 40 or 50. The elevation of the spur rises slightly here and FMC has difficulty getting their unloading conveyor beneath a 1000 series car at this spot.

So say that FMC has two empties today…the first and second car from the switch. You have two hoppers in your train (a 40,000; followed a 1000). If you simply pull the empties and shove in the two loads, you will have placed the 1000 car in the #2 spot, where FMC can't unload it. Instead, you need to make some extra moves to swap the order of the two cars in your train.

Also, FMC usually begins unloading the car nearest the switch and works their way back. Sometimes the car at the end of the spur gets neglected and will not get unloaded fast. When that last car has been sitting loaded for a while, you might shuffle it so that it becomes the first car nearest the switch (thus getting unloaded the next day). Little details make shifting a siding interesting!

On some days, the storage track is full and you will have no hopper cars in your train. Thus you dig loads out of the storage track for spotting at the unloading spur (minding the location of the 1000's remember:-) ) Other days, one or two cars in your train will get spotted on the unloading spur and all others will go to the storage track. Some days loads come from your train and from storage. As conductor, it’s up to you to figure out the most efficient way to get cars where they need to be. The cool thing is that by modeling an industry like this, you can make life as simple or as complicated as you’d like, depending on how much time you have for an operating session.

We'll end with a real-life example:

FMC has the first two cars on the spur unloaded. The third car (still loaded) hasn't been there that long. However, the 4th car at the end of the spur was spotted a week ago. It is also a 1000 series car. There are three loaded hoppers in our train and two more are on the storage track. The cars on the storage track are older date-wise than the ones in our train. So, we need to (1) pull the two hoppers from storage and spot them on the FMC spur; (2) move the #4 car to the #1 spot so that it will get unloaded next; (3) place the three loads in our train on the storage track; and (4) take the two empty hoppers back south to the CSXT interchange.

Here's how I went about shifting that day. The sequence itself is interesting enough but the real point is just how many moves it takes to simply pull 2 empties and spot 2 loads:

Drop the three loads in our train on the main, leaving room for 1 more hopper before the fouling point.
Go in and grab all four hoppers off the spur (2 empties and 2 loads).
Set the #4 car (the 1000 car) back against the three cars sitting on the main. (This is why we left headroom when we cut away from our train in step 1)
Cut away with the 2 empties and 1 load.
Spot the load (the original #3 car) as the new #4 car, leave the two empties coupled to it for now.
Pull ahead with just the locomotive to clear the switch. Tie onto the cars on the main. You now have the engine, the 1000 car and the three loads you brought with you (in that order).
Pull everything ahead to clear the switch.
Back into the spur and grab the 2 empties.
Pull out, leaving the switch lined for the spur behind us. Keep pulling north until the last car clears the south run around switch. Throw the south switch for the siding, since we are right beside it.
Tie handbrakes on the 2 empties, cut them away from the rest of the train. Note, making a cut here saves from walking back to do it a bit later;-)
Now cut away from the 3 loads that were originally in our train, keeping only the 1000 car we picked up on the FMC spur.
Go into the storage track and grab the 2 loaded hoppers there.
Pull them out to the main, then shove ahead to couple to the 3 loads we dropped on the main.
Place the 3 loads on the storage track.
Now shove south with the 1000 car and 2 loads we picked up on the from the storage track.
Shove down and spot these three cars on the FMC spur. (Note that, because we left the FMC spur switch lined and also lined the south siding switch in step 9, our engineer does not need to stop the heavy train for us to line them now. Anytime we can save our engineer a little grief the better).
After spotting the cars at FMC, pull ahead so the locomotive is between the switches for the spur and south run around. Throw both back for the main.
Now we'll couple to the 2 empties that we're taking back south, perform an air test, then depart.

For our wheel report, we remembered to record all car numbers; the time we spotted all cars; and the track numbers that they all went to right?

VIRTUAL SWITCHING ON THE NCIR!

2010-07-09T23:48:00.040-04:00

I've met a lot of great people in this hobby. Ken, who's Dawson Station Layout is a small masterpiece, generously created a virtual version of my New Castle Industrial Railroad. Thanks to Ken's creativity, you can now try your hand at shifting the mill. (Please note that this simulation combines the dock and warehouse tracks into a single spur.)

Simply click on a specific car to view its destination. Zoom in and out using the '+' / '-' keys, or move the layout left and right using the arrow keys. Click on the switches to throw them.

I've included a switch list below, similar to what crews would receive at the beginning of the day. For a bit of background, you may wish to refer to my Trackplan and Operations and Layout Tour pages. Have fun!

You can scroll all the way down to the end of the page to see how the work was done on the 1:1 :-)

NCIR Work Order: PCA -- New Castle 1 November 2005

PCA DOCK

ABX 552 Paper Scrap No Bill (Car goes on storage track b/c rr hasn't received paperwork)

CSX 866 Paper Scrap Pull (Car goes to interchange)

PCA WAREHOUSE

NS 638 Empty Pull (Car goes to interchange)

RBX 251 Empty Pull (Car goes to interchange)

RBX 801 Empty Respot - Dock (MTY car goes to dock for scrap paper loading)

NS 621 Empty Pull (Car goes to interchange)

STORAGE

RBX 605 Linerboard Spot - Warehouse

CSX 174 Linerboard (This car not needed, stays on storage track)

AGR 034 Linerboard Spot - Dock

CLX 012 Corn Starch Spot - Warehouse 3rd from door

INTERCHANGE

CSX 514 Linerboard Spot - Warehouse

CSX 258 Linerboard (This car not needed, goes to storage track)

RBX 772 Linerboard Spot - Warehouse

One way of doing it:

Run locomotive down and couple to cars on the interchange track.

Inspect all cars and conduct brake test (on the layout this means admiring my cars and locomotive:-)

Uncouple RBOX 772. Pull the other two inbound cars clear of the switch.

Still holding the two inbound boxcars, shove ahead and couple onto the cars standing on the storage track.

Pull everything clear of the switch. Then shove ahead on the interchange track and couple to the lone RBOX 772.

Make a cut and leave the CCLX 012 starch hopper and AGR 034 with the RBOX.

Pull back clear of the switch. Shove ahead into the storage track and set out all four loaded boxcars that remain coupled to the engine.

Pull back again to clear. Run ahead onto interchange and couple to the three cars. Make a cut , then pull back with just the AGR 034 to clear the switch.

Shove into the storage track and couple. Make a cut and drop CSXT 174.

Pull back to clear with all the other cars.

Shove ahead onto the interchange track and drop RBOX 605.

Pull back, then drop CSX 258 on the storage track, coupled to the CSX 174 car you dropped earlier. Make sure to leave enough headroom on the storage track so you can drop one more car in there a bit later.

Pull back, then shove onto the interchange track and set out CSX 514 and AGR 034. Now all our cars are lined up for spotting on the PCA spur.

Pull back. (Now you just have the light engine). Go into the plant spur. Couple all cars together from dock and warehouse.

Pull back until the last car (NS 621) is just short of the fouling point. Cut and leave the NS car on the spur.

Pull back to clear the switch. Shove ahead and drop RBOX 801 with the cars already on the interchange track. (Now we have all 6 of our cars for the warehouse and dock lined up in spot order).

Pull back to clear switch. Shove into the spur and grab the lone NS car (621).

Pull everything back again to clear the switch. Shove ahead and couple to cars on the interchange.

Pull the whole string clear of the switch. Then shove ahead into the spur. Spot the 4 warehouse cars. Then cut, pull back and spot the two dock cars.

Pull everything else back to clear the switch. The "no bill" ABOX 552 should be coupled right to the engine, followed by all the MTY's destined for the interchange.

Shove ahead and drop the 4 MTY's on the interchange. Pull back.

Shove ABOX 552 into the storage track. Pull the engine back to clear the switches.

DONE!!

A CLEARER PICTURE

2010-07-09T10:40:00.011-04:00

Last time I mentioned that I placed temporary track down on the layout, simply to judge how all elements will fit together. The overall picture is coming into sharper focus and I'm happy with what I see!

That being said, allow me give you a tour of the New Castle Industrial Railroad :-)

We are standing near the right end of the layout at what is known as New Castle Junction (the eastern limit of NCIR ownership). The track running diagonal across the layout is the Conrail (now CSXT) main. The boxcars are on the CSXT/NCIR interchange track. The track in the foreground is the former Conrail New Castle Secondary main, now used by the NCIR as a storage track. There used to be a diamond crossing here, but it was removed when Conrail abandoned the New Castle Secondary east of the crossing. I plan to model the abandoned, overgrown ROW. The CSXT main will be well maintained code 148 rail on a nice bed of ballast. In contrast, the NCIR's track will be lighter weight. There will be a rusted signal standing guard at the former diamond, along with the foundation remains of a tower. Long ago, many trains must have passed through here every day!

Above is an aerial view of the junction. Note that the interchange track does not actually connect to the CSXT main. Rather, it climbs upgrade to join the main somewhere in the "off-stage" distance.

We are now looking due west down the New Castle Industrial. The CSXT main is in the foreground. Left to right we see (1) the old Conrail main, now used for car storage; (2) the NCIR/CSXT interchange track; and (3) Packaging Corporation of America's warehouse and dock track (where the cars are spotted in the upper right of the photo.

Looking east. Left to right: PCA's dock track (which will be on a higher grade); interchange track and old main. Cars are drilled into spot order using the interchange and old main. Overflow cars waiting to be spotted are stored on the old main.

Picture an outdoor dock here, between the RBOX and the backdrop. Then picture a large warehouse where the cars in the background are spotted. The dock is where empty boxcars from the warehouse are reloaded with scrap cardboard. Tank cars of caustic soda are also unloaded here.

Loads on the old main waiting to be spotted. A conductor spends a lot of time here, shifting out cars requested by PCA on a given day's switch list. In the distance is NCIR's RS-11, tied down awaiting the next day's switching chores.

Above is an overall view of the layout. I'm excited! I think the O Scale New Castle Industrial will offer good operation and a variety of neat scenic elements in 18 lineal feet.

We'll conclude by looking at the left end of the train room. A long switching lead (staging track) will wrap around the far wall and over my cabinets. The track will be on a narrow wooden shelf. If I ever expand, I'll widen a portion of this shelf and add a chemical plant in the left corner, served by another trailing point switch. However, I'm getting way ahead of myself here:-)

And just for fun...

I recently found this photo from August 2007, when we first looked at the house with our Realtor. This was the previous owner's workshop and storage room, which is now my railroad room. These last two photos were taken from roughly the same spot. Boy, the previous owners had a lot of stuff!

Thanks for taking the tour!!

Jack

RS-11 no. 318

2010-07-07T17:01:00.018-04:00

The locomotive assigned to the NCIR is Alco RS11 #318, a former Kankakee, Beaverville & Southern ex BN nee NP unit.

In reality, the locomotive is a brass import from Overland Models with a rebuilt drive train from Doug Cockerham.

This engine is a dream to switch with. I can come in with speed, ease into a smooth coupling, then stop and stretch the slack just as we do on the 1:1

Here is a video of my RS-11 drilling cars:

O scale New Castle Industrial Railroad from Jack Hill on Vimeo.

Eventually, I will get the engine painted and weathered. The locomotive will wear a well worn coat of blue and yellow, (like its former owner, the Kankakee Beaverville & Southern) with patched NCIR reporting marks.

Former KB&S RS-11 #321 now drills grain hoppers for the CO-OP elevator in Darrow, Illinois. When KB&S retired their Alco fleet in favor of newer EMD power, several of the veteran workhorses migrated to shortlines and industrial switching operations.

BENCHWORK

2010-06-30T21:51:00.088-04:00

Hollow-core doors, $19.99 each from Home Depot, made benchwork construction a breeze. I fastened the doors to a 1" pine ledgerboard along the walls and used knee braces for support. I designed my benchwork to be portable in case we ever have to move. The layout sections are simply lag-bolted together as shown in the photo.

The resulting benchwork is quite rigid and easily supports my body weight.

I used green foamboard insulation from Lowe's as a scenery base. I initially used three inches of foamboard, which resulted in a track height of 53" off the floor. Upon placing temporary track and structure mock-ups, I found that 53" was a tad too low for my taste. I added another 2" layer of foam to bring the benchwork height to 55". I'm 5' 10" and 55" is about armpit height. I tested operations again before permanently attaching the additional foam layer, just to make sure that I could manually uncouple cars anywhere on the layout. The resulting 5" foam base layer allows for plenty of scenery below track level.

I used a hand saw rather than a utility knife for cutting foam, cleaning up the edges with a drywall sanding block.

PL300 is a great adhesive for attaching foam.

WILBUR CHOCOLATE

2010-05-22T17:35:00.020-04:00

This is the Wilbur Chocolate factory in Lititz, Pennsylvania. Wilbur receives inbound hoppers of sugar from NS. I really like the way the terrain slopes uphill, both to the rear and left-to-right. The building itself just begs to be located at the corner of a shelf layout.

I notice more subtle details each time I visit and photograph the factory. Check out the truck dock between the main and the spur. There is just enough lawn and landscaping to give the hint of late fall. Also, the variety among the buildings themselves is terrific.

AERIAL PHOTO

GOOGLE MAP IMAGE

MICRO SHORTLINES

2010-05-10T06:35:00.094-04:00

Here are a couple real-life examples of neat industrial rail operations:

The first example is located in picturesque Manheim, Pennsylvania. Manheim is in the heart of Amish country in Lancaster County. Here, the Manheim Industrial Railroad operates a mile of former NS track. The Manheim Industrial is a division of East Penn Railroad, LLC. When NS couldn't give Ferrellgas the service they required, East Penn stepped in to handle switching of inbound lpg. A classic minimalist shortline.

Here is an Aerial Photo

Ferrell is located on the former Cornwall RR. The former interchange with the RDG was just south in Manheim proper (where the wye is located). Today, a Norfolk Southern local shoves cars of lpg past the wye, dropping them north of E. Steigel Street. East Penn uses a trackmobile to drill loads and empties in and out of Ferrell. Up to 9 or 10 cars may be dropped by NS. Ferrell can unload three cars at a time, so switching gets complicated quickly!

Ferrell Gas siding, looking south down the main. NS Interchange is past the crossing ahead.

NS local shoving lpg loads onto the interchange.

Backing in loads to be dropped north of the wye. There were some neat trackside industrial buildings in Manheim, but they were all razed in 2006.

Picking up empties. View is looking north from E. Steigel Street.

Now let's travel from PA to MI to look at another small classic: the Lapeer Industrial Railroad. Owned by the Adrian & Blissfield, the Lapeer Industrial operates 1.34 miles of former GTW rails to serve a grain elevator and a manufacturer of adhesives. Here is an AIR PHOTO of the line, which branches off the GTW main near the Lapeer Amtrak station. Note how all switches are trailing point, so there is no need for a runaround. Click HERE for an interesting article about the railroad.

UPGRADING TRUCKS UNDER WEAVER BOXCARS

2010-02-28T00:05:00.008-05:00

This weekend I switched gears from layout construction to freight car upgrades. A change of pace is always good!

I decided to upgrade the trucks on my Weaver 50-foot boxcars. These cars look great when weathered and detailed!

One downer, however, is that the Weaver trucks do not have rotating roller bearing caps. Being a railroader, when I see a moving car with frozen bearings my first thought is that someone left a tight handbrake on! To remedy this problem, I decided to upgrade the cars using Lionel trucks and NWSL wheelsets. The conversion is very easy and simply involves flipping the carfloor. The Lionel trucks are built differently than Weaver's. Inverting the floor gives a flush mounting surface for the Lionel's. It just so happens that the resulting car and coupler height are dead-on the NMRA height gauge. No extra shimming is necessary.

I began by disassembling the car:

Then, I cut the bolsters from the center sill using a razor saw. I made sure to remove enough of the sill to allow the trucks to swing freely:

The ribbed side of the carfloor becomes the bottom; the smooth side becomes the top. I add small blocks of styrene over the truck mounting holes (see top of photo below). The styrene, when drilled and tapped, gives the mounting screws a little more bite. I drilled and tapped for 10-32 machine screws, then reattached the underframe assembly to the ribbed side of the car floor with ACC. Last was adding Kadee couplers and installing the trucks.

I insert 4mm lengths of 0.093 diameter styrene into the coupler spring to eliminate the caterpillar-like effect of the Kadee's. There is just enough slack action to create a realistic effect, while the coupler still moves side to side freely.

OPERATIONS ON THE NCIR

2010-02-18T20:58:00.063-05:00

The NCIR classifies inbound cars off CSXT and spots them as requested by customers. The NCIR is one division of parent company Pioneer Railcorp, and crews are dispatched to work the various lines as required. The best way to get a feel for operations is to picture yourself as a conductor working the line:

Packaging Corp. of America requested a 7:00 am shift this morning. They are anxious for a couple hot cars that came in overnight off CSXT, along with a couple more loads from the storage track. They also have an empty car to be respotted for scrap paper loading.

Here again is the layout of the branch line:

Here is a picture of your morning's work:

Start:

End:

And here is your work in switch list form:

Note that there are no cars for Premier and Dal-Tile did not request a shift today. You'll only be drilling PCA. Now it's up to you to get the work done. No pressure, but remember the day shift manager at PCA is waiting for those hot cars...:-)

I've been operating the NCIR, in its final form, for about a month now. Most sessions average 1 hour. ..just what I had in mind. There are so many variables (e.g. number of inbounds, spots, respots, cars on/off the holding track, loaded scrap paper cars that must be held because billing is not completed etc.) that no two sessions are ever the same.

**Thanks to FrogRail for the GIF's!**

LAYOUT LIGHTING

2010-02-11T21:45:00.053-05:00

I experimented with several lighting configurations before I found one that I was happy with. I ultimately settled on a combination of 4-tube fixtures directly over the layout + a 2-tube fixture mounted slightly in front of the benchwork, close to the valence.

I placed Phillips Daylight Deluxe tubes in the overhead fixtures. This gives a great ambient light source for the layout. However, the Daylight tubes alone give off a very bright but cold-looking light. I needed something to soften the light, and at the same time, shine down at an angle so as to really bring out the detail and weathering on my rolling stock. I tried track lighting with halogen fixtures, but could not eliminate "pools" of light at the front of the layout and multiple shadows to the rear. However, I found a second set of fluorescents, with cool white tubes, to be the answer. The cool whites give a beautiful, angled light to the layout, replicating a late Autumn day (my scenery will be set in November) and the daylight bulbs overhead give everything a nice, seemless punch.

I could not use the same shadowbox style lighting above the Commerce Street district due to overhead ductwork. The ducts and utilities also eliminated any type of recessed can lights within the drop ceiling. So, I went with pigtail fluorescents mounted in track light fixtures attached to the valence.

STARCH HOPPERS ARRIVE

2010-02-11T21:34:00.008-05:00

Most large cardboard manufacturing plants receive corn starch by rail. My Packaging Corporation of America plant is no exception. Starch is used as an additive in the adhesive that holds the layers of corrugated cardboard together.

On the Gettysburg & Northern Railroad, we delivered starch to Inland Container (whom my PCA facility is loosely modeled after) in 100-ton ACF Pressuraide hoppers like no. 51029 pictured below:

Now Atlas makes a beautiful Presssuraide hopper in HO scale, but has yet to produce it in 1/48. However, Lionel makes a very well detailed ACF 4-bay; complete with see-through metal walkways, separate grab irons, and nicely done brake gear:

I obtained two of the Lionel SHPX cars, which are very easy to convert over to 2-rail. Northwest Shortline #8293-4 (36" / 145 tread) wheelsets are drop-in replacements. Not only is the conversion easy, Microscale Decals even offers an O scale decal set for CCLX Pressuraides. You can view the decal set here: Corn Products Decals

I considered kitbashing the Lionel car into a Pressuraide, but quickly dismissed the idea as too much work. The pneumatic outlets of the Lionel car are close enough for me! A few hoses for transferring starch from the hoppers into my PCA mill and I'm all set. PCA will receive a hopper of starch about once per week. So two hoppers will serve my needs quite nicely.

Spending most of my free time on layout construction, I contacted Jeff Sohn to see if he would be interested in painting and decaling these cars for me. Jeff did an AMAZING job on these! If you need a model painted, I highly recommend Jeff's work. And be sure to check out his website: Jeff's Custom Train Painting

Here are pics of the completed models. I need to add couplers and a little weathering, then they will be ready to start earning revenue for the NCIR.

THE RAILROAD ROOM

2010-02-09T22:20:00.130-05:00

The NCIR occupies two walls of my 10 x 25 railroad room, which is located in the basement of our home.

The previous owner used the area as a shop. The before photos below are from 2007, when we first viewed the house with our realtor:

I wanted a dry, comfortable area in which to model, but did not go overboard finishing the room. One thing I made sure of was to maintain easy access to all pipes and wiring.

I gave the block walls two coats of Dry-Lok paint and insulated with 1-inch pink foamboard. I framed up new 2 x 4 walls (using pressure treated for the base plate), ran wiring and covered with beadboard. I was going for a look similar to the interior of a railroad depot.

I removed the storage closet and used the area for my modeling workbench:

NCIR's reference library is located adjacent to the shop. Reference articles from magazines are grouped by subject into binders for easy access.

I insulated the area above the main part of the layout, then installed tongue and groove planking. The planking is in an area with no overhead wiring/pipes.

I then painted the planking white to help reflect light down onto the layout.

A drop ceiling conceals low HVAC ducts and water pipes above the Commerce Street section of the layout.

Access to the utility pipes is still easy...one thing I wanted to make sure of! Murphy's law you know.

Upon moving into our house, we found that the previous owners left us two wooden cabinets down in the shop. These cabinets were not in the best of shape; having paint stains, screw holes, scratches and other various battle scars.

My modest roster of O scale boxcars consists of beautifully weathered models by Don Smith, Tim Carlson and Jim Lund. I needed a safe place to keep these beauties while they were off the layout. So, I decided to go to work on the battered wooden shelves and attempt to transform them into display cases for my rolling stock.

I filled all holes and scratches with wood putty, then sanded smooth. The cabinets had a polyurethane finish, so I used a white, non-sanding primer as a base coat before painting:

I painted my cabinets to match the railroad room. Here is one set after 4 coats of brown and two coats of beige:

After sealing the new paint with a couple coats of polyurethane, I added cut-glass shelving, sliding glass doors, and brass drawer pulls.

I plan to have night-operations on my layout, so I added under cabinet light fixtures to the shelves:

The cabinet lights work off this neat remote control unit I found while Christmas shopping with my wife. For around $10.00 you get a remote control unit and a receiver that plugs into the wall outlet. Simply plug whatever device you want into the receiver and then switch it on/off with the remote.

2-RAILING MTH PREMIER HI-CUBES

2009-12-08T19:36:00.003-05:00

MTH produces some finely-detailed 1/48 scale freight cars, including these Plate F hi-cube boxcars.

These boxcars are dimensionally accurate and feature individual wire grabs, metal crossover platforms, and fine end rails & stirrups. The cars are only produced in 3-rail, but converting them to 2-rail is easy :-)

I use a number of these cars for paper service on my layout. I standardize with Lionel roller bearing trucks (the ones with rotating bearing caps) and Northwest Shortline 145 tread wheelsets. Here is a method I came up with for 2-railing my MTH cars:

Materials:

An MTH boxcar...Obviously ;-)

1 pair of Lionel roller bearing trucks

1 set of NWSL #8293-4 wheelsets (these are 36" wheels; 145 tread)

0.197 Acrylic Sheet

Epoxy

10-32 x 5/8 machine screws

Tools:

Small phillips-head screwdriver

Metal Punch & Hammer

Power Drill

3/32 Drill Bit

11/64 Drill Bit

10/32 Tap

Dremel Tool with Cut-off Disc

Process:

Disassemble the car by removing the 4 door-track screws and the 4 carbody screws. Remove the factory trucks.

Now cut small squares of .197 acrylic and epoxy to the top surface of the boxcar floor.

These squares will never be seen by humans (other than yourself) so they need not be pretty. They only need to cover the large bolster-hole while fitting between the screws. Cutting squares with tin snips makes the work fast and easy.

Once the epoxy sets, flip the car floor over and use a punch to mark the center of the large bolster hole.

I lucked out in that the diameter of my punch matches that of the hole...this makes marking the exact center of the hole very easy! I find that placing the boxcar floor on a scrap piece of 2 x 4 works well.

Now, drill a pilot hole using the small 3/32 bit.

Then, drill a larger hole with the 11/64 bit. Clean up any plastic shavings around the holes.

Cut threads into the holes by winding in a 10-32 tap. Take your time and be sure the tap is vertical.

Take the Lionel trucks and, using a Dremel, make two parallel cuts to get rid of the couplers. Loosen the sideframe screws and remove the Lionel hi-rail axles. Insert the NWSL axles, then re-tighten the screws. Make sure that the insulated side of the NWSL axles are all on the same side of the truck:-)

The difference between the Lionel 3R and NWSL 145 tread wheels:

All that is left is to attach the Lionel trucks with 10-32 machine screws and reassemble the car.

A big improvement! The narrow sideframes, rotating bearing caps, and fine tread wheels look amazing...at least to me anyway.

Next up is building coupler yokes, striker plates and adding couplers...stay tuned!

MODELING PHILOSOPHY PART I -- BENDING THE IRON

2009-12-07T18:48:00.008-05:00

I like shifting railcars. Whether we are talking the real thing or simply models on a layout, I get a rush out of drilling cars into their proper order and spotting-up industries. Given a choice, I will take a switch-heavy job over a road job any day.

Of course, some industries are more interesting to shift than others. In my opinion, switching interest = tracks available for shifting + number of specific car spots + variety. Let’s explore each parameter.

Tracks Available for Shifting: Simply, the trackplan at the industry. Form-follows-function is the key phrase here. Track and switches cost money to install and maintain, so railroads and customers do not overindulge. All you need is a place to spot cars; a place to store extra cars waiting to be spotted; and an area in which to drill cars into order. Sounds like a lot of space required, but consider this example of a corrugated box plant:

Here we have everything needed using just three tracks and two switches! The passing siding (the track at left with boxcars) is used to store cars off-spot until needed. Crews dig cars out of the siding and drill them into spot-order using the main. Finally, loads/empties are swapped out on the customer’s spur. (Cars are spotted at the warehouse dock at the upper right of the photo) Simple huh?

Number of Specific Car Spots: Multiple car spots add switching interest as you are now digging more cars out of the storage track (or your train). Locating a single boxcar amongst a string of cars on a siding is straightforward; digging three specific boxcars out of that same siding makes things interesting; finding three specific CSX boxcars amongst eight CSX cars on that siding makes things very interesting!

Multiple spots also allows (1) the respotting of certain cars that have not been fully unloaded the previous shift and (2) introducing different commodities (hence freight car types) to the scene. Let’s take another look at our box plant:

The plant typically unloads four boxcars of pulpboard per day. Often, one or more boxcars are only partially unloaded and need to stay. The plant also receives a hopper car of starch every few days. Due to the location of the unloading hoses, starch cars must be the next-to-last car on the spur. Finally, the plant reloads previously emptied boxcars with scrap cardboard. These reloads get spotted on the spur in front of the dock. The plant will specify which empty car(s) at the dock are to be respotted for scrap loading.

So, our single spur track now provides spots for loaded boxcars of paper; loaded covered hoppers of starch; and MTY boxcars to be reloaded with scrap cardboard.

Variety: We have already discussed variety in the form of multiple carspots and commodities. However, variety can also mean the number of cars to be spotted on a particular day; the number of respots; and the amount of cars on the storage track etc. All add up to give the industry a distinctive “ebb and flow.”

So that’s how a simple yet functional track plan, which serves a multiple car/commodity industry that calls for a variety of switching scenarios makes for a very interesting place to shift!

Next up: Translating my modeling philosophy into a layout design…stay tuned!