Comments on: Which Industries To Model

By: Allen G

Allen G — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 22:42:46 +0000

Dale and Steve what great ideas. Much appreciated.

By: The N-Scale Nerd

The N-Scale Nerd — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 04:10:12 +0000

I used a steel mill in Hastings, Victoria for a Roll Mill factory industry idea on the right side of my layout with flat car loads, and a tank-car filling gantry with a petro-chem back-drop on the left side.

Other industries you might consider are the ones that fill hopper cars, eg, grain silos, coal elevators, ore processing plants.

Depends on the rolling stock you have, too.

For the roll mill, I have an incline into the plant, and a magnetic de-coupler embedded in the “factory floor” to enable loaded flat-cars to be disconnected and then roll down a small incline through a turnout to a buffer stop. The turnout is then thrown and another loco pulls the flat car onto an exit track to the yard where trains are made up.

In my planning stages I made up a list of exactly what you’re looking for, too. Unfortunately I can’t upload it, but I clipped out the text. (There are images in the document,

Rail Rolling Stock
TANK CARS
Carrying: Liquids – fuel, wine, chemicals,… Gases,
Loading/unloading facility – Gantry, stairs, pipework

COVERED HOPPER

Carrying: sugar, grain, sand, cement
Loading/unloading facility – grain silos

OPEN HOPPER

Carrying: Coal, ballast,
Loading/unloading facility – Hopper tower to fill

FLAT CAR

Carrying: Large bulky loads, poles, pipes, machinery, containers, steel billets
Can have end-walls
Loading/unloading facility – cranes

GONDOLA

Carrying: high-density cargos as steel plates or coils, or of bulky items such as prefabricated sections of rail track. Scrap metal
Loading/unloading facility – Cranes

STOCK CAR

Carrying: Livestock
Loading/unloading facility – Yard and ramps

BOX CAR

Carrying: Packaged goods, freight pallets,
Loading/unloading facility – Warehouse and ramps, forklifts for pallets.

Food for thought?
Mark The N-Scale Nerd” Thornhill

By: Dale

Dale — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 03:53:28 +0000

Logging is always an option. Rather than having it as the focus of the layout, use it as an industry being served. So you might have one area for logging and a close but separate mining operation. These would need a yard for storing empty and loaded cars and “townie” industries like warehouses, fuel depot, sawmill if you have room for one, a general store for provisions and other businesses to support the industries.

Or you could focus on an industrial area that would be receiving the utilizing goods from off-layout. Mills, metal works, trans-shipping warehouse, lumber yards, etc. Industries could be anything that takes in raw materials and produces manufactured materials that need to be sent out. A mill that takes in logs and ships out finished lumber to lumber yards. Or possibly a pipe company that takes in steel and ships out pipes of various sizes.

And if you have the space, perhaps a small town warehouse or Railway Express station for receiving goods for local shops and deliveries. The possibilities are endless.