Just something I'm curious to...

KCS

Member
I just started a new job with a company called AI here in Shreveport and what they do is assembly of the motors & transmissions and sequencing of other part's such as axles,leaf spring's, shocks, lights and fron't rear and side flare panels (not sure all what else) for the Hummer 3's at GM. I do a little of it all and sense I was hired from a temp. job placement service they liked me and how I work so much that they are starting me in full time now. 90% of out going load's go by truck sense the GM plant is just down the road but a lot of part's are shipped in by rail behind the plant. My question is how many of you work at a job where thing's are shipped and received by rail and what type of thing's come and go?
 

Jim Krause

Active Member
I don't work at a real job anymore but when I did, the semi completed product ( 737, 747, 757, 767 and 777 airplanes were all at some point, rail transported. Im sure you have all seen either the specialized cars or pictures of them . Boeing has the steepest class one spur in the US to get rail borne assemblies to their Everett, WA plant. Fourteen percent grade.
 

Cannonball

More Trains Than Brains
I used to work at the Aldi's warehouse in West Burlington, IA. We had foodstuff coming in by rail quite a bit. Just a one track loading dock but I remember cars sitting in there quite often.
 

cedarcreekrr

New Member
I don't work at a factory but I teach at a school who's nickname is railroaders and the town has a csx yard here. The town is here because the B & O used it as a division point on it's way to Chicago. When in school I worked for a glass factory and loaded box cars.
 

cidchase

Active Member
Hi Charles,
We receive various sizes of zinc ingots, and scrap metal in open topped steel boxes (40x40x40"). We ship out skims from the furnaces, and dust from the air filters (just looks like chunky gray dirt), in the same boxes. If I ever have a layout with enough space, I would like to model a small oxide plant. We are serviced (Clarksville plant) by R.J. Corman.
 

65GASSER

Member
I've worked 2 jobs where we got rail shipments in. One was Tennaco Foam, we got little plastic pellets delivered in centerflow hoppers, and shipped out the foam products in Boxcars.
The other was an aluminum boat factory. We had 2 tracks with a concrete dock on both sides. We got shipments of rolled aluminum sheets. Some came in by truck as well. Short shipments due to Alcoa Continuous Rolling plant and Arkansas Aluminum Alloys less than a mile up the track.
Now I drive a truck and alot of the time I am in the Arkansas Midland RR yard. They have the RDS services, lots of unloading boxcars onto trucks.
 

shaygetz

Active Member
Had a siding up to the sheet metal shop I worked at years ago, but it never saw a car dropped there in many moons. In it's day, there would have been flats of machinery dropped there once a week or so.
 

FiatFan

Member
I worked in a pet food plant and we shipped out as many as 10 railcars per day. Also received the occasional tank car of ingredients inbound.

Tom
 
I used to work for a cable manufacturing company who have their UK headquarters in my home town. Although we didn't have anything moved by train, we used to build traction cable harnesses for passenger trains. The one job that sticks in my mind was building jumper cable assemblies for the ICE 3 trains in Germany. I went to one of my firm's main bases in Switzerland for a week to be trained on how to build them!
 

Relic

Member
In the 70's I worked in a "turn down" sawmill a nd some of the deal was shipped by rail. I recall one Saturday I landed in to help load 4x6 into a boxcar off the back of a tandem truck. This truck was the one used to haul the company dozer and had these ramps welded on the back to load said dozer so there was no way to get the truck within six feet of the car. The reall fun part was that I had spent Friday night trying to set a new record for the draught beer guzzle, the temp was about 120degrees and the store wasn't open.
About ten years later I was working in a sulpher plant in Alberta, one of my duties was loading peletized sulpher into hoppers, just had to watch the controll board lots easier.
 
L

lester perry

I am a yard jockey at a Chrysler Assy plant. I put trailers in the dock and take them out. N&W (Conrail) Has a yard on the property. There are 3 tracks into the plant where they make 2 switches per shift. Usually they use a GP15 sometimes a GP 38. I have threatened to know the locomotive off the track with my truck, the engineer says go for it.
Les
 

Starman

New Member
I work for a company that will ship our product to chicago by truck and then it goes on rail to be shipped to cali.But we have to do that to make sure that everyone has their bacon to go with the eggs in the morning.{Oscar Myer Bacon}
 

oldtanker

Member
The Army still gets a lot of things by rail and moves heavy equipment by rail. I can remember far too many cold rainy nights on the rail head tying down tanks or off loading. I do remember very well being on a detail during basic training at Ft Polk La. We were unloading ammo from boxcars onto trucks, it was Aug 74.

If anyone here is thinking about modeling a military rail operation, that from about 1980 on there are 14 tanks, 3 Hummvs and 3 2 1/2 or 5 ton trucks to a company. Plus one tank recovery vehicle and 1 PC.

Fuel and HEMMETS/5 tons and other vehicles all belong to Headquarters Company.


Rick
 
Top