Layout Ideas

[Cody J]

I've started planning a new HO layout. It will be 9x5 and I would like it to have two industries with a town to "use" the industries. For example: coal mine and power plant. The coal would go to the power plant then the electrccity would be used by the town.
Any ideas on industries and rail commodities?

Thanks,
Cody

[Cody J]

I would also like it to be set around Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. CSX, Norfolk Southern and shortline railroads around that area.

cody

[jward]

some industry pairs to consider....


grain elevator to feed dealer.
grain to ethanol plant.
logs to paper mill or sawmill.
quarry to cement plant.
finished wood products from sawmill to lumber yard or furniture factory.


for a 5x9 layout look in the atlas plans books for one called "granite gorge & northern. it is a double track figure 8 plan, with a small yard, a quarry, and reversing connections between the two main tracks. best of all, the reversing connections are NOT reversing loops and require no special wiring.

[RAM]

If you use box car they can go most any where.  you could have a small saw mill.  Shipping to a lumber yard.  Logs could come by rail or truck.  Many industries are too large for a small layout.  So you have a small tank terminal shipping to fuel dealer. 

[jbsmith]

Farm lands or grain elevator to a food factory,
like Walthers "Imperial Foods".
The crops arrive by truck at I.F. then when done are packed into a reefer or a boxcar depending on the product. Could be any food product. Apple Cider.
Ketchup & mustard or grape jelly or frozen veggies or popcorn or frozen chicken or fozen pizza or what ever the dominate crop product happens to be in the area.
Real food companies i can think of just of the top of my head in PA,,Heinz Ketchup,Hershy,Snyders of Hannover.

or,,,a grain elevator to a flour mill to "imperial foods" or "magic pan bakery"

Oil,  from wells to refinery or tank farm terminal
Steel to a shipyard or arsenal or automotive goods
Train to truck terminal

[jbsmith]

if you REALLY want a PA layout with an industry,,,Guess what is built in
Erie, PA.
hint/link below.
http://www.getransportation.com/na/en/locofacts.html

[RAM]

The best thing to do if you want a refinery is to paint it on the backdrop.  Have only a loading rack and and a building for canning oil.  receive empty cans and ship canned oil and drums of oil.  all in box cars.  The refinery that I worked in had the rail siding right next to the edge of the refinery.

[Cody J]

some industry pairs to consider....
finished wood products from sawmill to lumber yard or furniture factory

I'm going with Jeff's idea of the lumber yard furniture factory. The logs will be sent by truck from the logging site to the sawmill where they are cut. From there, the wood will be loaded on trucks to the lumber yard where they will get loaded on trains. Then they will go to the Dayton Furniture Company (Cornerstone Series Dayton Machine Company) where they will get made into furnitre where they will be shipped by train to the depot then by truck to the store. NOTE: The logging site and sawmill will not be seen on the layout. There will be a "Lumber Road" that goes into nowhere off of the layout.

Track plan soon to come. It's done, I just have to scan it and put it on here.

Cody

[Cody J]

Okay... I've finished the track plan but my printer won't scan it so I can't put it up here yet. I'll try again after school tomorrow.
Anyway, My layout will be DC then after a while will convert to DCC with DC remote switches to make it cheap and easier. It will be the fictious CSX Mount Storm Subdivision. Mt Storm is a real place in middle-of-nowhere, West Virginia and the CSX Stony River Sub climbs the Mountain to servece the Mt Storm Power Plant (cool name). The yard is Kanawha Yard, named after CSX Kanawha Sub in West Virginia and the town is Freemont, West Virginia, fictious name. That's about it until I get my stupid printer working again.

To quote my Science teacher: "Technology is great unless it doesn't work"

cody