The Shelf Layouts Company, Custom Layout Builders and Designers
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Yard job, Y120 out of Miami's Hialeah Yard works the East Industrial Park in January of 2010. The C.O.D. restaurant in the background will be more than happy to serve you a stout cup of Cuban coffee to keep your railfan motor running.
Modern industrial parks are appealing to the modeler and railfan on several fronts. First, they pack a lot of action in a small amount of space. Second, the action is ongoing (often for hours) as the local shuttles back and forth doing it's work. This is in contrast to watching a through freight blowing by and disappearing in a few seconds. The switching moves the local employs to switch the various industries is essentially the same as what existed decades ago. That being the case, railfanning a modern industrial park is like being transported back to railroading's golden age. In many cases industrial parks can be safely and un-obtrusively viewed from public streets and sidewalks (still you do need to employ some common sense and show respect for private property). Finally, they make excellent subjects for model railroad themes.
Contrary to some doom and gloom reports, rail served industrial parks with active local switching jobs are nowhere close to being extinct. In fact, in some cities their scope is so massive the larger problem is finding a way to take it all in. Consider this page a resource showing locations with extensive industrial switching and thus a well of ideas for modeling subjects. I'm hoping this will become a community effort where others can bring sites of interest to my attention so I can list them. Finally, thanks to all that have provided information making this page possible.
The quality of free online mapping and imaging has reached the point where it isn't even necessary to visit the site to get great photos. Two very good sources of images are Bing Maps (birdseye view) shown on the left and Google Maps (street view) shown on the right. Use the maps below as a guide and then switch to Bing or Google to treat yourself to a virtual tour.
ALABAMA
Decatur (NS, CSX)
Interesting park tight against the river with some nice rail/barge interface. Thanks to Jack Keller.
Tuscaloosa
Rhett
Graves: "Switched today by Alabama Southern (Watco), though there appears to be
some industry-owned switchers in a few of the plants. There's a Reichold
Chemicals plant, Nucor Steel, and several other industries in between over about
a four mile stretch. There's also a derelict tower at a crossing and some
street running.
Arizona
Phoenix
With thanks to Dale and Twister from the Atlas Forum.
ARKANSAS
Helena
Rhett Graves: "Switched today by the Arkansas Midland (Pinsley). The major industry is a cottonseed oil mill, but there's plenty of other small industries nearby that support this industry. The spur at the plant comes off one leg of a wye and crosses over one of the other legs of the wye. Lots of multiple spots within the oil mill make for interesting switching and it's neat to watch the crew use the wye to reverse car direction and make run-around moves. More barge-rail transloading here too. This is a compact switching arrangement and very modelgenic. Photos of Rhett's trip to Helena can be found HERE. AM probably has the coolest paint scheme currently running the rails!
California
Anaheim
With thanks to Dale on the Atlas forum. Anaheim is really loaded with sites. The neat little complex in the first image is particularly well suited for a layout.
Compton/Vernon (Los Angeles Jct.)
Thanks to Tom Mann. Photo
HERE.
Oakland
Thanks to Tim K. who points out that the grain elevator belongs to Con-Agra and
that there is scrap yard next to it.
Sacramento - McClellan AFB
With thanks to David Bromage who writes, "One of the newest parks is McClellan Business Park on the former McClellan Air Force Base near Sacramento. It is served by the Sacramento Valley Railroad using two ex-Rarus GP7's. SAV and Rarus are both owned by Patriot Rail. It connects with UP and BNSF. Here is a promo video."
COLORADO
Brighton
With thanks to Kris Marquardt. This is an interesting (and unusual) example of a rail served industrial park under construction. Additional details and maps can be found here.
Windsor
With thanks to Kris Marquardt. This is the Great Western Industrial Park .(Nice website)
FLORIDA
Bonaventure (FEC)
With thanks to Tolga E. This is a nice location. Lots going on in a
small space.
Fort Lauderdale
Map mark up courtesy of Tolga E.
Miami (CSX, FEC, Tri-Rail)
This
is industrial rail fan heaven. The only challenge is where to start.
There is just so much to take in. CSX seems to be fairly rail fan friendly
if approached cautiously, FEC less so.
North Miami
Thanks to Tolga E.
Orlando (CSX, Florida Central)
Click
HERE For Silver Star Branch photo. Orlando
is a well kept secret, surprising given the huge volume of industrial sites.
The Orange Avenue corridor (CSX) is a good starting point. After that head
northwest towards the Florida Central industrial parks.
Pompano Beach (CSX, FEC)
Tom
K. writes: "Take a look at the site just south of Sample Road and and I-95.
The industrial park is served by the FEC from a spur that runs off the
north/south main line to the east. The unusual thing is that the tracks
parallel the CSX main just west but don't seem to connect. There is a nice
mix of industries in the area. The park appears to have some type of metal
facility that takes gons, some warehouses that have box cars spotted at them,
and some type of industry that receives covered hoppers. When I scroll
along using the birdseye feature I have seen all kinds of cars being
spotted and even a shot of a loco. working the area.
Map
mark up courtesy of Tolga E.
Riviera Beach (FEC, Port of Palm Beach RR)
Click
HERE for Port of Palm Beach Photo. I
did some railfanning at the port about five or six years ago. The rail
guys are as nice as can be. Unfortunately, port security found me to be
less charming and asked me to hit the bricks sooner rather than later. If
I were to do it again I'd try to get advance permission from the the port PR
department. I will say this, as interesting as the port sounds in writing,
it's even better in person. The port would make for a GREAT modeling
theme. Unlike other port locations, which are too large to model, the Port
of Palm Beach is very small. Better yet, it handles a fairly wide variety
of commodities from containers to cement to rum. To the west of the port
is a vast industrial park.
IDAHO
Collins & Blackfoot (UP)
With thanks to Joe Brugger who writes: "Blackfoot and Collins are on the UP, along the Railroad's Montana Subdivision that runs from Pocatello, Idaho north to Silver Bow, near Butte. The general pattern of operations is material in support of farming in, and agricultural products out. The areas on the Spot-It pages are switched daily, and twice when needed. The Spot-It pages date to the early 1980's but the majority of the customers are still in business, some now under different names. I last visited about four years ago and they were using either GP38-2 or SD40-2 locomotives. Lots of 57' mechanical reefers, propane cars, anhydrous ammonia, other tank cars and covered hoppers.
Hand drawn track schematic courtesy of Ray Mathewson (New Zealand)
Illinois
Chicago - Elk Grove Village
Thanks to Barry Karlberg
Indiana
Jeffersonville - Clark Maritime
Geno on the Atlas forum writes, "Check out Clark Maritime Center jut outside of Jeffersonville, IN. It's a stand alone operation using a couple of remote control locomotives to serve a large grain to barge transload and several steel industries." Click HERE for link to Port of Indiana and aerial photos.
MASSACHUSETTS
Bondsville (New England Central RR)
Thanks to Mark G. for bringing this to our attention and being generous enough to supply maps and photos. He writes: "Looking North to the right is the NECR ex CV mainline to Vermont. First you have Quaboag Transfer which mainly deals with lumber, sheetrock, steel, and pipes. Heading up the line on the bottom right you have a newsprint warehouse. After that heading north and around a curve there is dry ice company that gets tank cars of CO2 and at the end is a plastic pellet transload lot".
Mansfield (CSX)
Jim L. writes "Check out Mansfield, MA. Specifically, just north of the
station on the Northeast Corridor. I think the benefits of this area are
these: You have interesting local switching and service to the industries
in that industrial area that we call the "Chocolate". You have the small transloading facility in the yard to the west of the tracks where we make up the
train to go over to the Chocolate which involves a shoving move through the
station so that we can cross over". You also have the opportunity to
model catenary, the Acela, and commuter trains.
Minnesota
Minneapolis - Hiawatha Avenue
Minneapolis - Lakeville
Barry Karlberg: Home of Progressive Rail, subject of a good article in Model Railroader by Jim Hediger a few years back.
Mississippi
Greenville
Rhett Graves: "Switched today by the Columbus and Greenville which has an eclectic mix of chop nose GP7's, CF7's, GP38's and GP11's. Now part of the Genessee and Wyoming system. There's Uncle Ben's rice mill, and lPG dealer, a rail-barge transloading facility, a Cooper Tools plant, and a neat small industry that can only receive1-2 boxcars max all within two miles of each others.
Missouri
St. Louis
Ed Vasser writes: "Don't overlook St. Louis, industrial spurs all over the place! The attached map shows one area of interest - following I-70 and the NS line from just north of the arch out to Earth City. There are numerous industrial parks/rail spurs branching off this line."
NEW JERSEY
Camden
TENNESSEE
Memphis - President's Island (CN)
Thanks to Rhett Graves for providing information on this location. An excellent write up on President's Island can be found HERE. Brett writes, "The original track layouts (relatively unchanged) can be found HERE. Zone 1 is president's island. One of the neatest industries on President's Island is the Mid-South Terminal Company. It's a barge/rail transloading facility with some pretty neat trestle work for an industry. They used a SW-1 to switch within the facility up until a few years ago.
TEXAS
Dallas-Ft. Worth
With thanks to Jeff.
Laredo (KCS/Tex-Mex, UP)
WASHINGTON
Seattle
Seattle ranks up there with Miami and Orlando as far as shear volume of industrial switching sites and charm. Great location for rail marine interface and some street running. I'm surprised more don't model it.
CANADA
Brampton (CN)
Thanks to Mike Pebesma who writes: Brampton offers a number of
industrial spurs running from the north and south side of Canadian National's
Halton Subdivision in Brampton, Bramalea and Malton. There are a number of
tracks serving factories, warehouses, chemical companies, a glass plant and a
shingle manufacturer. Although a number of industries have pulled up rail or see
infrequent service, there are still a fair number remaining to keep a railfan
busy and in the past couple of years some new sidings have been installed. The
CN Halton sub off of which these spurs run is also a busy mainline from Toronto
to Windsor/Detroit and Sarnia/Port Huron MI, and on to Chicago. The line also
sees several Via passenger trains daily and GO Transit commuter trains during
morning and evening rush hours.
Calgary (CP)
Thanks to Mike M.
Industrial Railfanning Safety and Planning Tips:
Show respect for personal property and avoid situations where the employees of a particular business are uncomfortable with your presence. When in doubt as to whether you can be in a specific spot, ask. If security asks you to leave, do so without arguing. If somebody asks what you are doing, tell them. In many cases just putting the person at ease has resulted in them providing me with valuable railfanning or site information. Regardless of how weedy the rails may look, employ the old adage of 'stop, look, and listen' before crossing the rails. Walk beside the rails, not down the middle of the tracks. Be aware of vehicular traffic. Many industrial parks are safe and you can have a relaxing, enjoyable day free from worry of being a crime victim. Tattered structures and graffiti don't necessarily correlate with a dangerous location, particularly in a business district. Nonetheless, be aware of your surroundings and who else is in the general vicinity. As a general rule, the safest time is during the work week during business hours where you will blend in with the hustle and bustle of normal business activity. Before you venture out, let somebody else know where you are going and roughly when you will be back.
Plan your trips so as to make the best use of your time. Print out maps of the site and do a 'virtual' flyover of the area so you know what you are looking for and don't waste time. Make a list of specific photos you want before the trip and mark the locations on a map. Try to make contact with local railfans or friendly railroaders to determine when you are most likely to find a train. Take LOTS of photos. When in doubt, take the picture! With digital photography there is no cost to taking as many images as you want. When you get home, immediately back up your files before you do anything else.
Be proactive! Get off the couch, turn off the computer and visit some of these sites. They may not be there forever. If you avoid an overnight stay, the cost of a long day trip can be very reasonable. Get a good night of rest, catch a 6am flight, railfan all day, and then head home at sunset. The cost will be comparable to that of a single model locomotive.