Another one of my readers, Sawyer B, sent me a detailed account of working a plastics facility. Since it may be helpful to many I’m posting it here. Sawyer wrote:
I was reading your blog tonight and got to the post on plastics industries and thought you might enjoy hearing my experiences with a rail served industry that receives plastic pellets as a process and quality engineer in the plant.
The plant is Prysmian Group’s plant in Abbeville, SC, where underground power cables are made. The Google maps link is
https://maps.app.goo.gl/TdhXn7vA2EGF22Y49?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy but googling Prysmian Cable Abbeville SC will take you there. The original plant dates to the 1960’s with several expansions, the most recently completed one adding the high voltage cable plant on the front of it with the unique VCV (Vertical Continuous Vulcanization) tower in the front. I will check if I took photos of the photos, but at one point they shipped cable by rail and also received in chemicals in tank cars (even had their own switcher at one point to move the flat cars around), but the only rail a to its now is bringing in various Polyethylene compounds to use for the various insulation layers and shields that go into keeping the electricity in the metals instead of in the ground.
The spur curves into the plant, with a second spur off the lead outside of the plant fence where the of spots are held. When I was there, I saw anywhere from no off spots to probably 4 or 5; we would request to get switched when needed, typically a few times a week. Frequently all 4 hoppers would get pulled but sometimes the rear one would stay in place. As Blake pointed out, the hoppers are really treated exactly as corn syrup tankers are, with each loaded with a specific compound and needing to get placed back in the correct spot so that it can be hooked up to go to the specific silo for that compound, for example LLDPE (Linear Low Density Polyethylene), HDPE (High Density Polyethylene), etc. The shuffling of cars would happen between the mainline, the off spot spur, and the burnt the curved lead outside of the fence. They wouldn’t block the concrete and would only shove back in once everything was shuffled. My one regret was not taking a break on CV9 platform to watch the local switch from up on the platform behind the head house!
Of specific note is that the plastic pellets received would be either clear and cure to an slightly translucent to opaque milky white or had carbon black in it and would be black (I think we typically got those in boxes off trucks instead of in covered hoppers but I wouldn’t swear one way or the other). Any colors we ran would have color chips mixed in; we used yellow chips a lot in my department and would occasionally also use blue and red. I think it’s likely some other plants that use enough of one color could justify buying plastic premixed, but it doesn’t take a lot of color chips to change colors so most would likely be clear pellets with the chips added in.
If you want to see the other end of the industry, I also interned one semester at Teknor Apex in Fountain Inn. Their main business is mixing plastic compounds to supply to businesses which use it, and they’re a pretty large customer of the Carolina Piedmont. They receive plasticizer in tank cars and ship bulk compounds out in covered hoppers they load, as well as lined Gaylord boxes. The link to the plant in Google Maps is below, but you can also look up Teknor Apex in Fountain Inn, SC.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/2HPHVucVvs6aQmEP8?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy
I hope you find this run down interesting and have a bit more background on plastics industries as well! I find the covered hoppers super interesting and varied too in weathering/graffiti/the story with patchouts, different colors painted over graffiti etc. They’re really a great cornerstone industry for a modern shortline or a really fun addition for a Class 1 or Regional local crew.