It’s the summer of 1962 in LA as a motorist idles patiently at the Corona Avenue grade crossing. The vehicle is a 1958 Impala Sport Coupe powered by a 348-cubic-inch, Tri-Power engine with a Powerglide transmission and dual exhaust. Mileage? 9 mpg!
That year the Rams drafted Roman Gabriel and Merlin Olsen. Chubby Checker hit the charts with “The Twist”.
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.
It’s February in 1961 as the local hauls a UP PS-1 down The Horn Lead. Effectively weathering rolling stock for this era is totally different than more modern times and, in a way, harder.
One of the hardest weathering skills to master is that of the light touch…of not overdoing the effect. As you work, you are on a spectrum that starts with “not enough” to “just right” to…..you’ve done too much and are “totally screwed”. Underdoing weathering is desired because all you have to do is add another pass to bring the effect up to “just right”. Once you go too far it’s virtually impossible to correct and, in most cases, the model is ruined. Ask me how I know.
This is particularly an issue with earlier-era rolling stock where you didn’t see the same visual weathering effects as you do today. You didn’t have the same fades, rust bleeds, patch-outs, and graffiti. The look was much more subtle and typified by dead flat surfaces with just a hint of a uniform grimy haze. In a way, it’s much hard to replicate and the risk of screwing it up is much higher. Let’s go through how I approached weathering a Kadee UP PS-1
It helps to have a goal going in as to the look you’re after and the strategy you’ll employ to get there. Unfortunately, it also helps to have made enough expensive mistakes in the past to know where the land mines are. My goals with this car were: to knock the shine down, apply the most subtle layers of grime, add contrast to the panel lines, add highlights to the roof, and weather the trucks. While I use a rattle can for most projects, with rolling stock you really need an airbrush to create the smoother finishes necessary.
-Apply several layers of Dullcote with an airbrush to the entire model. Dullcote comes in bottle form and you’ll need to thin it 50/50 with Testors enamel thinner.
-For the grime layer I applied an ultra-thin mix of Tamiya Dark Iron XF-84 thinned with X20A thinner. This is the riskiest step in terms of going too far. Prepare a thin mix and spray it on a white sheet of paper to make sure it’s not too dark. If you’re ok, move to the model. You want just a hint of hazy grime.
-The panel lines need contrast and the traditional wash method isn’t the best fit. You want the look of a subtle haze and the wash won’t do that. Take a black artists pencil, and give it the sharpest of points. Using a straight edge as a guide, draw over the panel lines with the pencil. This is another step where it’s easy to go too far by making the lines too wide. They should be the thickness of a human hair.
-Using a small brush, apply a hint of earth brown weathering powders around the latches. Keep the weathering footprint small.
-For the trucks I airbrushed them with Model Master earth brown. Any flat tan will work. Once the paint dried, I ground in a layer of black weathering powder.
The roof was too uniformly black. I took a flat-tipped brush and lightly painted on a layer of straight rubbing alcohol. Alcohol over Dullcote creates a frosting effect. At this point, the effect was too stark. I dialed it back by applying a layer of black weathering powders.
The key to weathering these earlier era cars is to go in from the start with the mindset of using the lightest of light touches. You can alway bring the color up but once you cross the line into “too much” you’re screwed.
LAJ Alco S-2 #1 basks in the sun awaiting its next assignment. 1964. ebay slide scan. Photographer unknown.
It’s interesting how a little information, often innocuous on the surface, can totally change our perspective and make us realize that our layout offers opportunities we hadn’t considered before. Even better, this expanded view can be realized without any extra construction or re-building. All that’s needed are some label changes on our track plan and an expanded mindset.
This aha moment came after a re-read of the Fall 2003 issue of the Santa Fe Historical Society’s Warbonnet Magazine. The issue contains the most comprehensive deep dive into the LAJ that I’m aware of. Within the article was an LAJ track chart of their Horn Lead, the inspiration for my layout. A few things jumped out at me:
-Notice how many industries are located on a single spur. This affords us the opportunity to greatly expand a layout’s operational possibilities without adding a single turnout or laying an inch of track. Just copy what they do.
-Notice the liberal use of car spot markings. There are a lot more than I would have expected. Again, more operational potential.
-Notice that every…..single…..turnout….every darn one… is oriented the same direction. Apparently, they don’t share the typical model railroader’s view of forced complexity. A switch job leaves the yard, loco up front, crosses District Blvd. and then runs down the Horn Lead ( which I’m guessing is about a mile long). There is a run around siding on the lead so the engine likely runs around the train once he’s cleared District Blvd. At that point, and this is key, the rest of the work can now be done with push-pull moves. There is no need to run around the train ever again. This is another design practice we would do well to emulate.
-The article alludes to the reality that tenants change over time and the charts need to be updated. This is another opportunity for us. We can “change tenants” on our layouts as well and don’t need to even build a new structure.
The track plan above reflects this new perspective. Nothing on the layout has changed other than the labels and how I operate it. The curved lead on the right can now serve three industries and be totally plausible in doing so. I now have five industries total and ten locations to spot cars. I’ve been taking a look at whether I need an extension track to the left of District Blvd. Unless I really went overboard with a car-heavy op. session, I’m probably fine without it, at least for now.
On a final note, I’ve gone back and forth on the proto-freelance vs. pure freelance approach. At least for me, I’ve come to the point of thinking that, as a layout’s size gets smaller, the proto-freelance way seems the common sense way to go. It gives you much-needed flexibility while, at the same time, still capturing the feel of the region.
I’ll wrap up with my old saying, “The more we understand the prototype, the less track we need to keep us entertained.”
In my recent book on industries, I showed no love for plastics industries as modeling subjects, going so far as to call them “boring”. The audacity….and apparently a somewhat uninformed take. One of my frequent blog readers, Blake B., offered a much more educated perspective in a recent email.
“I did have an observation, regarding the section on plastic pellet facilities.
For the longest time, I was under the impression that the move was pull the empty string of hoppers and spot the loaded string. After some research and speaking with some folks in the industry, a lot of the pellet receiving industries are actually very similar to corn syrup industries. Very often they are car spot dependent. If a plant is making several different types of plastic products, they can receive several different grades of plastic pellets, all which need to be spotted at the correct hose outlet, so they can be vacuumed to the correct tank. On top of that, half loads will often be pulled and placed off spot until the product’s storage bin gets low. The half loads are then respotted for more unloading.
Throw in loaded cars off spots that are waiting for spots to open up, you’ve got one heck of a switching opportunity! Just wanted to share some info I’ve learned the past year”
Thanks Blake! Although this doesn’t apply across the board, for those that have the book I would print this blog out and insert it your book around page 44 where I discuss plastics.