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I had a look at the Micro Trains ‘pole load’ at the LHS yesterday - it looks like a big hunk of resin (which is exactly what it is) with 1/2 round protrusions running down its length to represent the poles. And the poles appear to be too large a diameter. I think you’d be better of with the sanded dowels, but you’ll need a lot of them to model even a portion of a real pole yard. For the big stockpiles you could probably use a solid core with only the pole end stubs on the ends and a covering of a couple of layers or full length poles. I just went out a measured the pole across the street from me - I estimate 35 feet from grade to top of pole (plus buried portion), 17” diameter at the base and tapering to 12” at the top. Typical urban distribution network.I pass a pole manufacturer alongside highway 3 south of Cranbrook BC a couple of times a year; it’s a big operation with acres of poles of different lengths in stockpiles, and raw timber (bark on) logs. The logs come in by truck but the finished poles seem are shipped by rail using ‘log cars’. There are some long narrow structures , one of which must be the pressure treating facility. I don’t know if the logs need to be dry before they can be treated, but that would make sense to me. I think they peel the logs and stack them to season, then treat them to a customers specification prior to shipping. Most of the stockpiles appear to be peeled but untreated poles. There is a big rack like structure that appears to some sort of log peeler, with piles peelings and chips. I recall that there is a chip loader for railcars on the site, but I think most chips are shipped by trucks (getting stuck behind a chip truck on the highway is a nightmare). I’m not sure what the peelings are used for; they must be mostly bark - that’s a lot of bark mulch… I wonder if they have way to produce separate streams for wood chips and bark? There are tank cars on site, which I assume is the treating chemicals. So a pole manufacturer COULD have raw logs and treating chemicals in by rail, and poles and chips/bark peelings out.A distribution facility could be lot smaller, mostly limited to piles of poles and handling equipment. Poles would come in by rail and go out by truck…Geoff
Ooh, I forgot, there’s a big pole yard near where I live! Check out street address 25 Braid St., New Westminster….Geoff
On the receiver end, the utility pole company in Guelph, ON where I used to live receives poles via rail, but their facility is not rail-located.They transload from rail to truck at a spur in town and ship to their yard. Basically a team track operation. It's nothing more than a track with a gravel driveway along one side.
Here are some shots of the Guelph Utility Pole (Stella Jones) unloading site. It was essentially a "team track" operation, located on railway property on narrow strip of land between the road and the main line track.I took photos in summer and winter, a whole variety of car types and size of poles, including a CP Rail idler flat in between a few long loads for good measure.A few of these cars can be be found RTR from MT and WOT. (Attachment Link) (Attachment Link) (Attachment Link) (Attachment Link) (Attachment Link) (Attachment Link) (Attachment Link) (Attachment Link) (Attachment Link)
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Topic: How do utility pole yards work? (Read 3376 times)
