Walthers Vulcan Manufacturing

[conrail1973]

Good Morning,

The Walthers Vulcan Manufacturing looks like a kit that I would like to purchase.  The instruction sheet on Walthers website list it as a small fabrication plant, and I would like to know what kind of loads it would receive or ship post 1980s.  I did search for steel fabrication plants online, and I found one that was receiving coil cars and boxcars.  I couldn't find an answer for the purpose of the boxcar being there.

Thanks,

Adam

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Given its size, unless it was part of a larger complex, the way Conrail would've served it would be with a Trailvan contract.

That said, it's a good thing to be included in part of a larger plant. Also, don't feel limited to it being a steel fabricator. In our era (represent!), lots of stuff was being repurposed.

For example, it could be the central building in a scrap yard. Surround it by lots of piles of scrap, add in tome electro magnet cranes (https://www.nscalesupply.com/rem/REM-2071.html) and then spot gons on the track that used to run into the building all day.

Honestly, I'd recommend going to Bing, then using the birds eye view in the area you're interested in to get a sense of what's near the tracks.

[soo]

Adam,

Having worked in steel fabrication for awhile,, anything and everything could come in a box car. Could be other parts fabbed somewhere else to make a bigger component. Could be supplies of any sort, also maybe a piece of machinery that the company ordered to help with their business.

Other cars that could be seen,, flats, gons,, covered gons, bulkhead.

You could even use the structure as a rail car retro fit shop,, repairs and improvements. The list is endless.

I worked for a company that made water pumps,, I am talking pumps the size of a locomotive,, sometimes smaller,,sometimes larger. With the water pumps there had to be discharge heads and pipe sections. The motors would come from the GE/TECO plant in Georgetown TX.. these motors were HUGE!! They would make a 20 ton crane groan.

So you could even have depressed center flats bring in and or depart with large parts,,,anything and everything is possible.

See ya, Wyatt

[Dave V]

I recommend buying 2 kits and splicing them length-wise to make it look more worthy of rail service.

[Flagler]

I was going to start a tread on this same topic yesterday,I have 3 kits that I plan to use. My first thought was to splice 2 of  them together long ways . I might use the 3 rd kit for a building on the other side of the track with the 3 section of overahead crane between the two buildings. Metal coils unloaded and fabricated into electric junction boxes for General Electric.

[Flagler]

[Flagler]

If anyone has the ability to bash 3 kits together on a computer program to show the finished scene please share your work.
I might just build it to your spec for this scene

[sd45elect2000]

I really like what you did with the Kibri factory !! Is the other building a Cornerstone Brachs candy plant ?

Randy

[Flagler]

Yes that is the old Candy plant the Kibri bash was completed 28 years ago

[sd45elect2000]

Fantastic , I love them !!

Randy

[basementcalling]

Yes that is the old Candy plant the Kibri bash was completed 28 years ago

That would be an expensive kitbash today.

The Vulcan plant building is an easy kitbash, either by lengthening it as shown in the picture, or by slicing it at an angle and lengthening if it will sit against a backdrop. In the photo, unless the back of the building is going to be visible, you could make it even longer with 2 kits just by putting in plain styrene back walls. But again, that works only if the back wall won't be seen from the other side of the layout.

You can also slice the building diagonally from one corner to the other, and use the spare back walls from just one kit to lengthen the entire building. This only works against a backdrop, but makes the building look 4 times as large instead of just twice as long. Our brains tend to assume we split buildings in 1/2.

This is a favorite kit of mine, but just one does look very undersized for the typical uses you find for this style of building. I believe @Chriss333 used several of these in one of his Erie layout build ups.

[Chris333]

Yep I've used a few.

[conrail1973]

I appreciate everyone's comments because I spent the last hour flipping between Google maps and ZTS maps of the Philly area along the Northeast Corridor tracks.  If I go with one kit, it will definitely be part of a scrap metal recycling plant (my layout is in need of gondolas).  However, I like the idea of kit-bashing two kits, but what industry would be best served in the post 80s Conrail or short line world?

Thanks,
Adam

[Rich_S]

Good Morning,

The Walthers Vulcan Manufacturing looks like a kit that I would like to purchase.  The instruction sheet on Walthers website list it as a small fabrication plant, and I would like to know what kind of loads it would receive or ship post 1980s.  I did search for steel fabrication plants online, and I found one that was receiving coil cars and boxcars.  I couldn't find an answer for the purpose of the boxcar being there.

Thanks,

Adam

Adam, I've visited several Steel fabrication plants in my area and none of them today ship or receive any material by rail. Two of the larger plants at one time did receive shipments by rail. These plants create the structural steel that is used in the construction of new buildings.  Using a little modelers license here is the layout of my Vulcan Steel Fabricators plant.





The tank car track is for delivering fuel oil for the boiler house. The track under the canopy, which should have an overhead crane (on my to do list) is for receiving "H" beams and "I" beams in gondolas and steel plates on flat cars. The track in the lower left of the over head picture is for shipping out scrap steel back to the steel mills. 

[conrail1973]

Thanks for sharing Rich!  The pictures definitely are giving me some ideas and questions to ask before I move along with this project.

Thanks,
Adam