Revamped Corners

July 2020 UPDATE - after writing this discussion, I removed this part of the layout to accommodate a new staging yard and several new modules.  The revamped area was started in the Fall of 2020 and I'm happy to say that as of January 2021 the new yard and modules are operational and undergoing the addition of scenery.  See the replacement blogs titled Pontypool/Cargill Construction and New Yard.

The KLR has a total of three 90 degree corners, only one of which is partially hidden by several industries.  When I first designed the layout, I intended to have all of the corners be rounded, however, upon building the first corner (industrial area) and installing the flexible backdrop, I realized that I was going to lose more space than I had planned.  So the decision was made to change the backdrop and have two intersecting backdrops which came together at a 90 deg angle. Not optimal but no loss of track or switching potential.

The other corners however were simply scenery, and I wasn't too worried about the background appearance as I didn't expect anyone to be hanging around these areas.  However, as I wrote about in the Addressing a Lingering Mistake, I ended up changing the track as it exited the old Eel's Creek module, which was actually the lead in to the curve and the back wall of the layout. In order to accommodate the change in track radius, I needed to rip out most of that corner, although I was able to save the portable rock walls that I was using.  However, after the track was fixed and I put some temporary scenery in place, I realized that I was going to need to change the backdrop.
The past several weeks have been spent removing the corner, including my two portable rock walls, in order to complete the scenery. The photo below is what the second corner just a few weeks ago. Boy when I look at now, I really wonder what I was thinking when I built it. Rocks meeting at right angles is just awful and I had intended to draw trees into the background but never got to that part of the project.  I probably should have built the original corner with a flexible backdrop, but alas, I didn't and there's little reason to go back and try to alter that part of the layout. 

90 deg Corner - still adding some rock castings to make the rock wall

Removable rock castings set onto Luann plywood backing - actually a good idea as this were removable and simply rest on the frame of the module

Here's what the revised corner looks like.  You can still see that it's a corner by looking at the surroundings, but it's a little less obvious.  Ground foam clumps are the new tree canopy and the upper level consists of re-purposed furnace filter evergreens. Still need to add more trees to the top but the scene looks at least a little more plausible.  While there's still a seam where the two sheets of backdrop meet, lots of trees will cover this up.

Removed the house in the foreground and opened it up to just scenery

Rock cuts are the old plaster castings reworked into the scene. Still need to color them some more. Clumps of ground fom were used to simulate the tree canopy while the upper level will completely be covered by trees.  Maybe some day I'll work on painting trees into the background.

Still need to add some fencing and possibly a dirt road to support the idea that folks can drive back to the fishing hole.  But that's another project in the works.

Static Grass Applicator

Every now and then, I get the urge to start some serious scenery efforts.  I've been borrowing my friend Lee's static grass applicator for several projects and really liked the results I've been getting. I liked it so much that when I saw a review for a new and slightly less expensive applicator being made by WWS, a British firm, I did some research and eventually bought one.  It appears that the applicator is also sold under the Peco name as the Scene PSG-1 Pro Grass Micro Applicator. I liked that the unit is slightly smaller than the Noch unit (which seems to have been the gold standard for many years), but has a much more durable feel than the strainer model sold by companies such as MicroMark. I don't doubt that the strainer type of applicator is good, it just feels a lot less substantial than the others.

So I started to lay some grass on portions of the paper mill, as well as ripping out some previously installed ground foam adjacent to the main line as it approached the paper mill. While I still have much more scenery to go, I'm very pleased with the initial results.

I started the process much the same as any area that I cover with ground foam. A latex paint (green base) was installed and allowed to thoroughly dry before coming back with the status grass. I started the first layer with the short, 2 mm static grass to give a short base coat to all of the area. I typically use some diluted matte medium or 50/50 solution of Elmer's white glue to provide the adhesion. I then followed up with an application of 4 mm high static grass, which was a slightly different color than the base coat. I should add that the base coat was a late summer/fall blend that is available in bulk from Scenic Express. All subsequent layers were also fall grass colors, however, they are sold under the Heki ?? name.

Adding Wood Chip Gondolas to the Roster

New Additions to the Layout

Woodchips are generated by lumber mills and separate purpose built woodchip mills in many areas of the U.S. and Canada. Most are used in paper or cardboard manufacture. While I have a paper mill on my layout, I chose not to model the wood chip portion due o space constraints.  Currently wood chips are received at the mill in the Yard and the loads removed after a set number of days before being returned to the yard as empty's.  Wood chips are received from either an off-site source, or from the Muskoka saw mill (on the layout).  As I discussed in another blog entry, I currently have four wood chip car resin kits manufactured by Alpine Railway Shops of Kettleby, Ontario, which were marketed as being representative of rolling stock used by CN and BCR for saw mills and paper mills. I have several additional car kits which are modeled after the BNSF cars to also handle chips.

A common variation of CP’s woodchip gondolas rebuilt from a 52′ gondola with extended sides.  Bill Grandin photo.

I recently found myself with three 52' gondola kits which I have tried to sell at several railroad shows, but unfortunately no takers. So rather then seeing them sit for months until the next show, I decided to try my hand at kitbashing these kits to resemble a photo I had seen of a CP rebuilt gondola that was placed into wood chip service. These would become lettered in the ONR, although to the best of my knowledge the ONR never had any cars that even approached this configuration.

From what I have been able to research, in the 1970's, CP Rail began to convert some randomly selected old boxcars to woodchip cars; this was done through the early 1980s.  These cars were made by cutting away the old roof and adding an extension. Later cars did not receive the extensions to the sides.  They also took an unknown number of 52' gondolas and extended the sides.

The story for my cars is that CP rebuilt these wood chip gondolas with extended sides from a standard gondola.  After some years of use in the north, CP parked them on a siding for lack of use.  The ONR then purchased them and repainted them to a woodchip only service marks that you see.

Proto 2000 Gondolas getting ready for conversion

Adding bracing for wall extensions. I didn't like the looks of this so the other two cars were done by adding bar stock

No matter how carefully you cut, there are always gaps. Next step some sanding followed by painting

Finished product in chevron scheme

Finished gon in the progressive paint scheme and added Wood Chip Service Only. Note I carried all of the ribs forward on this car after realizing that the gon looked odd with only alternating ribs. Still need to make a load for this unit

Woodchip Gondolas - Part 2

Building the Kit

The resin kits, manufactured by Alpine Railway Shops of Kettleby, Ontario, were marketed as being representative of rolling stock used by CN and BCR for saw mills and paper mills. The gons were to become lettered for the KLR and be used in shuttle service between the Muskoka Timber mill and the Spruce Falls Pulp & Paper mill complex.

I have to make the following disclaimer first off that I'm not a huge fan of resin kits, especially older kits. They seem to lack the lateral stability of their plastic sister kits, and usually seem to have their fair share of air bubbles at the surface as well as excessive flash along the sides. The other problem that I find troublesome is most long surfaces have a serious warp to them. So with that said, I began the build of the three gondolas I had bought years ago.  My first observation was that these looked to be an older resin kit based on the typed xeroxed instructions, and while you could say that there are directions, they are lacking in detail. A Google search of the company name yielded no results, except for a single eBay transaction for a car months ago, so no help there.  

So off to step number 1, which gave me my first puzzle.  The instructions were to use the polystyrene supplied, cut to the same dimensions as the under frame and set them aside. Which dimension...car length or width?  No picture either.  OK, this is going to be a challenge. I had to read ahead to instruction 29, which gave me the clue that this was to become a false floor covering the weight (not supplied).  Come now, did I really need to read the directions?

This lead me to my second discovery, which was not only was the kit missing any sort of weighting material, there actually were no details as to what pieces part were to be supplied.  So after opening each of the kits and finding a lack of consistency between all of the supplied materials, I was off to a good start building without all the parts and clear directions. This was definitely going to require some extra hardware from the excess parts and accumulation box. 

Multiple clamps and a spacer needed to keep the sides from warping and wandering as the CA dries

The sides went together relatively easily, although I found that a full length spacer was needed as the model dried to keep the sides in alignment. Some scrap cardboard cut to size did the trick.

After tackling the sides, it was time to turn my attention to the underside.  Relatively no problems there except for some missing parts.  Good thing I always keep extra parts from other kits.

OK car walls on, underside completed, now it was time to address the weight of the cars.  Spreading some glue on the interior floor, I used some buckshot as my weighting material. A quick check on my scale and it looks like the weighting along the length of the floor will be more than enough to have a compliant car.

Wheels and trucks are on next and the units are almost ready to go to the paint shop.  However, when I got to the point of where the ladders need to be added, I had to stop as I didn't like the ladders which were provided and need to do some catalog shopping to see if I can come up with a suitable substitution.  So they are now on my projects track and will be one of the first items to be addressed when building resumes in the fall. 

Can you ever have enough (or too much) rolling stock / locos?

A recent purchase of several pieces of rolling stock from an estate sale got me thinking about how much rolling stock and/or engines do we really need for a layout, especially if you have a limited basement or layout space and have come to the realization that you're never going to build the mega-layout that you commonly see in publications.  I freely admit that I have a lot of "stuff."  Boxes worth neatly stacked and identified under the layout.  Some of it will ultimately be placed on the layout, while others seem to stay in their storage boxes, only to be brought out every few years and then placed back into storage. I open the box for some reason or another, but the "stuff" never stays on the layout.  That got me to thinking that maybe I need to sell off some of these pieces. 

If you have followed this blog, you'll remember that the KLR is a modular layout, point to point, which spans about a 12 ft by 23 ft area within my basement.  While that seems like a large size, it really isn’t when you try to model several large industries such as a paper mill or lumber mill. The other consideration is that I was really focused on operations and switching when I designed the layout, so long trains and runs are just not within scope of my layout.  That’s important to remember, since I don’t need a large number of engines, as there only a few daily trains which run on the layout and even fewer run throughs.

I don't consider myself a "collector" (whatever that is). My idea of a collector is someone who has a lot stuff that he/she never "uses". OK maybe from the above I have inadvertently collected stuff. But I really mean to use it, honestly. I have never been one to have to have, for example, a convention car just because I attended the convention. I sort of equate that as a collection.  Rather I like to think that my purchases have been more towards what the local industries need to move their products or receive raw materials.  I tend to think that Collectors accumulate stuff they don't use (which may or may not have any significant monetary value) while avid hobbyists purchase the best items in their area of interest, especially since manufacturers have gone to limited runs, hoping or thinking that in the long run the item will spend time on the layout. 

With all of this as background, I decided this winter to make a serious evaluation of my rolling stock to see if my core industries on the layout really supported all of this traffic.  My criteria was simple, look at the number of car spots on my layout and take 2.5 times the number of spots in order to establish what I need for rolling stock.  I’m not sure where I first heard about using this sort of formula to determine the amount of cars needed for a layout, but it’s a good starting point, especially for operations on a home layout.  Undoubtedly, modelers who run on a club layout or others layout may want to have a different criteria or even an entire set of cars and engines dedicated for that purpose and separate from home operations.  

The KLR currently has a total of 62 locations for spotting rolling stock.  So using the equation of 2.5 x total number of spots, I should only need 155 pieces of rolling stock.  I use the Easy Model Railroad Inventory software to track my layout, and a quick report showed that I had a total of 176 pieces of rolling stock.  Oh oh, it already looks like my fleet is too large. But maybe not as bad as I had originally thought.  No matter how good a deal I may have gotten on a past purchase or whether I wanted to have a certain road name, my thoughts were that if I exceeded my criteria, the piece needed to go into the For Sale box. 

Let's try another approach by looking at the number of spots needed for each of the industries versus the number of individual classes of cars.  After all, I might have 66 boxcars, however, with 20+ spots at the paper mill, maybe my fleet isn't isn't so bloated as I imagine.  The first rolling stock I looked at were boxcars.  Now for my own layout, I need a fairly sizable number of boxcars to service the paper mill, with nine active loading spots and two dedicated storage tracks.  I don't make any distinction whether they are single doors, double doors, wide doors, hi-cube, etc., although at some point in the future I'm sure that I will.  My inventory list shows that I have 66 available boxcars, however, that number is really 56, as I already put 10 cars up for sale.  OK so this method suggests that I have a nice distribution of cars, although maybe a little heavy on the boxcars.  But then again, there are several industries which may utilize boxcars on a random basis, so let's do some more analysis by breaking down individual spots by the typical type of car to be spotted there.

Now remember I'm looking at typical requirements, knowing that some businesses will get the odd load which requires a car that they don't typically handle in a day to day operation.  For example, on the KLR we typically see the following:

Boxcars - Husky Plywood; Spruce Creek Mill; Algonquin Timber

Centerbeam Flatcars - Niagara Distribution; Muskoka Timber

Covered Hoppers - Quaker; Canada Bread; Cantal; UCM; Unimin

Tank cars - Spruce Creek Mill; Sherwin Williams

The maximum number of centerbeam flatcars I may need on the layout is five, since only the Niagara Distribution and Muskoka Timber businesses use this type of car.  When I look at my inventory, I only have 8 of this type of car, which is actually less than what my car accounting model would suggest that I have.

Let's try this again for bulkhead flatcars.  Businesses that use this type of car include Bailey Timber, Muskoka Timber, and Niagara Distribution, with a total number of 6 spots available.  My current inventory shows that there are 17 bulkhead flatcars on the roster, which just about supports the car accounting model.

I used the car accounting model for the remainder of my rolling stock and came up with the following summary:

                                                                 Available      Loading Spots

Boxcars                                                        56                  20
Boxcars, all door                                          21                    7               

Bulkhead Flatcars                                        15                    8

Centerbeam Flatcars                                     8                    6

Flatcars                                                        12                    8                 

Pulpwood Flatcars                                         3                    6

Gondolas                                                     16 *                  0   

Hoppers / Cylindrical Covered Hoppers      29                   22              

Tank cars                                                     32                   14

Notes: * interestingly enough, I never designed the layout with any industries which would require gondolas. The closest thing I can think of is that at one time I wanted to include a wood treating site on the layout, but never seriously designed for it. So how did I get so many gondolas?

So after all of my analysis, I think I have just about the correct number of rolling stock so that I can have operating sessions that the same is not showing up.  I think I'll keep a few gondolas for use in a through freight but the rest can be sold.  Any buyers ???

Modeling a Paper Mill - Part 4.3 New Warehouse Addition

In the last post, I talked about how I added another building within the cellulose portion of the mill.  I had another project on my to-do list, which was to expand the Walthers stock kit warehouse building so that I could load more boxcars with finished product.  When I initially designed the paper mill, the warehouse was to be two Walthers kits joined together, which would allow at least five (5) 50-foot boxcars to be stored for general rail loading and leaving the truck bays intact.  However, two buildings took up a large amount of space, and the paper mill modules were going to be restricted to a 12 linear foot area.  So after running with a warehouse which could only accommodate 3 boxcars, something had to be done.  After all, the paper mill can only survive by increasing it's outflow whenever demand is present.  Remember, it's 1985 on the layout, so consumers are still reading their daily newspaper and the paper mill is constantly busy meeting the demand for paper rolls.  While business has started to see a slight decline in big city newspaper demand, small local and regional papers continue to flourish and demand has increased.

Accordingly, two new tracks were laid into a portion of the grounds which was being used for storage of miscellaneous items and equipment, including a small transformer yard.  The plant manager, after presenting a capital investment plan to the bean counters, was able to procure the funds to add track and place it under roof to avoid those harsh northern Ontario winters.  This meant that the electrical substation had to be moved onto the roof of the warehouse, which while a little bit of a stretch, is not too obvious or out of place.

I had purchased several pieces of laser-scribed basswood several years ago from  Monster Modelworks, but never got around to using them for a project that I had intended to scratch build in N scale.  While maybe the sheets and brickwork are the wrong scale for the purist, I opted to use the three sheets that had been purchased rather than buying sheets in HO scale. After all, the main purpose was to house boxcars, and I wasn't looking to model something exactly like a building that doesn't actually exist on the prototype.

Several weekends ago, I started to take measurements and started to draft what my addition would look like.  As I was doing so, I realized that the addition would likely have to cover the existing windows on the Walthers papermill kit, so I decided to remove the windows and make the addition high enough to accommodate the tallest of boxcars while at the same time covering the windows.  Removing the windows without breaking them took some finessing the plastic from its glue, but everything came out without any significant damage. So after joining the three sections of wood, a little cutting was in order to re-install the plastic windows into the new addition.  

Structure is complete and it's time to think about finishing the roof as well as the area by the doors. I'll add a circular tube at the top of each door to simulate an overhead door.

While I originally was going to install a platform at door height of the boxcars, I opted to install a concrete walkway at ground level and only finish a small portion of the doorways.  Some drums and workers were added, but since you can't see very far into the building, I decided to forego and real detail. Again, the building was built to house boxcars and really meant to be a storage space for loading and unloading purposes.

View from the other side. Tracks in foreground are yard storage of empty boxcars waiting to be loaded and excess tank cars ready for other parts of the Mill. 

Modeling a Paper Mill - Part 4.2 Construction Progress

Between travels for work and time spent this fall preparing the yard and house for the winter months, I have not had as much time to spend on the layout.  However, I have been able to do a little painting and install some scenery materials so that the paper mill doesn't look as bleak and empty as before.  And of course I've had some re-do's, as I wasn't satisfied with the way some of the roadways turned out.  Apparently trying to model a very fine, crushed stone roadway with fine ballast was harder than I previously remembered it to be when just trying to do small roadways.  Large areas that could be a roadway or just an open area just seem to show even the finest of gravels rather than a well worn gravel and dirt roadway that I was trying to achieve.  So between roadways and some ground scenery, some color is appearing and the modules are beginning to take the form that I wanted.

When I had some free evenings and paint was drying in various portions of the two modules, I also dug out some tank kits that I had accumulated for the mill and began to build them.  And of course, all tanks should be set inside some sort of spill containment structure, so I have also been rummaging through the scrap styrene box to fine appropriately sized pieces to build containment structures.  My recent work has been to start adding some pumps and piping; I found some great HO sized pumps on the Shapeways website and will be adding pumps and piping shortly.

Initial construction; still need to add piping to each of the three tanks as well as the 3 tanks in the background

The biggest project undertaken was scratch building a new building within the cellulose portion of the mill.  Based on a general visitor guide I obtained in 2001, I believe that this building is actually part of the bark boiler complex on the Temiscaming mill  I liked it due to some unique angles that are present, as well as the ability to accommodate the placement of several stacks I built using the Walthers refinery kit.  So it has now become part of a background building for the specialty cellulose mill.  For my building, I added a rail unloading shed at ground level, which I'm fairly sure is not present in the prototype, but allows some more spots for tank car off-loading.  It also allowed me to spot some storage tanks in between some of the tracks which will be used as part of the chemical products group alcohol plant.

Start of the specialty cellulose mill. Still need to cut the angled middle and bottom panels. Hardest part was cutting the windows to the correct size. Several catwalks and stairwells will be added to the left side of the Bldg (not shown in picture)

Bldg is now partially done; major components are in place, however, work still needed for the piping and exits along the left side of the Bldg

Windows still need to be worked on and some sort of backing put into place so that the windows and styrene don't deflect and bow; many of the pieces used are leftovers from other projects

Working through some of the details

Additionally, I have been able to ballast most of the track in the paper mill, as well as setting the switches permanently.

Modeling a Paper MIll - Part 3 Rail Services

The Spruce Creek facility receives most of its bulk raw materials via rail.  I have purposely chosen not to include truck operations in my modeling, as I lacked the space to include a large enough loading area for trucks and opted to set my warehouse building at the end of the module, so that I might have more storage track space. 

Rail traffic for the four mills consists primarily of boxcars, chemical slurry tank cars, and chemical tank cars.  When I began to design my mill, one of the first items I noted that the prototype had was a number of storage tracks that were present, either within or outside the mill itself.  The second item was that, with the exception of the Temiscaming mill, each mill had its own or several switcher engines.

Switching Power

One the most interesting aspects of the mill I find is the power used to move the various boxcars and tankcars and the number of movements needed to keep the operations running smoothly.  I chose to replicate my mills power based on the various types of equipment that have been used at my four prototype mills.  The following is a rough list of engines that have been known to operate at the different mills in the area and is simply used to illustrate the variety of power over the years.  

The next decision was how the mill would be switched. Paper mills receive a large number of cars on a daily basis when in operation, which can tie up the local switching crew for the better part of a day or more.   For a start-up operation, this would have strained the resources of the crew, so the decision was reached early on that KLR crews would go to the mill, drop any empties and pick-up the cars ready for transport from the yard, while a two-person yard crew would work at least one shift to move cars within the mill.

I decided to go with similar engines and power requirements as were typically seen at my four example mills.

	Engine #	Type	Notes
Iroquois Falls	1203	S4	Ret. from ONR 1973; sold to Abitibi Pulp & Paper
	1310	RS3	Sold from ONR in 1985 to Abitibi Pulp & Paper
Smooth Rock Falls	104	S4	Mattagami Rail; formerly Quebec Iron & Titanium
Kapuskasing	108	RS23
	109	RS23	Former Devco #201
	168	GP7	Mattagami Rail, ex ACR 168
Temiscaming			No known dedicated engines; services provided by CP and RaiLink via the branch line (Temiscaming Sub.) from Mattawa to Temiscaming, Quebec (approximately 41 miles).

Currently, the Spruce Creek mill is serviced by an S4 (former Boston & Maine ) and a Mattagami GP7 unit.  With the introduction of the SW1200RS by Rapido in 2017, a unit in CN's black and orange paint scheme may become the newest switcher.  Ideally, when funds allow and a model is available, power will be replaced by an Alco RS23.

Inside the Mill

Let me first start off by saying that I firm believer that modeling an industry should be realistic to the prototype but also fun to operate.  After all, who wants to operate on a layout or switch an industry if they’re not having fun.  So I subscribe to the thought following what the prototype has done is the simplest and most realistic way of achieving your goal. This may include modeling only some of the basic buildings one might find in a paper mill, as well as following the general track arrangements, or modeling each and every building if it is needed to support a variety of rolling stock which is received. 

The idea of keeping the track plan simple and close to the prototype became very apparent during a review of my first mill track plan.  My first design was based where I had cited various buildings and where they fit best, rather than based on any logical flow from a manufacturing standpoint.  That was a mistake, as the initial design created the situation where I would need to build a crossing within the facility just so that I could access both my chemical delivery track, as well as the warehouse tracks using different movements.  So it was back to the drawing board and a little more review of the aerial photos I had from several of the northern Ontario mills before planning the track work.    What really jumped out at me was that each of the mills had sufficient yards within or immediately outside of the mill, such that empties and filled cars were shuttled to and from the yard from the active loading or unloading areas.  When switching was completed, the plant switcher was generally returned to its engine house or bay.

Location	# Yard Tracks	Notes
Iroquois Falls	6+	Exterior to Plant; between Cambridge Ave and Ambridge Drive; use of a Wye
Smooth Rock Falls		Unknown within mill; Access via rail along 4th Street
Kapuskasing	5+	Yard tracks adjacent to ONR main; parallel to ONT-11
Temiscaming	6	Yard tracks well south of the mill; Small wye towards south end and near river

Car Loads

Let’s take a look at what the Spruce Creek plant produces, what the various raw materials that are needed, and how often rail cars enter the plant.  Similar to the Temiscaming mill, I modeled operations to include three main mills that manufacture different forest products, including specialty cellulose, high-yield-pulp and coated bleached board (containerboard) as well as a chemical products facility.   The chemical products division produces a variety of products made from spent sulphite liquor (primarily alcohol, resin or lignin based).  

It goes without saying that modeling four operating plants takes up a large amount of space, which typically is not available with a model railroad regardless of which scale you're modeling.  However, I have used photos from the Kapuskasing and Temiscaming mills as backdrop, which is how I incorporate each of the mills.    

The Spruce Creek Pulp and Paper Mill is located on two 2’ by 6’ modules in the center of the room.  Starting from the left side, my buildings include a power plant, the pulp mill, alcohol plant, acid building, kaolin building, specialty cellulose mill, board mill and the warehouse.

High Yield Pulp - the pulp mill is a manufacturing facility that converts wood chips or other plant fibre source into a thick fibre board which can be shipped to a paper mill for further processing. Pulp can be manufactured using mechanical, semi-chemical or fully chemical methods (kraft and sulfite processes). The finished product may be either bleached or non-bleached, depending on the customer requirements.  In our mill, kraft pulp is produced using softwood pulp, while the "B" mill can produce either softwood or hardwood pulp.  Similar to the Boardmill, final products are shipped via both rail and truck.  The Kraft mill also produces large amounts of lignin liquor, a byproduct of the digestion process. This material can be shipped out in tankers, dried, or fed to other bacterias to make yeast.  The Kraft mill also uses other chemicals such as sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) and sulfuric acid. Kaolin (slurry form) is brought in to make glossy paper. Kaolin is often supplemented by calcium carbonate (lime) slurry and titanium dioxide.

The Chemical plant consists of products which are made from the spent sulphite liquor generated within the facility.  The plant can be divided into an alcohol division, resin division and lignin division.  Most of this operation takes place within numerous tanks situated within three central buildings.  Due to their relative size, I chose to model only the fronts of the buildings and blended the building into the photo backdrop.

Refined from wood pulp, specialty cellulose is used in a range of applications across many industries – cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, personal care, food, coatings, electronics and energy.  Specialty cellulose is manufactured in both rolls and bales.  Similar to the chemical plant, this area was modeled using only the front of the building set against the photo backdrop.

The Boardmill Division produces high quality paper and manufactures newsprint for publishers of daily newspapers and commercial printers, as well as controlled bulk paper for mass-market paperback book publishers and commercial printers.  Coated bleach board is a product used for a broad range of commercial printing, publishing and packaging applications.  Newsprint production uses wood fibre obtained from four separate sources, including thermomechanical pulp (TMP), recycled pulp, groundwood pulp and kraft pulp. Kaolin is used to make glossy paper. While chlorine was used to bleach the paper, in recent years it has been replaced by sodium chlorate.

Rail Traffic

One of the other key aspects I looked at when designing my mill was how much traffic did a typical northern Ontario paper receive and could I support anything close to that. For example, both the Kapuskasing and Temiscaming mills generally receive rail traffic at least 5 days per week.  Aerial photographs are readily available for the Kapuskasing mill, and show that it has at least 5 storage tracks which appear to be able to easily hold forty (40) fifty-foot boxcars easily.  There are several additional tracks within the property which can also accommodate 15-20 cars easily per track.  If a typical train load is 20-30 tank cars and boxcars, I knew that there was no way to accommodate that much storage for my modelling. 

Another aspect that goes hand in hand with this was how much yard trackage would I be able to accommodate within two modules, given that this would become the easiest way to move traffic around with the yard switcher.  With the exception of the Temiscaming mill, each of the other mills discussed previously have been supported by a fairly large amount of trackage either on or just off the mill property.  It was very common to see numerous strings of boxcars just waiting to be pushed into the warehouse tracks, however, stored just along the property boundary.  Warehouse tracks were typically designed to support multiple boxcars, with the area under roof supporting at least 3 tracks and it was quite common to see 4-5 boxcars on each track.

The next step was to determine which types of rolling stock would be needed at the mill.  Paper mills take in and also ship out of lot of things, which may typically include: 

Rail Car	Inbound	Outbound
Boxcars	Scrap paper	Paper Rolls, Kraft or bleached paper	Various sized boxcars paper rolls and bundles bleached kraft bundles, scrap paper
Gondolas/Hi-cube Hoppers	Wood Chips
Bulk Head/Pulp Wood Flats	Pulp Wood Logs (cut to lengths of 4 to 6 feet long)
Tank Cars	Kaolin Chlorine  Limestone Slurry Caustic Soda Sodium Hydroxide Sodium Hydrosulfide Sulfuric Acid Lignin liquor	Tall Oil by-product Lignin Liquor Turpentine by -product	Chlorine (pulp bleaching); Clay slurries (note: Kaolin would be used for glossy papers)
Gondola		Scrap Iron
Bulkhead flat cars	10-foot pulpwood		Single-stacked cross-ways
Hopper	Coal, although most facilities burn some sort of wood waste
Covered Hoppers	Salt Cake, Calcium Carbonate, Lime, Sodium Chlorate, Corn Starch		Calcium carbonate – off loaded near the fourdrinier building for coatings; replaces kaolins

 Rail Spurs

 For my operations, I opted to go with the following arrangement:

• Warehouse (1 interior track within the Building; 2 interior tracks in adjacent Bldg.); each track to hold 2-3 boxcars
• Rotary chip dumper (1 track); able to store one hopper
• Chemical Plant (1 track – min. 5 loading/unloading spots)
• Engine House – (single track off of the outbound storage track)
• Yard Tracks (2 tracks, one for outbound cars and one for inbound; able to store 8 cars min.)

Engine house - Iroquois Falls, ONT