Two Local Industries

 While this is a short note describing two local industries, it’s also a commentary on life in a Big City versus a Small Town.  

The two industries in question are Helena Agricultural Chemicals and H.H. Oomps Logistics.  Both are contemporary industries, both have extremely small structures, and both deal with literally hundreds of covered hoppers every week, although I regularly see tank cars at Helena as well as a boxcar about once a month. Oomps (Rhymes with Mumps) deals strictly with plastic pellet hoppers.

Here in Winchester, we are THE headquarters for Trex. We also are home to at least two Rubbermaid plants. There are other plastic users in town but these two make up the bulk of the users in town. 

Oomps acts as a warehouse and clearing house for hundreds of plastic pellet loads; they arrive and are sorted at Oomps then they are either trans loaded to trucks or cuts of classified hoppers are taken from the Oomps class yard to the appropriate end user. Pellets can be warehoused in hoppers on Oomps rails until they are needed at the factory, there by keeping limited factory spur capacity open.

Oomps yard is large, and has a substantial capacity but the tracks are all spread wide enough apart to allow trucks to drive between hoppers and trans load pellets if there is not enough space at the 3 loading spots in the metal building.

Now for the “social commentary”. While I do not know the family that founded,  owns,  or controls Helena Chemicals, I do know a few of the Oomps. Their family is deeply rooted in Winchester. They have several far flung businesses in Winchester, from their Funeral Home to the Tow Truck & and Diesel Truck repair business to the Pellet Logistics warehouse, and who knows what else. I’ve met Randy Oomps a couple times at the warehouse. He also drives a flatbed tow truck. His Dad runs the Mortuary and in his house up the block, has a large O-Scale Train layout.

Now how the Oomps family figured out that there would be a need for a pellet hopper trans loading warehouse, and was able to get the contracts from Trex and Rubbermaid, buy the land north of town, grade and build a large classification yard, and seamlessly move into this trans loading business is anyone’s guess.

I do know this, after building my own house in this town, some people in this county can get things done, and some can’t. Like my neighbor said to me, if you have the right last name, permits get approved overnight.

Is this any different that what goes on in Southern California? Absolutely not. When I was buying and fixing rentals in Burbank, the girl at the permits desk at the Burbank City Hall told me it was unlikely I’d get the permits I needed, but that so and so, who was in competition with me would. “He owns most of the rental property on Buena Vista Street”. I had five rental units. This guy had five HUNDRED.

In Southern California it’s usually unlikely that you’d have gone to school with the people you’d eventually work for. There’s just too many people. Not so in Winchester.

Okay let’s get back to model railroading. I’m going to model a 1952 version of Helena Agricultural Chemicals on my layout, for several reasons. First “Helena” is my Wife’s name (duh) , (2) Helena was founded in 1949. (3) It’s a GREAT model railroad industry. Their main building is hardly bigger than one boxcar, yet it receives hundreds of cars per week.

As for Oomps Logistics. I might have a 1952 era warehouse lettered for “H. H. Oomps”, just not for plastic pellets. Contemporary modelers however, TAKE NOTE. These are two GREAT model railroad industries that allow you to spot literally hundreds of covered hoppers on your layout, in a very small space.