Warehouse Companies: Part 2

 I discussed Warehouses a couple years ago. A Warehouse Company is a business that leases space to other business that need additional storage or work space. They, generally, also lease the use of loading docks, and loading equipment. Obviously in our, model railroaders,  case these warehouses lease access to a railroad spur. 

Most warehouses are not more than four or five stories high, but they make ideal subjects for back-drop buildings (You know, a building that is only an inch thick, built directly up against the back drop of your layout. Not much more than a wall of loading doors). On my old AIR1 layout the Overland Terminal Warehouse Co. * structure was 4’ long. I found that the Overland Terminal Warehouse, c.1925, had 89 separate tenants.

I view these industries as “team tracks with associated structures”, because a warehouse can receive nearly any type of car. Let me illustrate. In my late career I dealt with a company called “Airgas”. We went to Airgas to rent cylinders of oxygen and acetylene for metal work.  In fact Airgas provided us with most of our welding supplies. Let’s say the local Airgas company does not own a large enough building to operate their cylinder refilling process. They might be able to store enough stock on hand to meet everyday needs but they might need more space to service, refill, and store their unleashed stock.

They turn to the local warehouse company and lease space. Along with this space they get space along a loading dock for a tank car full of oxygen, or other welding gas. Now safety cares aside (I’m not expecting any major industrial accidents at my version of a track side warehouse), you have a legitimate reason to spot a tank car next to a load of tires, next to a load of caned condiments, remember all those tenants.

What’s the easiest way to waybill cars to your warehouse? The easiest way to do something is the way you know best! On my AIR layout I address the cars this way on the waybills:

AIRGAS OF CHARLESTON

C/O East Charleston Warehouse Company

The industry on my layout is the “East Charleston Warehouse Co.”, it will say so in big letters on the side of the building above the loading dock doors, so the switch crew will be less likely to miss it.

This industry can have a nearly unlimited number of businesses as tenants, the only common denominator is the “C/O” address. Your imagination is the other limiting factor.

In urban industrial districts do you think you’d be limited to just one Warehouse? Probably not! Remember the first rule of model layout construction, if one type of industry is good, FIVE of the same type are better. I just gave you a prototypical reason to have 450 different consignees, plus or minus, on your layout.

*I got the name from a huge warehouse on the East side of downtown Los Angeles. As it turns out this was not a very good name because this particular name directly pertained to the terminal of the UP Overland Route. But it sounded good to me at the time.