Dean Freytag's foundry article was published in two parts in the April and May 2009 issues. The prototype foundry, part of a small-engine plant, was fed by a pair of overhead cranes working on a craneway about a city block long. A single track ran just inside the concrete wall beneath the entire length of the craneway. That track was long enough to hold about a half-dozen 50-foot gondolas of scrap iron that were unloaded using electromagnets. The plant didn't have any visible means of moving freight cars, but I've seen similar size plants shift cars with a special electric windlass called a car puller. These devices have a cable that's hooked into one of the roping loops built into the corners of gondolas. Then the windlass can gradually pull the loaded car into position. Many manufacturing industries use a somewhat riskier practice of shoving cars with an industrial truck or forklift. The problem is how to stop the car once it's rolling. For model railroad operating purposes, I'd add a single spot with an unloading hopper under the track to receive a covered hopper of dry foundry sand at the very end of the long spur opposite the sand preparation building.
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