Here are some shots I just happened upon a few Sundays ago on my way home from church.  I’ve always had a fascination with the industrial maze of tracks often in tight and unfriendly-to-trains places.  Alstrom Corp. in Madisonville is a bit wide open but has some interesting elements which would make modeling it enjoyable.  Notice the “new” track in this first scene – it was re-laid just a couple of years ago and you can tell where CSX takes over on the west side of Pride Ave.  Modeling such a transition of track conditions might be a challenge. 

I like the derail with the brakeman in action, chain link fence which the brakeman has to unlock, and the relatively steep grade the siding has to negotiate to get up to Alstrom’s unloading dock.  Couple all of this with the grain storage facility next door which currently has 7 or 8 covered hoppers of various ownership, and you’ve got some nice action in a tight space.  Throw in the old siding extension to Calhoun Feed & Supply and you’ve got a winner. And there’s more!  Just a couple of miles west is Fortner Gas, now a regional propane distributor.  Fortner just had their existing siding expanded and a second one added to accommodate multiple large tank cars to be unloaded simultaneously along with a track-mobile to move things around!  AND… run a Dotiki or Warrior unit coal train through the scene for the cherry on top!

Below:  Same location looking west along CSX’s Morganfield branch and grain storage facility.  Note the concrete loading dock on the former Southern States property.