Model Railroad Layout for the Inland Northern Railroad
The layout is currently a work in progress from a conceptual standpoint, however the main idea is that it represents a small portion of the Inland Northern Railroad’s freight operations in central Illinois centered around a single ethanol and bio-feed industry. The layout is intended to support up to four operators, with two dedicated to the switching operations of the main industry, one for local service, and one for other tasks as needed. Work lists for the operators are provided via custom software written specifically for use with this layout.
Name: Inland Northern Railroad Pekin
Subdivision
Scale: HO (1:87.1)
Prototype: Freelanced
Locale: Pekin, IL
Era: 1996
Owner: Joey Buczek of
Late Night Hobbies
Industries
Central Ethanol
The main industry on the layout, a large facility that spans across the bulk of the entire layout’s non-staging area.The types of railcars accepted are as follows for each import/export product:
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Tank Cars
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Import
- Denaturants for ethanol and alcohol products
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Export
- Ethanol
- Beverage-grade alcohols for potable distilled spirits
- Ethyl alcohol for pharmaceuticals
- 190 & 200 proof industrial alcohols used in paint, cosmetics, fragrances, mouthwash, adhesives, inks, textiles, etc.
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Covered Hoppers
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Import
- Corn (uncommon - mainly delivered via truck)
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Export
- Distillers’ dried grain with solubles (DDGS) used as aquaculture, livestock, and poultry feeds
- Corn gluten feed used in poultry and livestock rations
- Corn gluten meal used as a quality protein source in poultry, livestock rations, and aquaculture
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Boxcars
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Export
- Inactive Yeast for use in animal, pet and human food (uncommon - mainly exported via truck)
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Branding and Concept Art
Logo
The Inland Northern’s logo is a stylized representation of the first letter from each of the first two words in the company name, with the lower inside of the "N" as a solid amber color to represent the agricultural nature of the company’s operations. It was inspired by the verse "For amber waves of grain" from the 1893 poem "America the Beautiful" written by Katharine Lee Bates.
When on a light background, the logo is black and amber. When on a dark background, the logo is white and amber.
Rolling Stock
Most of the rolling stock owned by the Inland Northern are covered hoppers.
Motive Power
Most of the motive power owned by the Inland Northern are a dark blue with white logo and lettering, heavily inspired by the Missouri Pacific’s ’Jenks’ blue scheme.
For patched units the color of the originating railroad’s scheme is typically preserved, with a darker patch color and white logo and lettering applied.
