The CSM plant
specialty stores (Arby’s, McDonald’s, Krispy Kreme Donuts, to name a few). In addition to the Tucker, Georgia, plant discussed in this article, CSM has sev- eral
other plants in Georgia and
throughout the United States. Some of the companies (brands) that have been acquired and consolidated or rolled into CSM are Karp’s, Orth, Henry, and Hen- ry Company.
Over a period of two months in 2007, I visited the plant to observe the opera- tions during the week and on some weekends. What I noticed is that they receive several carloads of dry bulk, ma- terial in covered hoppers for use in the production of their baking ingredients. The covered hoppers I saw were approx- imately fifty to fifty-five feet long and unloaded pneumatically from the bot- tom of the car. Next to the unloading dock at the plant there is apparatus to connect to the outlets under the cars. The material inside the cars is emptied by the forced flow of air and is trans- ferred into holding tanks and hoppers inside the plant. I suspect there are pro- visions to handle other types of covered hoppers but have not been able to docu- ment it. When I visited the plant I did not see any other car types spotted on the spur other than covered hoppers, though that is not to say that other freight car types could not be delivered to the location, such as boxcars and me- chanical reefers. From what I could see, the unloading dock and equipment are optimized for the receipt of bulk raw materials like flour and sugar shipped to the plant by rail. The packaged goods are shipped out by truck.
The finished product goes out pal- letized to maximize the use of space in the trailer and take full advantage of forklifts for loading. The other materi- als used in the manufacture, packaging and marketing of baking ingredients are apparently received by truck, though, depending on the volume or quantities required, that could involve rail as well. To move the freight cars around the spur within its facility CSM has a trackmobile, a tractor-like vehicle that can operate on the rails or on the road because it has tires like a truck, flanged wheels that can be raised or lowered to operate on the rails, and couplers on each end. There are three locations on the plant spur where the trackmobile can get on or off the rails because the track there is embedded in either concrete or gravel. This allows it to maneuver to the front or rear of the cars to facilitate pulling, spotting or shoving since it can move on either the roadway or the rails to get into position or do a runaround. Typically, the local freight train sets
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The CSM plant (top) in Tucker, Georgia, produces bakery products. It receives baking ingredients via rail but sends its finished products out in trucks. The plant spur (above) comes off a siding on the CSX mainline and circles into the plant. Note the switchback on the spur and the stub track which act as a safety derail for loose cars.
out loads and picks up the empties on the spur. The trackmobile takes over to spot the loaded cars next to the unload- ing platform and pulls or shoves emp- ties into position on the spur for the lo- cal freight to pick up.
The spur leading into the CSM plant is arranged in such a way that it is con- nected to a siding off the main (see the schematic diagram), proceeds through a single crossover that has a drill track attached to it, and then curves around to parallel the unloading dock at the plant after passing through a gated fence. The freight cars inside the plant grounds are kept secure from vandals by the fence surrounding the spur ad-
jacent to the plant. Eight to ten cars can fit
within it. Inside the plant
grounds the spur is a tangent and then has another switch positioned just past the unloading dock to provide a cut-off and additional drill track space or a lo- comotive pocket for the plant switcher. The siding down the line from the plant allows the locomotives handling the local freight to make run-around moves, and the drill tracks provide switching leads for additional move- ments. Freight trains traveling in ei- ther direction on the main can work the CSM job by virtue of the siding and single crossover. The main, siding and spur are protected by signals. Again,
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