Let’s Build a Paper Mill complex for a Friend

[Guilford Railman]

Thank you.

I’m sort of in a holding pattern and that has nothing to do with the air traffic controllers. Along with the owner we have tried projecting some switch lists to see how the mill would operate. Over 32’ of length and 2’ wide you’d think there would be no problem figuring out the track plan. Not so!

We need to iron out the unloading spots for both the dry and liquid chemicals. Additives like kaolin and sulfates and a few other spots. When he gets that figured out I can start building the facades. I am going to start the engine shed tomorrow minus the corrugated sidings and roof. When those come in I will laminate them to the .040 styrene siding and roof pieces. I have the approach bridges to document and post in the swing bridge thread. So that and leaving Wednesday for a road trip there will not be much happening here

Wow! 32 ft!! This facility is definitely gonna look cool.

Operations should be quite fun!

 

[TLOC]

Wow! 32 ft!! This facility is definitely gonna look cool.

Operations should be quite fun!

This will look good or I’ll expire trying!

Operations are going to be interesting. The rest of the layout will operate on some version of a fast clock because he has passenger equipment. I think he said he can run every named GN passenger train out of Seattle’s King Street station in 1965. So they have a schedule to follow. The paper mill will run with a switchlist and cars moved to and from the interchange track. No clock planned for the mill and if the day is not done after a 4 hour session we will leave and pick up the next session.

Yes I have worked out the switch list, type of cars needed, how many, ect…

That though is a whole another thread

 

[TLOC]

Into the train room this morning and here’s what I left last night

Each building facade is now an individual piece. 71” total across the front. Windows, doors, overhead doors and with CMU ( concrete blocks) across the front to a height of 6’. The paper machine building is mocked up. I went with taller windows at 8’ high for the top band and 6’ for the lower band. I may go back to the previous window mock up and use the size of those. There needs to be a distinguished difference between the 2 bands of windows.

I’m not sure if I go work on the shipping/warehouse building and segment. The other choice is start laying out the walls for the digester/ recovery complex

Edit: alarm set for a 20 minute nap

Thanks for viewing

 

[Guilford Railman]

This will look good or I’ll expire trying!

Operations are going to be interesting. The rest of the layout will operate on some version of a fast clock because he has passenger equipment. I think he said he can run every named GN passenger train out of Seattle’s King Street station in 1965. So they have a schedule to follow. The paper mill will run with a switchlist and cars moved to and from the interchange track. No clock planned for the mill and if the day is not done after a 4 hour session we will leave and pick up the next session.

Yes I have worked out the switch list, type of cars needed, how many, ect…

That though is a whole another thread

Should be enjoyable to operate with both the fast clock and the mill switch list.

I think a thread showing operations for this project would definitely be interesting!

 

[TLOC]

Should be enjoyable to operate with both the fast clock and the mill switch list.

I think a thread showing operations for this project would definitely be interesting!

It better be interesting.

Been trying to figure how to move 54 cars on 3 shifts over a real 4 hours. We already know the 1st 12 cars need to be staged on the interchange when the OPS Session starts. The layout owner needs a few less tracks in the mill but needs a couple staging tracks on each end of the interchange track. When there’s a final track plan I’ll post it here. He has the professional retired railroaders running simulations on something online. You post your plan and run trains on it. I’ll wait till they tell me. I prefer a switchlist for paper mill operations . I know the rest of the layout will use car cards for movement and probably for the mill too. But he did listen to my reasoning for the switchlist.

There are 4 constraints:

1. The interchanged track will hold 12 cars 50’ long plus 2 diesels and a caboose
2. The shipping department must ship a minimum daily of 8 loaded boxcars of finished paper products
3. The shipping department can only load 3 boxcars 50’ long with finished paper products simultaneously
4. It takes 80 minutes to typically load a 50’ boxcar

This upcoming week, I will be painting the backdrops during the Tuesday work session

 

[Guilford Railman]

It better be interesting.

Been trying to figure how to move 54 cars on 3 shifts over a real 4 hours. We already know the 1st 12 cars need to be staged on the interchange when the OPS Session starts. The layout owner needs a few less tracks in the mill but needs a couple staging tracks on each end of the interchange track. When there’s a final track plan I’ll post it here. He has the professional retired railroaders running simulations on something online. You post your plan and run trains on it. I’ll wait till they tell me. I prefer a switchlist for paper mill operations . I know the rest of the layout will use car cards for movement and probably for the mill too. But he did listen to my reasoning for the switchlist.

There are 4 constraints:

1. The interchanged track will hold 12 cars 50’ long plus 2 diesels and a caboose
2. The shipping department must ship a minimum daily of 8 loaded boxcars of finished paper products
3. The shipping department can only load 3 boxcars 50’ long with finished paper products simultaneously
4. It takes 80 minutes to typically load a 50’ boxcar

This upcoming week, I will be painting the backdrops during the Tuesday work session

Definitely challenging for sure! I think having a track plan posted will definitely help others understand the scenario(s) better.

Are all these constraints based on prototype?

 

[TLOC]

Definitely challenging for sure! I think having a track plan posted will definitely help others understand the scenario(s) better.

Are all these constraints based on prototype?

Not really! The layout is going to be huge with somewhere around 1000’ to 1200’ of mainline most of it double track. The paper mill, a lumber mill and a brewery will all be stand alone operations if there are enough operators.

So he wanted a somewhat challenging paper mill that can be operated separately from the main layout. The constrains we put together are based on the size of the interchange track. It can hold 15 cars 50’ long and 2 diesels and a caboose. We are going with a 12 car limit just to create more movement of cars by the Great Northern local. The mill itself will be worked by a mill based switcher and union crew not the Great Northern. The other big constraint is the shipping department. The minimum goal is 560 tons of finished paper product with the maximum being 720 tons split. 80% news print and 20% speciality papers. The track in the building is 202’ long holding 3 boxcars 50’ long. It takes roughly 80 minutes to load a box car. So having the need for at least 8 box cars means movement. We want to keep the crews moving loads out, getting them to staging and them moving them eventually to the interchange track 3 times in a 24 hour shift. The rest of the plant movement is minimum of 8 loaded pulp wood cars to the pulp storage yard, 2 wood chip cars, changing 3 of 5 spots of chemicals and additives like Kaolin and sulfates. Special machine parts delivery in box cars every couple weeks or so. Pick up of loaded ash gondolas from the recovery boiler , all sorts of things.

We have played around with Ai creating a switch list based on the day of the week. To get that we also have a weekly schedule and a monthly schedule. Lots of chenpmical cars are only delivered via rail once or twice a month, somebevery 2-3 days, none daily. All based on the tonnage of 560 to 720t. Ai is great for some things but not for repeatable switch lists. The chemical break down for rail cars was great info. You have to word the command exactly the way you want or you will get a different response. It’s why I tell folks the switch lists are a work in progress. We played with this now to give my friend a list of rail cars he will need to allocate to the mill. He has everything except for needing a few more wood chip cars and tank cars.

 

[TLOC]

Some work on the mill yesterday. The facades fronts are cut out and have been checked for placement in the paper mill complex.

Missing in this previously shown picture are other segments of this project. Not shown is the Wood handling building, the Digester/Recovery/power complex, the Paper machine/Wrap buildings and the Warehouse/Shipping department buildings. Those will be finished in the segments as listed

I am concentrating on the Pulp Screening and Chip storage, the Bleach and chemical plant and the Stock prep buildings. These fit on a 26” base and depth will be 3.5” to 1”. All flat roofs and very minimal front facing details. The bottom 6’ of these 3 buildings has changed from CMU concrete blocks to poured concrete. The reason? There is no commercially available styrene block sheets available any longer in the Evergreen Scale Models catalog, they were discontinued. My efforts at creating scribed blocks of CMUs was unsatisfactory. So the switch to concrete as these on the modernization of the 1960’s may have been newly buildt buildings

The side walls of the white bleach/chemical building are painters taped on. I need to frame out the personnel doors and add the door panels. There will be a couple square vents added to the front. Tonight I will clad the Stock prep buildings and also the pulp screening buildings. All three have similar but different siding to reflect different times when the buildings were built. The lower 6’ is a sheet of .020 plain styrene panel from Evergreen. This will be painted an aged concrete and weathered to reflect a maybe 3 year old building. The buildings will be trimmed with angles from Evergreen but painted the same color as the rest of the siding. These 3 roofs are flat. How deep they will be is something I will work on tonight

 

[TLOC]

1965 PNW Paper Mill — Building Process Descriptions

1. Wood Handling Building

Function: First step of the mill’s fiber supply chain.

Processes Inside:

• Log receiving & sorting: Trucks or rail deliver logs, which are scaled and sorted by species (primarily Douglas fir, Western hemlock).
• Debarking: Mechanical ring debarkers strip bark from logs before chipping. Bark is conveyed away for hog fuel in the recovery/power plant.
• Primary chipping: Chipper lines reduce logs into uniform chips.
• Chip screening: Chips are shaken over vibrating screens; overs go back to the crusher, fines go to fuel.

Output: Clean, uniform wood chips conveyed or trucked to the chip storage/screening building.


2. Digesters / Recovery / Power Building

Function: Converts wood chips into pulp and recovers chemicals; provides steam and power for the mill.

Digesters

• Kraft pulping: Chips are cooked with white liquor (NaOH + Na₂S) at high temperature and pressure.
• Blow tanks: Pulp is released from the continuous digester or batch digesters, depressurizing and breaking the chips.

Recovery

• Brown stock washing: Spent liquor (black liquor) is washed from pulp.
• Evaporators: Concentrate black liquor for firing.
• Recovery boiler: Burns concentrated black liquor → produces steam, smelts.
• Recausticizing: Smelt dissolved → green liquor → white liquor for reuse; includes slakers and causticizers.
• Lime kiln: Reburns lime mud to create fresh quicklime for the causticizing cycle.

Power / Utilities

• Power boilers: Burn bark, hog fuel, and oil (common in the 1960s).
• Steam production: Drives mill turbines and supplies process heat.

Output: Unbleached kraft pulp to screening; steam and electricity for entire mill; white liquor recycled to digesters.


3. Pulp Screening & Wood Chip Storage Building

Function: Final chip handling and pulp cleaning.

Chip Storage

• Conveyed chips stored indoors to keep moisture steady.
• Chip reclaimers feed the digester system.

Pulp Screening

• Brown stock screens remove knots and uncooked chips.
• Centricleaners (early units) remove heavy contaminants.
• Knotters and refiners: Break down remaining shives before bleaching.

Output: Clean unbleached pulp sent to the bleach building.

4. Bleach / Chemical Building

Function: Chemical treatment to brighten kraft pulp.

Processes Inside (1965-era traditional bleaching):

• Chlorination stage (C): Chlorine reacts with lignin to break it down.
• Extraction stage (E): Caustic soda removes chlorinated lignin.
• Bleaching towers: Possible D-E-H sequences depending on mill (Chlorine, Hypochlorite, Chlorine Dioxide).
• Chemical storage:
  • Chlorine cylinders or tanks
  • Caustic soda
  • Hypochlorite
  • Lime
  • Sulfuric acid (pH control)

Output: Brightened pulp to the stock prep building.

5. Prep Building (Stock Preparation)

Function: Final preparation of pulp before it enters the paper machine.

Processes Inside:

• Refining: Pulp fibers beaten to the right freeness.
• Additives mixing: Rosin size, alum, clay, dyes, strength resins.
• Consistency control: Dilution with filtered mill water.
• Machine chests: Hold prepared stock at stable conditions.
• Blend operations: Integrates broke (recycled internal scraps) back into the system.

Output: Finished papermaking stock delivered to the headbox of the paper machine.

6. Paper Machine Building

Function: Where pulp becomes paper; the heart of the mill.

Main Sections of a 1965 Fourdrinier Machine:

• Headbox: Feeds stock onto the moving wire.
• Wet end / forming table: Water drains; sheet begins forming.
• Press section: Rolls squeeze water from sheet.
• Dryer section: Multiple steam-heated cans remove moisture.
• Calender stack: Smooths, polishes, and compresses sheet.
• Reel: Paper wound into large parent rolls.

Atmosphere: Hot, humid, extremely noisy, constant steam haze.

7. Wrap Building

Function: Converts large machine reels into wrapped, salable product.

Processes:

• Rewinding: Parent rolls slit into customer widths.
• Wrapping: Kraft wrappers, labels, steel or plastic strapping.
• Palletizing: 1965 mills often used simple wood pallets or roll cradles.
• Quality control: Visual inspection, moisture and basis weight checks.

Output: Finished rolls and cartons ready for the warehouse or direct rail shipment.

8. Warehouse / Shipping Building

Function: Stores finished product and stages car/ truck loading.

Processes:

• Dry storage: Protects wrapped rolls from moisture.
• Forklift handling: Moves rolls to rail or truck.
• Boxcar loading:
  • End-door or wide-door cars
  • Roll clamps or specialized roll-loading ramps
• 
  
• Outbound logistics: 8 boxcars per day per your workflow needs.

Output: Finished paper shipped to printers, wholesalers, and packaging customers.


9. Engine Shed

Function: Light maintenance and protection for mill switchers.

Processes:

• Daily inspections: Oils, belts, brake checks.
• Fueling: Likely diesel; occasionally treated fuel oils.
• Sand storage & filling: Locomotives receive traction sand.
• Minor repairs: Bulbs, hoses, quick fixes.
• Warm storage: Protects engines from moisture and winter cold.

Hope this helps you understand the functions of the buildings

 

[Rico]

Great description Tom, thanks!
Two things to add for some plants might be coal handling, which the pine falls mill here had, and the settling/ retention ponds and treatment plants for spent water.
Paper mills are a huge industry all right and they have the greatest variety of freight cars of all!

 

[TLOC]

Great description Tom, thanks!
Two things to add for some plants might be coal handling, which the pine falls mill here had, and the settling/ retention ponds and treatment plants for spent water.
Paper mills are a huge industry all right and they have the greatest variety of freight cars of all!

Rico, thanks for checking in!

There is a coal fired power plant on the left edge of the paper mill complex. It will surround a 9”x 18” pillar that separates the mill property from the river the swing bridge project crosses

You can see it on the right side of this river to be scene. Basically I’m going to clad the pillar and imply that it’s a power plant for the time being.

Since it’s technically not part of the paper mill I have not mentioned it. The 2 coal tracks will be handled from the paper mill interchange track by the paper mill switcher and when we publish the track plan (if it ever gets finalized) and the weekly switch list the power plant will be on it.

As for water treatment. The space seems large but there’s no real room for a 1965 era version of minimal water treatment facilities. I knew that going in. Of the paper mills I’ve designed for others only 2 hint at water treatment plus my own so 3 out of 11. I’ve not done much research on paper mill water treatment but I know in Central Wisconsin along the Wisconsin River water treatment became a huge environmental factor and very costly to the paper mills. I can tell you I know how important it is. I got married in 1976, mom and dad owned a camp ground on Lake DuBay which is a flowage lake of the Wisconsin River. Every morning there was a 6” layer of foam bubbles on the shore line. When the EPA and WDNR cracked down in the mid70’s the foam bubbles were gone and the fish were coming back by the mid 80’s. But it was expensive for the mills. But none shut down over the costs. The shutdowns started around 2000 when the overseas cheap paper from China, Brazil and India started flooding into the USA.

 

[TLOC]

I’ve been asked on my FB page about the differences in Paper Mills and what type am I building. The 1965 era PNW paper mill is an intergrated mill. Here is a brief description of the mills

Integrated Paper Mill vs. Kraft Mill vs. Pulp Mill (1965 PNW Context)

1. Integrated Paper Mill

A facility that performs the entire process from raw logs to finished paper products. Includes wood
handling, chipping, pulping, chemical recovery, bleaching, stock prep, paper machines,
rewinding/wrapping, warehousing, and shipping. Produces finished rolls or sheets of paper.

2. Kraft Mill

A chemical pulping mill using the sulfate (kraft) process. May be standalone or part of an integrated
mill. Includes wood handling, digesters, washing, screening, evaporators, chemical recovery,, lime kiln, and sometimes bleaching. Produces kraft pulp (bleached or unbleached).

3. Pulp Mill

Any facility that produces pulp but not necessarily paper. May use kraft, sulfite, mechanical, or
Chemi-mechanical processes. Includes chipping, pulping, washing, screening, optional bleaching, pulp
drying, and baling. Outputs baled pulp for shipment.

Summary:

Integrated Mill: Logs → Chips → Pulp → Finished Paper.

Kraft Mill: Chips → Kraft Pulp (may or may not include papermaking).
A kraft mill produces kraft pulp — the strong, long-fiber pulp used for making everything from cardboard boxes and paper bags to printing paper and tissue. It may ship pulp as bales or, in integrated mills, feed pulp directly into the papermaking process.

Pulp Mill: Produces pulp only; no paper machine unless integrate


This is the quick and simple explanation. For more details do a search on your favorite search engine (I use DuckDuck Go) and type in:
What is the difference between Integrated, Kraft or pulp paper mills and be prepared to be overwhelmed

 

[Rico]

Great explanation Tom, you’ve obviously done your homework thanx!
My current version of a mill is rather generic in comparison, I might call it integrated as an excuse to run the cars I want.
I’m not going to have the room for everything from the old mill tho like the rotary dumper for the chips, they’ll be trucked in.

 

[RhB Michael]

Let me know when you're ready for the raw lumber!

We deliver all sizes!

 

[TLOC]

Let me know when you're ready for the raw lumber!

We deliver all sizes!

I’ll let the PNW mill log buyer know your interest in supplying. As the log buyer for my Wisconsin based mill we only can buy 100” pulp sticks no bigger than a 24” diameter

2 great scenes you posted thanks

 

[TLOC]

I zipped over to the layout for a couple hours. Double and triple checking dimensions and delivering (temporarily) the Swing bridge and approach bridges.

The building facades or false fronts definitely fit the area assigned. We positioned them to determine the depth and while I lost some depth it will be ok

The yellow poster board wrapping almost around the pillar is the warehouse/ shipping department. It is 10” x 30” and extends to the painter tape on the wall. I lost a couple feet to the right as the decision to move the back drop in has been decided. He wants to hide the window from this view

Next up is adding the concrete to the base of the chip storage and pulp screening building and the the Stock Prep building.

Why look there it’s poured! The .020 plain styrene is cut to 7’ but only 6’ will be exposed. The siding will overlap, and hopefully later today.
Are you wondering wghere the writing on the buildings went?

It’s still there but on the back side. It’s something I started doing on my commission builds about 10-12 years ago. Most clients discarded the build info I gave them and 1 mentioned write it on the back, so I did for the next structure and have since

Enjoy your day and thanks for checking in

 

[TLOC]

Need some ideas. The 2 rows of windows on the Paper Machine building are starting to intimidate me. Not about doing them but doing them right. I expect them to take time but do you guys have any suggestions for starting the 1st row.

34” of windows about 10’ down from the roof line.

Industrial type with metal frames approx. 6’ high and 4’ wide with a 2’ buffer in between. Any thoughts

 

[RhB Michael]

Have you thought of a continuous row of casement type windows that tilt outward from the bottom?

The stove foundry across the street from where I grew up in Belleville, Illinois used this style of windows. I have seen pictures of my mother as a baby posed with relatives outside of that house that indicate this building has been there since at least 1940.

Is that style still too new, or maybe to old?

 

[DeaconKC]

Have you thought of a continuous row of casement type windows that tilt outward from the bottom?

The stove foundry across the street from where I grew up in Belleville, Illinois used this style of windows. I have seen pictures of my mother as a baby posed with relatives outside of that house that indicate this building has been there since at least 1940.

Is that style still too new, or maybe to old?

The suggestion of those windows is excellent. Any buildings from the late 1800s til the 1970s were dependent on outside air for cooling and fresh air. Many buildings later on did have ventilation added, but not all. And most would not replace those windows.

 

[RhB Michael]

Unfortunately, as I've aged my memories play tricks on me. I started to doubt my memory so I looked up the building. From where this photo was taken, I lived in the next block down.

The windows are not a continuous line, and the center section pivots in the middle. It's funny that I remembered this differently; I walked past this building twice a day for six years to and from grade school.

Incidentally, the shorter building in front is where the rail cars were pushed from the spur that ran through my back yard. The crossing is in front of the yellow residential house in the background. I lived across the street from there.