Relocating Ralph's Grocery Warehouse & Distribution Center

 Greetings All,

Relocating Ralph's Grocery Warehouse & Distribution Center

As reported in the end of the year report press release Ralph's Grocery Warehouse and Distribution Center, a favorite Empire City rail served industry for well over a decade that provided a good amount of PCCM and non PCCM rail operations during that time, has pulled up stakes and moved to the nearby town of Bedford.

What prompted the move? 

The single word answer is Cargill.

Cargill?

I built this Walthers kit when I first started the layout about fifteen years ago and it ended up in the middle of Empire City where it looked good. But a grain elevator in the middle of a city not located near grain sources or a water shipping location started to nag at me.

The solution to the Cargill conundrum was to incorporate Cargill into a larger industry like a cereal manufacturer. 

Getting the Project Started

In order to move the project forward Ralph's Grocery Warehouse which was located across the street from Cargill had to relocate. Here it mocked up in Bedford on what I call the overbuild.

Using the same structures for the mock up truck traffic is increased from one trailer to nine as the railcars delivered to RGW&DC are placed at the loading dock under the structure.

As seen from the layout room entrance.

A PCCM KP&W trailer is spotted at the original single truck loading / unloading dock.

The overbuild is coming along now with supports in place. Seven trailers are backed up to the building. I have a lot of trailers and like TOFC traffic and this is a grood place to display them.

Not too bad. The building flats have been in place for a very long time and add some depth to the scene.

To make the dock doors for the trucks and boxcars I used Model Builder software that was gifted to me by our late friend Engineer Ed.

The boxcar loading dock doors in the below configuration can handle five 40' boxcars or a four car combination of 50' and 40' boxcars

Three 40'ers and one 50'er from PCCM 108 are placed at the siding.

Nine truck loading dock doors are in place.

A sampling of trailers from my collection including three PCCM trailers ( EBRR silver, PC silver and PC green) that arrived at the Terminal Yard TOFC Ramp in PCCM 108 are being unloaded.

Another view from the opposite side.

PC Ralph himself makes a visit to check on the progress.

Now we can eat!!! The Empire Belt crew visits PC Ralph and prepare to feast at Pizza Land.

Stone support walls are being added.

Vehicular and Truck traffic no longer fear plummeting onto the tracks.

Not bad but still lots to do.

Last Minute Change

In early January, 2025 I still wasn't sold on Pizza Land occupying space on the overbuild and again looked for an empty lot in Empire City I came across this undeveloped corner lot which I had dismissed earlier and now thought it would work better.

Local politicians and mobsters gather at the empty lot to discuss purchase, development, and political donations to open up Pizza Land at this location. 

An undercover ECPD Detective hides behind a newspaper as he surveilles the meeting of mobsters and politicians. 

Looks like the ECPD Detective has been spotted as he gets a wave from a chubby mobster. The circling Crown Vic didn't help

With the proper permits bought and the construction unions blessing Pizza Land has been relocated in an amazingly quick fashion.

A who's who of railroad employees from the Empire Belt, Penn Central, and Long Island gather for the reopening.

Final Thoughts and Comments

The overbuild solves the Empire City Cargill silo problem that was nagging me and adds some visual interest to the Bedford shelf portion of the layout. It still needs work and may get some lighting to highlight what is going on down below. 

Another option may be to just add a building flat to better see and handle the rail freight traffic coming and going to RGW&DC which would eliminate the truck trailers up top.

As for Pizza Land the spot at the edge of the overbuild had me worried it would be knocked to the ground. It is protected at it's new location and should not be prone to accidental damage.  

Next installment we'll take a close look at Trains BT27/28, The Bedford Turn, that services the Bedford Industries and see how the addition of the RGW&DC impacts the BT27/BT28 operations.

Thanks for reading!!!

See you soon!!!