I'd love to see if anyone else has built or has ideas for a chocolate factory. I found a Walthers HO kit, but it lacks the "fun" factor and it's HO. With Lionel's Willy Wonka set I thought others may be thinking of similar projects. Ideally, a bit of whimsy and fantasy could make such an industry the focal point of a layout or area.
I really liked the factory portrayed in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" with the high smokestacks; and of course there's the Hershey factory in PA for inspiration. In theory, a track siding and/or inside the factory could be track-activated via remote control such that ore cars would release chocolate candies, e.g. Hershey's Kisses, down a hopper and to the front of the layout.
Many years ago I did contracting work at the Blommer Chocolate factory in East Greenville, PA and part of that job involved inspecting all the process equipment. It was amazing how the entire operation worked...at that time most of the equipment had been made in Switzerland, likely patented. Turning cocoa beans into both milk and dark chocolate is an involved process, and the factory stands out in my mind as one of those special memories - and not just because I got to sample the chocolate , which by the way was delicious.