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I am going to convert a Sidetrack Laser Sawmill to a slaughterhouse  [size is 10x32].    I have done a brief layout of the interior: kill spot, bleed, scald, de head  then down to the main floor for gutting, hoof removal and sectioning.

 

What am I missing and any tips?     I intend to have an overhead metal shackle system that traverses the entire line; metal likely.    I have about 20 o scale cattle to use [will be cut/painted to suit the space].

Outside line will have a track for waste, hides and blood/tankage and another track for reefers.

Last edited by BradA
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Reminds me of my two days I spent working in a beef packing plant in Northwest Iowa.  I want to have a small Midwestern plant on my layout primarily as need for switching in operating sessions.  I am thinking that I will just adapt one of my Walthers dairy plants.  Good luck and please share pictures as you proceed.

 

Art

Here is a scale sheet with the layout of the building.   You can see the entry with a channel which will be wood lined leading to the "knock out".   here a man with a sledgehammer will reside.    Next is the bleed out with a grated floor and the start of the overhead system.     The leg is hooked and the cow bled followed by a scald.   after scald is head removal then we go to hide removal.

Travelling down to the main floor we hit cut where the animal is split in half then gut followed by sectioning and out to the reefer..

 

voila---what a scene to build.

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I RECALL A POST SHOWING HOW SOME ONE TOOK A SCALE COW AND MADE IT LOOK EXACTLY RIGHT FOR ONE THAT WAS JUST SKINNE AND GUTTED. A LITTEL TIME WITH A HOT KNIFE AND SOME PAINTS AND IS LOOKED VERY GOOD.  THEY USED THE HEAD FOR THE SKELETON HANGING OVER THE KILLING SHED DOOR.

 

SORRY I CANNOT RECALL THE EXACT SIGHT.

Originally Posted by BradA:

I am going to convert a Sidetrack Laser Sawmill to a slaughterhouse  [size is 10x32].    I have done a brief layout of the interior: kill spot, bleed, scald, de head  then down to the main floor for gutting, hoof removal and sectioning.

 

What am I missing and any tips?     I intend to have an overhead metal shackle system that traverses the entire line; metal likely.    I have about 20 o scale cattle to use [will be cut/painted to suit the space].

Outside line will have a track for waste, hides and blood/tankage and another track for reefers.

Do you have a picture of the mill you're going to use?

Yuck! Glad i have eaten, and fish.  With a creosote plant, I probably have already

stunk out all my little people.  Seriously, I have looked at HO kits of slaughter houses

and didn't see one that I liked. You might research the eBay HO structure site and see if you scare up any models or kits that might give you ideas.  Would like to see some prototype photos of a small one, and will follow your progress.

I scratch built a Swift's meat packing plant last year. It's based loosely on the old Suydham/ California models HO kit.I used cardstock , balsa wood and foam core board,and pinted it red with Swifts signs.It turned out really well. Just recently made an addition of a power house and another building using Westport models drawings. I wish I knew how to post a picture of it here.
Mike

I wish to have as accurate a representation to railroading as I can.    With a slug of stock cars and a need to use them, a destination came into play....

 

Colo Hi Rail: I have a bunch of images that have guided my design.    Also, as I own a small farm, I am aware of the "disassembly process"...   Thus, it has guided the layout design I sketched and attached.     The images I found help mold the movements and the stations; often most cattle started on an upper floor and moved to the main floor as I laid out.    Hence, once again a prototypical operation--though not to scale.

Hope that you continue to follow and support the effort.

Last edited by BradA
Originally Posted by BradA:

very nice---tell me about the operational features.

The Tobin company has a working smoke house which I add scented bacon smoke fluid too and the fire place has glowing embers. The top sign utilizes Neon tubing from Miller engineering and was built by Mark Poklemba. Phil Klopp in his has working chain belt holding sides of beef in his plant.

Last edited by dk122trains

Brad, you're close.  If you want to be as close to prototypical as possible, don't use the sledgehammer.  The sledge hammer has been replaced with the captive bolt gun.  On cows, we utilize the hide puller, scalding on hogs.

 

Need some nice holding pens along with mooing from the just arriving animals, reefer car and reefer trailer dock doors, and the smell.

 

If want to get buzz from your visitors, model a kosher plant.

 

Don't worry about PETA.  They're just People Eating Tasty Animals.

I bought a Banta stock pen kit with the plan to build a slaughterhouse along the lines of Frank Ellison's I was able to find his many construction articles from out-of-print magazines on another forum. His design goes more toward dropping off cattle and picking up product than the rather messy process in between. These may give you some  ideas.

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Originally Posted by colorado hirailer:

Don't tell me about rabbits, I might let it slip to a friend of mine who loves rabbits.

Can't walk through the rabbit barn at the State Fair without wanting to pet every

one, in spite of the signs on the cages, that say, "Bunnies bite!".

And, then they bring their hind legs up as far forward as possible and use the claws there to rip & tear.  We used to have steel mesh armor sleeves for handling lab rabbits that would otherwise shred your forearm.

Hi I work at a sloter house 10 to 12hr.a day

 I see blued and guts all day long as a killfloor maints machanic.

the bolt gun was used back in the day then in the 80 went to stunning them now there run through a nitrogen bath and cut.

the rest is still the same.

the carkiss will go in a frezzer over night to chill down and be cut up next day on the cut floor.this part we have done for years.then parts sent for prossesingand packing.

I think that a packing plant will look good. you need a rendering plant as well it just part of the prosses.

good luck.

I have a cousin who is now the third Generation owner/operator in the Local slaughter house.

I will be modeling the operation as it has existed for my lifetime.

Since the  Fed's changed some laws in the 80's it is a custom operation only, you bring us the animal, We process it for a fee.

(It's really hard to put a 100 foot concrete apron around a building that sits on the edge of a large ravine. Thus no more commercial operations)

E-mail if you want details.

Brad,

 

You're going to need the other half of the business - the offal disposal,

 

Check out "You Have To Have Guts to Model a Car of Offal" in the The Keystone Modeler 06 January 2004 on how to model a car that hauls butchered animal waste.

 

I don't have that year of TKM, but I do have a pdf file on information on the topic.  You can imagine a colorful and odoriferous scene.....

Last edited by mwb

Hi archdalecurve

I work for the Clemens food group other wise Hatfield meats.

we work with all the plants around here there are 6 meat plants around here.

Moyers packing now Jbs is about 1/2 mile down. The road.

the others are all with in 5 miles of each other.

about freezing the meat over night.

this has been done since the 1930 after talking to our co owners father.

the meat brought down to between 35-40 degrees for ease of butchering.

it makes the meat stiff for the saws to cut it  like wood Less bone chips.

it gives cleaner cuts and butchers better.

 

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