Alliance Intermodal Yard

Hello,

I am building something that has not been attempted to this date. I am building a model of an Intermodal Yard in "Z" scale. With the availability of modern diesel locomotives and Gunderson Husky's & Maxi III's (soon to be released 48' Thrall's and Twinstacks) in Z scale, I want to be the first to construct an Intermodal yard.

I want to model it close to the layout of the Alliance Intermodal Yard. I have been able to find two aerial photos that show the yard from a great distance. Any close up details are not viewable.

Details I am looking for are the lights in the yard, painted stripes for the container cranes, and any other detail I might need to put into the layout. If I lived in Texas I would sure as heck go and visit the yard with hopes of getting a tour, but Atlanta , GA is too far away for a casual drive. I am a die-hard Santa Fe/BNSF fan. My only sanity in Atlanta is watching the BNSF coal train pass by. Other than that, NS and CSX!

Can anyone help me find sources for photos to the details of the Alliance yard? Is there a website that might have more than 2 aerial photos of the yard?

Please feel free to contact me with any details or photos. They will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Hobo Tim

 

Tim,

I think I can help you out. I've been on two extended tours of the yard. Only one was of the Intermodal side, and it was overcast, but I do have a couple hundred photos I took. Mostly of a single crane and one lane of cars and some of the outlying details, but it should be a good start. They did a demonstration for us whereby they loaded different types of boxes onto different types of cars...pretty cool.

PM me and we can figure out the details of getting them to you. I may pick a few select teasers and upload them to RailImages.

It sounds like if you have the aerial shots that you've seached railpictures.net and that would be one of my other recommendations. (search for State=Texas and Keyword=Alliance) Outside of that, it's tough to get access to most intermodal yards so it's no surprise you aren't finding a lot of info and photos.

 

try this ..

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=...2.996247,-97.352117&spn=0.004373,0.007296&t=k

 

Great Thanks!

Finally! I have found the Google Earth view from outer space! Awesome! Thank you guyZ for your help. Greatly appreciated.

The size of this facility is finally in perspective and it scares the hell out of me. Unfortunately, the size may be do-able in 1:220 scale (Z) but I have not the room or the $$$ to make this Intermodal Yard exactly to scale. To do this would take a module about 25'-35' in length. Few!!!!! I will however make it animated. I will incorporate many of the key details from the Alliance yard into my module. The moduel is 24"x12' in size. The actual concrete to concrete yard will be 8' in length. If anyone is interested in my project, I will be updating progress in the "Z Scale" section of the Trainboard. I will name the Thread BNSF Intermodal Yard. Probably start posting to it in January. Give me time to make progress! keep in touch!

Thanks again all who helped me out!

Hobo Tim