Industry Profile: Casco

In lieu of getting any actual work done on the layout this week I thought I’d write about one of the industries I plan to model. Known locally as Casco (Canada Starch Company), the London, ON plant manufactures corn sweeteners, starches, and associated corn-based products. Built in 1979 alongside the CN (ex-L&PS) Talbot sub in south London, ON next to the 401 highway, the plant relies heavily on rail transport to distribute its’ products (though some product is shipped out to local destinations by truck). Casco has been a wholly-owned subsidiary of the US giant Corn Products International since 1958; Corn Products was recently Ingredion a year or so ago.

An annotated aerial view of the Casco (Ingredion) London, Ontario plant.

Corn arrives by truck from the abundant supply provided by farms in southern Ontario. From there it is crushed and processed into various grades of sweeteners and starches.  Corn Products owns a fleet of their own tank cars to transport their products (CCLX reporting mark), however also leases a large fleet of tank cars from private owners. The plant is switched on an almost-daily basis by a CN local originating from that company’s yard in London (CN 584). Occasionally if CN 584 runs out of time, or if Casco requires an extra switch, the London yard job will run down to switch the plant. Casco leases a track in the CN London yard for storage of cars not immediately needed in service or at the plant. This is an arrangement worked out to avoid excessive demurrage fees and is mutually beneficial to both parties as the CN yard is never full and thus does not present a problem with capacity shortage. Another interesting aspect of this leased track is that the plant will request specific cars to be delivered, so the yard crew often has to “cherry-pick” selected cars from those on the leased track. Sometimes this requires pulling almost the entire track to fish out a certain car, since all switching at the yard is done from the east end. Each switch can range from 5-12 cars (occasionally more), with a similar number of loads returned.

A view of the track leased to Casco reveals both hoppers for starch, as well as tank cars belonging to several car owners (PROX, UTLX, SHPX, CCLX) in both 263K and 286K GRL varieties.

Corn syrup is shipped in both 263K GRL and 286K GRL cars, depending on specific grade and end-customer for the product. Often, customers are located on branches or spurs (often on shortlines) that cannot handle 286K cars, so there are still many 263K cars in service despite the capacity difference of about 4,000 gallons (15,000 vs 19,000). Fortunately for modelers, a variety of rolling stock (HO scale, at least) are available to model the operation from Atlas, Intermountain, and Walthers. Intermountain makes a Trinity Industries 19,000 gal 286K tank car model, some decorated for Corn Products. Atlas produces a Trinity 15,000 gal (263K) corn syrup tank car model (some decorated for Casco/GATX/CCLX), as well as ACF pressure-differential hoppers used to transport bulk dry starch. Walthers offers a Union Tank Car prototype 263K model decorated for several corn products manufacturers, though it is based on a caustic soda tank car prototype (about 13,000 gals). Additionally, Highball Graphics offers decal sets for Casco-leased cars with PROX (Procor) reporting marks. The Casco logo was applied to cars with PROX, UTLX, and GATX, however is slowly disappearing as cars are shopped or repainted, a victim of being merged into the Corn Products/Ingredion corporate identity.

PROX 76011 is a 15,000 gal 263K GRL tank car used for transporting corn syrup. The enclosure at the top platform is a lockable device used to ensure that neither the manway nor fittings have been tampered with in transit, as the car is in food grade service. Known as a "breadbox" it is common among corn syrup cars of various owners. Note the unusual yellow bearing caps. Blt 6-90, UTC East Chicago, IN.

A corn syrup plant would make an interesting industry to model on an HO scale layout. In addition to interesting operations, the plant structure itself can be a centerpiece on the layout. In the image above, a Google satellite overhead shot of the London plant shows numerous buildings, silos, and tracks. Separate buildings/tracks are designated for the loading of hopper cars (dry starch) and tank cars. Even trackmobile operation is possible using the Broadway Limited HO scale trackmobile model. The operation can be scaled down if space does not permit modeling the entire plant (as I plant to do). Casco’s Port Colborne plant is much smaller than the London plant, and would also make a good modeling candidate. Additionally, one can include a dump shed to represent grain brought in by rail instead of truck (the Port Colborne plant uses both truck and rail to bring in corn). This can increase the number of cars to be switched into the plant, as well as the time it takes to switch the plant (which I don’t consider to be a bad thing!).

The CN London Yard ("Racecourse") job returns to the yard after an early morning run to spot empties and lift five loads from the Casco plant on the south edge of town.

Hopefully this article will give you a better understanding of corn products plant operations – it is by no means a complete narrative of the corn refining industry, but rather is intended to explain the railway aspect of the business.

Cheers,

Peter.