Bakeries make for fascinating operations on a model railroad. They can be modelled with minimal facilities (such as the unloading areas – silos, tanks and such) or full blown with the entire bakery building and office complex should you have the space. Being space poor, the silo and tank thing (really the most detailed part of the operation) appeals to me the most. I’ve blogged about Bakeries as on-line customers (Mrs Baird’s on the Bergstrom Lead in Austin, TX) here before as has Lance Mindheim (Miami, FL).

Small and larger bakeries continued to use rail for inbound loads until the early 1990s. Rails West has some great history in this post (part 1 of at least 2) and it is really worth the read. I hope that you enjoy. Thanks go to Rails West for sharing his personal knowledge of the industry.