Chances are your concrete basement or layout room started out at a plant just like this! Concrete is one of the oldest building materials, dating back to 500 BC. Today, it is the most frequently used construction material, combining low-cost, durability and strength with extreme versatility. It can be molded to almost any shape so it's used to build everything from roads and buildings, to birdbaths and railroad ties!

Although concrete used to be mixed at the job site, modern projects require a consistent mixture that's more easily made at a ready mix plant. Both fine (sand, gravel, small pebbles) and coarse (blast furnace slag) aggregates arrive by rail, along with powdered portland cement. These ingredients are then mixed with water and air to create concrete that meets each customers specifications. When ready, the material is loaded in mixer trucks for delivery.

Blue Star Ready Mix will be a great customer for your contemporary HO railroad. Its tall profile captures the look of the real thing without overwhelming other structures and scenery. The easy-to-build kit is complete with an elevated control room/office, along with realistic piping, materials elevator, dust collector and ladder details.

It's a natural alongside the Glacier Gravel Co. (#933-3062), or model loads in/empties out operations with the Red X Cement bulk distribution facility kit (#933-3704).

Shipments of powdered cement can be brought in on the Trinity 37' Cement Service 2-Bay Hopper kits (932-5400 series). And check out the ready-to-run 40' Ortner 100 Ton Aggregate Hoppers in Single Cars (#932-7050 series) or 3-Packs (#932-37051 series), all with different numbers, to bring in raw materials in bulk