Size: 32" x 16'

    Scale: HO

    Era: 1960-1980s

     Type: Industry

     Built: 2005

     Description:  KAJAC Paper (a Division of Boise Cascade) is a fictitious paper mill set somewhere in Eastern New York State during the 1960’s thru 1980’s. I haven’t narrowed the date down yet. In general its structures will allow any semi-modern date to be used even up to the present. The mill is served primarily by the Delaware and Hudson, but it is not unusual to see Canadian Pacific traffic in and around the plant.

 The model is resident across four 4 foot modular sections 32 inches wide.

 Module 1

 (The module on your right when facing the layout from the front.)

            This module contains two major buildings in the mill complex. The fourdrinier (i.e. paper making) machine building which includes dry shipping facilities for mill products. Products are shipped both by truck and by rail in both routine boxcars and special cars specifically designed to handle products such as newspaper print paper rolls. The other building here is the main mill office building and facility for receiving recycled paper products. 

Module 2

            This module contains the facility for recycling “black” liquor which is a product of the pulp making process. This product contains used chemicals which are separated in a processing plant not unlike an oil refinery for reuse in the pulp making process. In addition it is possible to recover tall oil and turpentine for sale off site. This is particularly true if pine is the wood fiber being processed. In addition this module contains the truck shipping yard and guard shack at the shipping facility entrance. To the front of the module is the facility for reclaiming and purifying water for reuse in the various manufacturing processes. In addition this module contains loading and unloading platforms for chemicals in and out of the mill.

 Module 3

            Here we find the kraft building. Kraft is the German word for “strength,” which is an important characteristic of paper. Sawdust and wood chips are cooked with steam and an alkaline chemical solution known as “white” liquor to dissolve the lignin, the glue which holds the wood fibers together. This is accomplished in digesters which are like giant pressure cookers. The pulp at this point is passed through wishers which separate used chemicals from the pulp fibers and send those chemicals on to the recovery process. The washed pulp is then sent to storage tanks to be dried and sold as market pulp or to be used in the paper making process. This module also has chemical unloading facilities. To the front of the module is the mill coal fed power plant which is the primary source of electricity and steam for the mill.  

Module 4

            This module contains a small storage yard for rail cars in and out of the mill. The main purpose of the module is to contain the chip processing facility for the mill. Pulp wood is shipped into the plant by rail and is processed through a debarker and chipper into wood chips for use in the kraft process.

   The paper making process uses many different chemicals which are a good source of rail traffic. The following is a list of mill chemicals. I will expand later on their uses and methods of handling.

Caustic – Sodium Hydroxide

Lime

Sulfuric Acid

Salt Cake – Sodium Sulfate

Chlorine

Sodium Chlorate

Sulfur Dioxide

Starch

Clay – Kaolin

Calcium Carbonate

Talc

Muriatic Acid – Hydrochloric Acid

Soda Ash

Peroxide – Hydrogen Peroxide

Methanol