Background (Part I) – General Motors

Based on a previous post, you may have known that, for many years, General Motors had a large assembly plant in Baltimore. What you may not have known is that it was officially known as the “Broening Highway Assembly Plant.”* The plant opened in 1935 and GM built vehicles (first cars, then cars and trucks, then minivans) there for the next 70 years.

As for me, I’ve always liked the idea of having an auto plant on my layout. That goes way back, before my Baltimore-area layout concept, even before my re-discovery of Chessie. The Walthers autorack cars that came out back in the late-90s may have had something to do with that. But it was a research trip to Baltimore in 2004 that cemented the desire for this plant… I was rethinking my layout goals, and once I was aware of the real-life link between Baltimore and Auto Plant, it was a perfect fit.

So it was with some relief as I was track planning around my “new” concept that it became clear I had the real estate to do the plant and its environs at least some measure of justice. Because I knew I wanted to include some of the railroad-related activities that went on around the plant, too. They were numerous, and, to me, they were interesting. At the risk of beating a dead horse, this included:

1. The plant (including autorack loading) as the focal point of the area, of course
2. A rendition of Penn Mary yard (knowing full well that compression would be necessary)
3. A bit of interchange with the Canton RR.
4. A branch to Bethlehem Steel.

Putting an assembly plant on a layout can be tough. They are, after all, massive operations, that in most cases require a large number of rail cars. But based on my research, I thought I could make a pared-down version of Broening Highway work. We’ll talk about that more, later.

As an aside, I mentioned the 2004 trip that cemented the desire for this plant. I can’t even begin to describe the feeling when, on a 2008 research trip we returned to find the entire 55-acre site empty. Leveled. The only thing left was the water tower seen in the photo to the right.

Seems the last Astro van rolled off the line on May 13, 2005. Modernizing and retooling the factory would have cost tens of millions, apparently. The site is now home to warehouses for Amazon.com.