Are wood plank crates still used for shipping in the modern era? - Model Railroader Magazine

Dave-the-Train

Most of the time we just see a box with the livery of the RR, trucking co or manufacturer.  Often the only times we get to see the load is when they are shifted in or out by forklift.  I can't think of many places where loaded crates are left outside... barrels - that is steel drums - and IBCs do get lined up outside both full and empty.  Most times I see crates outside for any length of time they are the empties either waiting to go back or be recycled. 

I disagree - as the link to the tomato crates above demostrates, it's not unusual to see freight in yards (around NY, behind secure, locked gates and fences w/ razor wire strands, of course), sometimes under open air shelters build alongside a building, sometimes piled onto loading docks (although not the helter skelter style favored for 'old-time' freight stations/good shed models), but stacks of palletized crates & boxes, sacks, barrels, etc. under a covered dock is common enough - I'm sure I've even seen this in images from the UK (for truck/lorry docks, alas), on that 'abandoned station' site for example.

splodge

Last time I saw this word was in an old copy of Mayfair - wasn't referring to cardboard cartons, I'm afraid.  Anyway, take some small rectangles of styrene, paint tan or brown, muck some corners up, and lean against or in a dumpster/tip.

I totally agree on the inappropriateness of wood barrels on most modern layouts and would love to see some of these more modern aspects.

Luckily steel drums have been around since WWI, and more or less in their present state, so we are very well covered in that regards.  The other 2 common barrel-like are fiberboard drums (AFAIK no models readily available, but these are mostly tan/brown cylinders with alumimun/metal lids and bottoms) and plastic drums (these are tough - most barrels cannot be easily modified to have the shape of plastic drums - here I'm a bit stymied, as carving one out as a master for casting could be a chore (and carving several out instead of casting them would be madness). Kegs are available from Presier.

How about going further and looking at the variety of pallets and, even, stackable pallets?

Actually, I did go further, looked into the various pallets styles (US styles, including supermarket ones), and made a jig for the most common type, and then made about 75 of them from styrene strip (this did lead to madness - or at least it often seems that way...).