Local industries and an old hobby

Haven't posted in a while... sorry!

Many years ago, my dad asked me what we make in our area.  He's an old-school fella, and has concerns about the viability of a service-based economy.  I'm not so sure he's off base here.  At the time, I didn't have a good answer.

Recently, my ADD-addled brain brought me back around to an old hobby I dabbled in as a child - model railroading.  While doing a little background research, I started looking at what industries there were in my area that are served by the railroad.  Some interesting finds resulted:

• A lightbulb plant
• A peanut-butter plant
• A sand/gravel/brick maufacturer
• A scrap metals and recycling center
• A major auto manufacturer
• An army base
• A major crane manufacturer
• A manufacturer of packaging labels
• Several agricultural and lumber businesses
• A PET packaging manufacturer
• A wire manufacturer
• A plastics manufacturer
• A paper manufacturer
• An electrical equipment manufacturer
• A specialty steel products manufacturer

And these were just the obvious ones picked up by scanning the railroad tracks around town on Google Maps.  It doesn't even count all the manufacturers who don't use rail transportation, or who used to use rail but no longer do.  Nor does it count this area being the home of a regional railroad line and services company.

Interesting what you find out about your town when you start poking around a little bit.