Grain Elevators

Some elevators are short.  Some do not have tall headhouse or no headhouse.

I make my elevators out of 3" plastic pipe and plastic fence post.  This one is one silo wide.

This one is 2 silos wide.

While l prefer and build wooden elevators, they, and as those shown above, the the concrete ones came in all shapes and sizes, and whatever you could devise and create to fill your space will be believable.

There might be some low-rise ideas on this page for you. These are modernised old-style elevators with newer metal siding and added grain bins.

http://manitobagrainelevators.ca/author/steve/page/6/

Oooooo ..nice posting of Manitoba grain elevators, and interesting that they were building some new ones, where so many are being torn down. Got out to photograph a few Alberta elevators years ago, but first l have seen of Manitoba ones.

I spent a couple of summers on a building crew slip-forming grain elevators. One continuous pour, once you start you don't stop til you are done. 1966 - 1967 and both are still handling grain.

Dick

This continuous pour concrete silo required a slip form that moved up as the concrete set/harden. You can see the form marks on this farm silo.  Concrete wall is 4" to 6" with rebar/reinforcement steel.   The right side shute and the ladder cage next to the white fill pipe were also part of the concrete pour.  Wet storage silos, silage/ corn or grass, would also have an epoxy coating applied to the inside after the concrete cured.  Wet storage feeds were acidic and tended to deteriorate the concrete.  An epoxy coating limited the deterioration.  Two machines not shown.  Blower bottom of the white pipe was used to lift the feed to the top of the silo.   There is also a tri-support under the silver roof that is part of the structure and cable lift system, that moves, up and down an electric unloading system, to provide dairy cattle feed on a daily basis through the winter.   

Just finished mine few weeks ago. Korber Models. Same one at my hometown, Gladbrook, Iowa on C&NW branch line. 

Nice Korber model. In a post I read about elevators here,Korber said the silos come in halves & for larger facilities extra silos could be ordered. I'd like to know what the kit number is for that as well as price. I found that post while looking on the Internet for backdrops of O Scale grain elevators.

The next kit I'd like to see someone model is of a fertilizer plant like is made by,I believe, Blairline in HO. This is an accurate model of a Midwest fertilizer distribution facility for farm fertilizers. The Co-op we have at our town,used to have tanks that stored anhydrous ammonia brought in by rail. Facilities across the country still do this.

Thanks for the input & photos modelers.

As always,

Al Hummel

I was going to suggest a rural style grain elevator but pictures have already been attached above. While the head house is higher than the silos you can compress every thing to fit your height requirements. Another option is an enclosed elevator. I think some rural elevators were completely enclosed with the silos hidden inside the structure.

Joe

Just remembered this one on the late Carl Arendt's great site. It's on the old Rock Island in Erick, OK. Also check out the French grain elevator with capstan car-switching on the same page.

http://www.carendt.com/micro-l...tandard-gauge-lines/

Grant Park, ILL   July 20, 2017  John in ILL

RATTLER21,

Nice grain elevator!! Wish I had this on my layout.

Thank you for the photo.

Al Hummel

B.T.S. has a real nice one that I'm considering. His stuff is not inexpensive, but it looks real nice.

Alan Hummel posted:

Nice Korber model. In a post I read about elevators here,Korber said the silos come in halves & for larger facilities extra silos could be ordered. I'd like to know what the kit number is for that as well as price. I found that post while looking on the Internet for backdrops of O Scale grain elevators.

The next kit I'd like to see someone model is of a fertilizer plant like is made by,I believe, Blairline in HO. This is an accurate model of a Midwest fertilizer distribution facility for farm fertilizers. The Co-op we have at our town,used to have tanks that stored anhydrous ammonia brought in by rail. Facilities across the country still do this.

Thanks for the input & photos modelers.

As always,

Al Hummel

Off the top of my head, the regular one is kit #315 and the one with eight extra silos is #3115. The silos themselves can be made with 3.5" I.D. PVC pipe cut to length with a miter saw. You can make the silos as tall (or short) as you'd like. There was a malt distributor in Vernon (or Commerce -- not sure), CA that had a grain elevator which (based on the 55-foot hoppers parked in front of it) was about 100 feet tall and about 400 feet long. I can't remember the street it was on but it could be seen from the I-5 freeway.

The much smaller one in the photo below (from Google Maps Street View) is next to where I used to work. The tracks to the grain elevator ran through our back parking lot (see the aerial). Was pretty interesting watching a UP SW10 push them in. The facility used a TrackMobile to move the cars around. Most of the switching was done after hours.

Another option would be a sugar silo. This one is in (wait for it) Sugar Land, TX and was served by Southern Pacific and Missouri Pacific. It's now a historic site. It's impressive up close and personal.

Here is mine, a rebuilt old Korber kit:

I "butterfly fileted" my Korber for my Youngstown & Southern RR, and used it as a low-profile bldg. against my backdrop of Youngstown yards .