Grain elevators

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

i want to add a grain elevator to my layout but have a few questions.

  1. how does the grain come from the silo and then out a tube and into a hopper.?

  2. what cars should i use? can i use open hoppers or covered hoppers. I think I should use covered hoppers but what particular type is correct fo grain service.

thanks[:p]

2

Shaun you never mentioned what era you were interested in or if you were looking at a prairie or dock side type elevator.

If you type in Grain elevator into a search engine you will get several hits.

Try this one for starters

http://www.buffalohistoryworks.com/grain/history/history.htm

Hope this helps

3

i’m in the same boat. i wouldn’t say i love hoppers. but those are my favorite type of freight cars. i plan on having my first layout use mainly hoppers. i can’t really do much on a 4x8 layout but i know i’ll have a lot of stuff having to do with hoppers.

i’m just going to buy the ADM Grain Elevator from Walthers for starters.
covered hoppers are what is mainly used to haul grain, at least thats my guess.

4

Coverd hoppers and centerflow hoppers are what I usually see being used locally for grain.

That was a cool link Fergmiester,very informitive

5
  1. A small elevator could have a track next to a silo with a spout going from the silo to the covered hopper car,a slide in the spout would control the grain flow. A large elevator has a tunnel under the silos where a conveyor belt moves grain from silos to the elevator leg,the leg moves it up to a headhouse where grain is weighed and dumped into a rail car. 2) The grain elevator where I work has used covered hoppers since 1975.Open top hoppers were last used for grain in the early 1970’s.Three bay hoppers are the main type we use,smooth side or rib side with one long hatch down the top of the car. Joe G.
6

ok i model the 1970’s so covered hoppers or open hoppers are okay?

7

I have never heard of using open top hoppers for grain, but I am no expert and would defer to Joe G. who actually worked in a grain elevator. I would not use open top hoppers for 1975 unless someone like Joe G. knows whether they were covered after loading. I would guess a lot of grain would simply blow out of an open hopper after the train got underway. I model the 1950’s and know boxcars were often used to haul grain before covered hoppers. The doors were partially sealed with heavy cardboard or plywood and some cars had small doors for loading built into the regular door. However, I doubt boxcars were still used by 1975.

8

Open hopper swould be open to the elements and vermin. A risky proposition unless the hopper is covered by a seperation cloth or tarp. I don’t know if that is an option.

9

The majority of the hoppers used in the early 1970’s were the covered hopper type.in1973 the ratio of covered hoppers to open hoppers of grain was at least 50:1.Sometimes open hoppers were covered with plastic sheeting to protect contents from rain.This was in east Indiana.Shaun,I notice you live in Sarnia.Stick with covered hoppers,CN might have used the cylinderical type.

10

Tichy did a model of open top hopper of the 60’s. It be hard to find.
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/293-4031
The PS series and ACF Centerflow came on the scene in 1961

11

Open top hoppers were only used in extreme car shortages. If it rains, the grain will be ruined.

In the 1970’s most of the grain would move in 3 or 4 bay covered hoppers with the long hatches down the roof or the car and flat rectangular outlets on the bottom. If the covered hopper has just 2 bays, its for sand or cement, not for grain. If the covered hopper has small round hatches and a tube running across the bottom of the hopper, its for plastic pellets, not for grain. The grain that didn’t move in covered hoppers moved in 40 foot boxcars. They would nail boards or steel reinforced paper “grain doors” across the bottom 3/4 of the boxcar doors and pour grain in until it filled about 3/4 of the car, then close the sliding doors. Actually that’s how they shipped grain for the 120 years before covered hoppers were invented.

Dave H.

12

I hope this semi-related question is appropriate to this thread…

Other than coal, what are the primary uses of uncovered hoppers?

13

Roadtrp, just about anything that will flow out the bottom, sand, gravel, ballast, wood chips, ore, etc. that isn’t effected by the weather. They are kind of like the railroad’s dump trucks is the best way I can put it.

14

Before covered hoppers, grain was typically shipped in boxcars–the doors would be filled with a big plug with a gap at the top, and the grain was poured into the gap. I think Walthers makes a boxcar kit with the appropriate plug, or you can just stick a bit of wood in there. They were unloaded, I believe, via a hatch in the bottom of the door plug.

and yeah, uncovered hoppers are used for anything relatively small and chunky that doesn’t mind being exposed to the weather. Just about anything mined can be shipped via uncovered hoppers, and some types of semi-processed ores (like taconite) are transported the same way.

15

ok thanks. I have only one covered hopper right now and its a 3 bay. So i will have to get more. I do have a bunch of gondolas and open hoppers but they are not righ tfo grains.

didn’t chessie system have covers on some of their open hoppers?
http://www.trainweb.org/chessie/bowserhoppers.html

16

By the way, Tichy Train Group still advertises the Andersen hopper on their Web site:
http://www.tichytraingroup.com/index.php?page=view_product.php&id=54&category=Freight+Car+Kits
I went so far as trying the order form - didn’t say it had been discontinued, if anyone is interested. They have always been pleasant to deal with at the Timonium show.
Bob
NMRA Life 0543

17

Those Tichy kits represent 2-bay hoppers rebuilt for grain service; this happened alittle.(around late 50’s) Usually with extension on the side and always a cover. This went from canvas to a Steel slab welded over the top.

I also agree with jrbarney about the tichy kits very nice, but you could also kitba***he same prototype with ease. But as u stated u model the 70’s and most of these were gone by then.