This post is (sort of) a followup to the “Handling Flour in the 1950s” thread.
Scenario:
I am modeling St. Louis, MO in 1960 (+/- 5 years, not sure yet) and this includes the Illinois side of the Mississippi. The river is modeled around the entry door to the room (make lemonade, right?!) and includes a barge ready to receive bulk “grain”. I will receive Walthers’ ADM elevator kit via post today or tomorrow. The elevator will go on the Illinois side of the Mississippi, and will load (corn, I think, but I’ll call it “grain” for now) into the barge. It may also ship “grain” via rail and truck, and will certainly receive grain via rail and (maybe) truck from the flatland farms to the east. I might be able to squeeze in a grain processor adjacent to the elevator, but it would only consume a fraction of the grain brought to the elevator.
The Questions:
Do (big city or rural) elevators handle multiple “grains” (ie corn, wheat, soybeans) or are they primarily one grain businesses?
I’m assuming shipment of grains to my elevator in covered hoppers, with unloading into a trough below the tracks. Is this correct?
Does it make prototypical sense to have a grain “transload” elevator, with the primary purpose to receive grain from the region and transload it into other modes of transportation?
Can anyone direct me to a site that would explain the inner workings of a big elevator, so I could model the exterior with knowledge of what really goes on within?
I would appreciate recommendations (and links) to develop my track plan. Rereading my scerario above, I am probably can’t receive and ship via all the scenarios described, but I do want to squeeze as much as I can into a 18" by 4+’ space. Today it’s a wide open&nb
If my recollection is correct, Alton, Illinois was the closest grain elevator to the St. Louis metro area where grain was loaded into barges. The commodities handled were corn, soybeans, and wheat. Nearly all grain was delivered to the elevators by truck, and some was loaded into covered hoppers for rail shipment to points not served by water. Grain loaded into river barges was usually for shipment to New Orleans and export.
The elevator in the small town where I grew up in Illinois handled both corn and soybeans. the grain came in from farms by truck or tractors pulling grain wagons. Grain that was shipped out by rail in the late 50’s and the early 60’s went in boxcars. There was a wood and paper barrier placed in the car doorway to prevent the grain from spilling out when the car was opened. Hope that helps a little.
The large elevators (the big concrete things) handle all sorts of things. I’m researching a Central Soya elevator & mill complex for my own layout, and the array of products both in and out are dizzying. So for the large elevators at least, you can have as many types of grains coming in and out as you’d like.
The smaller middle of the road co-op elevators generally only handled one type of grain at a time. Some of the larger ones might handle two (corn & soy, for example) but they’d need seperate buildings or Butler bins to keep the grains from cross-contaminating.
No. Well, partially. By 1960-1965 the rail and grain industries had both seen the practicality of covered hoppers for moving and storing grain, but the infrastructure
I’m definitely interested in whatever you might have to contribute to my efforts!
I’m researching the Soya plant in Gibson City. I’m modeling 1949, so I’m modeling the plant when it was new. I’ve already talked to Mark Vaughn about operations at a Soya facility; he used to work for CS at about the same time as you (and possibly in Decatur as well!), but I’m always looking for more information!
Here’s the plan I’ve worked out for the Gibson City plant, based on aerial photos and IC track charts, and modified to fit in the space I have available:
With only three spotting tracks I know I’ve compressed the plant pretty severely, but it’s what 3rd PlanIt is telling me will fit. Once I get to actually laying track I’m going to see if I can squeeze in three more: a small cleanout track, a power plant hopper lead, and a milled grain loading track.
What I REALLY want to know about are all of the types of products, grains and materials that could have been shipped in or out of the plant, and if there was any sort of seasonality to it.
This is my first time posting over here, but thought maybe I could help you out some.
As I remember from round here, grain was loaded into boxcars that had either heavy cardboard or wood panels, which went across the doors and left about a foot opening at the top for a chute that rolled inside. Here’s a photo of the loading chute here in town.
Up in Paris, ILL was the Illinois Cereal Mill [corn flake factory] that received corn by rail. The cars were spotted over the dump, open the doors then you busted the cardboard, [some of the wood panels had dump gates]. When all the grain that could fall out was done, then the fun started, a #12 scoop shovel.
Corn and beans were both shipped this way, but the only wheat I remember going by rail was in 100# burlap bags.
Hi Ray. I will assume Gibson City was similar but slightly smaller then the Decatur plant in 1949. Soybeans would have arrived during the harvest by truck and rail from late September to late October.Unloading would have been nonstop until the silos were all full.The solvent extraction plant may have processed 40,000 bushels per day into soy bean meal and oil. Some meal and oil would have been shipped in bulk in boxcars and tankers. After harvest lesser amounts of beans would have been unloaded during weekdays. I doubt if corn or wheat was processed but it may have been bought and shipped out.I know someone who worked there in the late 1960’s whose father was the plant manager,I will ask him more about it next week. Joe
This is not a shameless plug as I am not an employee of Kalmbach, but they do have a book available with a chapter that covers this very subject. I bought one the other day as reading material for for a boaring airplane trip I had to go on for some training. It is $19.95 and has the information you are seeking, including what is inside that elevator. They cover RR cars including covered hoppers and boxcars with grain doors. It seems to be a good general overview and includes dates shippers went from boxcars to covered hoppers as well as other major changes. The title of the Book as cut from this web site is:
The Model Railroader’s Guide to Industries Along the Tracks
By Jeff Wilson
You can order direct or find at your local hobby shop. There is also chapters about stockyards, coal, and refrigerator cars as well as several other industries.
