I am considering scratch building a fairly large grain elevator and flour mill in HO scale. I'm looking at 3 " plastic pipe for the elevator portion. Has anyone out there had experience using this method and if so, can you advise any pitfalls I might encounter? I am also wondering about the top. Is the cap square of does it follow the outline of the round silos? Any advice or photos of completed work would be appreciated.
grizlump
"Yes" to the first question. I have used it and it works better than any other material that I have tried. I advise you to get it cut to the length you desire at the place where you buy it because they will have a cut-off saw that can cut a square, clean edge that will need little if any extra work on your part.
You need to determine a way to connect the silos. I recommend drilling a small hole near the base and one near the top and attaching them at both places with a n/b/w set. Don't drill the holes too far from the ends because it will make it harder to thread and lock down the washers and nuts.
"Yes" also to your second question. Here's the best link around for grain elevator pictures. http://www.bnsf.com/markets/agricultural/elevator/
You will find that the roof on the concrete silo version follows the contours of the silos in every case I have ever seen, either on the web or in real life. There is probably an exception or two as every grain elevator is different.
John Timm
Hi, Griz.
Although not as extensive as your project, I made this out of a 20" for sale sign and 2" pvc. The pipe to the right needs to be painted yet.After I glued the pvc together I set it on the for sale sign and traced the out line of the silos and added about a 1/16" for overhang and cut it out with scissors.Yep, it's based on the Walthers kit.
I built this the same way.( not the Grandson, the elevator!)
Hope this'll help!
Terry
Terry in NW Wisconsin
Queenbogey715 is my Youtube channel
nice work, terry. thanks for the photos. john, the link you gave was an excellent source for more than i will ever need to see. appreciate it. i will probably have the hardware store cut the pipe for me. (the owner owes me a favor or two anyway. otherwise, i was thinking of using some screw type hose clamps to guide me if i cut it myself. one point still, how about fabricating the fillet that seems to be between most of the cylinders? strip plastic and some body putty?
This thing is growing by the minute. I run fairly long trains and switch too many cars to use industries that only have a car or two a day in and out. Most of my operation involves classification breakdown and make up of trains around 35-40 cars each. That is why I am primarily interested in foreign road interchange and large industries. I want a grain/milling/cereal operation that receives about 10 loads and ships 4/6 cars outbound per shift. I need to justify a bunch of granger road box cars and covered hoppers so i was thinking about Milo-Meal, the breakfast of losers.
Don't forget a headhouse atop the silos. From what I gathered this is where the equipement went to distribute the grain among the silos. I'm also asuming it housed some kind of elevator kit for the individual silos that would unload them. I'm pretty into modeling an elevator seen too although I'm getting into a bit more it seems, but that's just me. I don't have to know how an actual steamer works or how to operate a prototype one to run models, but I still want to know. Mine will only be a lil ole thing, Walthers ADM elevator with a double-ended spur long enough to load 6 cars at onces and a siding to hold all 12 cars. I lucked out in choosing N scale though, even modeling 12 - 55' long hoppers (4740's, 4750's, 5161's) I will only be around 48" for the siding between fouling points.
Although this manual from the State of Minnesota relates to taxation of grain elevators, it has some very usefull sections in it starting at page 12. For example it takes color photos of various sizes of grain elevators and explains what each building does in the complex. It also lists all the railroads in Minnesota (with a map) and which grain elevators they serve.
Grain Elevator Manual
having looked at a bunch of the photos on the sites recomended i have noticed what appear to be hexagonal rather than round sections in a few of the elevators. i assume this is another form of slip form concrete work but wonder when this shape first started to appear. anyone know??
Milw Rrdr, THAT"S what I forgot ,the headhouse!!! DOH!! Oh well, a few more for sale signs and I'm good to go!
Griz, if you have access to a chop saw you can cut the 10' pipe yourself to any hieght you need. For HO they're about 11" based on the Walthers kit.The remainder would make a decent oil tank, tho I haven't tackled that yet. Can't find a good looking top piece. For the fillets between the sections try caulking it and then squeezing it out with a finger.
Try Plastruct.com for the top pieces, they have 3 or 4 different domes that would do the trick. All fasten to PVC pipe easily with Plasticweld.
The small grain elevator (minus the tower) on the right hand side in the picture below is made with plastic pipe and styrene top. The cap can follow the outline of the silos or not. It depends on who designed it.
In these pictures (North Platte, Nebraska and Bazine Kansas) one can easily see the "roof" follows the outline of the silos.
Here is a large grain elevator (Wichita, KS). I can't tell and don't remember if the roof is curved with the outline or not. I do remember that when it rained just right the silos didn't look round but angular.