Source of grain for export

[rclanger]

The Norfolk Portsmouth Belt Line moved a lot of grain cars for Cargill and Consolidated in the sixties and seventies.  The grain was exported via ship overseas.  Virginia and surrounding states don't grow many grain crops, some not at all especially wheat which was the major product shipped.

Cargill had two storage sites, Norfolk and Chesapeake.  The Cargill web site has their history on it but nothing about either site.  According to a history of NPBL Cargill was one of their best customers.

Now the questions.  Where did the grain come from?  State?  Railroad?  Car?

I am assuming the grain was stored for some period of time before loaded on a ship for export.  I am again assuming other types of grain other than wheat were also stored and exported.  But you know what they say about assuming...

Could some of you knowledgeable folks fill me in.

[carknocker1]

rclanger

The Norfolk Portsmouth Belt Line moved a lot of grain cars for Cargill and Consolidated in the sixties and seventies.  The grain was exported via ship overseas.  Virginia and surrounding states don't grow many grain crops, some not at all especially wheat which was the major product shipped.

Cargill had two storage sites, Norfolk and Chesapeake.  The Cargill web site has their history on it but nothing about either site.  According to a history of NPBL Cargill was one of their best customers.

Now the questions.  Where did the grain come from?  State?  Railroad?  Car?

I am assuming the grain was stored for some period of time before loaded on a ship for export.  I am again assuming other types of grain other than wheat were also stored and exported.  But you know what they say about assuming...

Could some of you knowledgeable folks fill me in.

THE GRAIN MOST LIKELY CAME FROM THE MIDWEST AND THE SOUTH , THE MAJORITY OF THE GRAIN WOULD HAVE COME FROM MIDWESTERN AND SOUTHERN RAILROADS IN THEIR CARS MOVING TOWARD EASTERN TERMINALS UNTIL IT ARRIVED IN PORT FOR EXPORT .

[dehusman]

Grain is a very fluid market.  Where the grain came from could vary from year to year as could which crop and where it was going.  If the rates were right it might come from as far away as the upper midwest (Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa) or it might come from closer to home (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois). 

 

[wjstix]

Probably from the Upper Midwest where the grain is grown. Cargill is headquartered in Minnetonka Minnesota so a lot of it probably came from around here.

BTW Cargill used to sponsor the Prairie Home Companion radio show back in the seventies, before it went national.

[cv_acr]

Cargill is a large company with elevators all over the continent, in the USA and Canada, not just Minnesota.

[BNSF3704]

 Wheat is grown in more abundance west of the Mississippi in the plains states (western midwest.)  Corn and soybeans are grown more so than wheat in eastern midwest, not saying wheat is not grown in the eastern midwest, but it grows faster and takes less moisture than corn and soybeans.  So states like the Dakotas, Nebraska, far western Iowa, Minnesota, and Kansas as well as Canada grow a lot more wheat than say most of Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.

[ssgauge]

While it's considerably more distant than the Midwest, there is a great deal of wheat raised in the eastern half of Washington state.  The Palouse region, which straddles the Washington/Idaho border, reputedly has the highest per acre yields in the country, owing to its unusually deep topsoil and climate.  The area is served by BNSF (formerly Northern Pacific and Great Northern) and Union Pacific.  Much of the wheat is exported, with probably most going to Asia, but it's possible some is sent east.

[rclanger]

Thanks for the information.  Some follow up questions:

Cargill have their own covered hoppers.  Haven't been able to find a model.

Or would the cars be from the home road?

A combination of both.  I would like to have a feasible representation of covered hoppers.

[WSOR 3801]

 

I've been told a lot of CNW covered hoppers made the trip that way for export unloading.  You could model 20 different paint schemes and have a typical CNW grain train.