How did the box cars that hauled grain to the flour mills in, say. Minneapolis unlead their grain? Were these box cars equipped hatches of some sort or were they unloaded through the door the same way they were loaded? I mean, was it as simple as some hot,sweaty souls shoveling them out?
I am planning to model the Washburn A mill in Minneapolis specifically, so I'd like to know how to detail the unloading areas.
regdunlopwas it as simple as some hot,sweaty souls shoveling them out?
Yep, bread was more salty back in the day!
Simon Modelling CB&Q and Wabash See my slowly evolving layout on my picturetrail site http://www.picturetrail.com/simontrains and our videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/MrCrispybake?feature=mhum
simon1966 regdunlopwas it as simple as some hot,sweaty souls shoveling them out? Yep, bread was more salty back in the day!
Generally, the grain flowed out as the grain doors were knocked out, then the tough part started. Manual labor with a large scoop shovel!
The King Midas mill in Hastings, MN had an uloading track with one rail elevated. This made it easier to 'drain' the box car before the scoop shovels were sent in.
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
Grain-loaded boxcars were fitted with grain doors - panels across the lower 2/3 or 3/4 of the standard door, paper-lined to make them leakproof.
While smaller mills and elevators might have used 0-5-0-powered scoops for unloading, places which had high volume unloading (think major bakeries and export elevators) had a gadget that locked the car, then rocked it back and forth and from side to side. Rather the way a modeler would unload loose beebees from a model boxcar - turn it every which way but loose or inverted. Said mechanism, and the under-track receiving bins, would have been protected from the weather.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
A grain door being installed and bumped loose can be seen in this Santa Fe railway video (grain door starts at 13:30 and runs to 14:05)
watch?v=nlzTqPfHrAI
Matt from Anaheim, CA and Bayfield, COClick Here for my model train photo website
Couple of action pics from the Minnesota Historical Society Visual Records collection (links only due to copyright considerations)
Power shovel: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=201095
Tipping and shaking the car: http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/image.cfm?imageid=89039
Smile,Stein
During my college days, 1954 - 1962, I worked summers for Santa Fe in Enid Oklahoma, which is/was a major grain location. Union Equity had two massive grain elevators and they had a method of bringing a string of grain boxes into the unloading house, where the cars would be separated mechanically and then one car at a time was clamped down and the car turned on its side, still clamped down to the track, and the paper grain door was split and the grain fell into a pit under the tracks. They also used wooden grain doors but not on this particular track. Quite a sight to see. I don't know how long that continued after I graduated and went to work for Santa Fe in Topeka offices. My discription may be a little off after all these years, but it really was a sight. I believe the table could also shake the car while on its side to get all the grain out. This method ended when the covered hoppers took over.
Bob
I grew up just down the street from a feed mill in a small town in upstate NY. The way they did it before hopper cars was to punch a hole in the paper grain door, let that part ofr the load fall down the chute that was rigged to the hole, then shovel it out with scoop shovels. Later, back in the late 60's (they didn yet have the proper pit and elevator for receiving hopper cars until about 1969 or 1970). they purchased a vacuum unit that could suck the grain out. The suction unit was attached to a flexible hose that could be moved throughout the car. That made it somewhat easier but some shoveling was still required. It also quickened the unloading process. BTW, those paper grain doors were not just paper, but a very thick cardboard with metal strapping in the cardboard to reinforce them. These grain doors were nailed to the inside of the car and the floor with double-headed nails so to make them easy to remove after use.
One former elevator manager described the use of what he called "Mormon Boards". Basically these were large sheets of wood (planks or plywood) attached to a cable and winch. One person would run the winch, the other would steer the board - in essence a large shovel with more horsepower behind it. After the basic gravity flow of grain out of the car, the board would be steered to plow the loose grain to the door.
During the grain rushes some farmer could pick up a few extra bucks by "coopering" boxcar - fitting boards or paper grain doors across the doorways.
I worked for Cargill grain in Milwaukee for a number of years, we would get about 15 to 20 boxcars a day to unload. The car was pulled into the unloading bay the brakes would be set on the car, then the door was slide open the 1st floor guy swung this mean looking ram arm up to the grain door the arm went in and out with a huge blast of air. One the end of the arm was a 1in thick steel plate with 11/2inch bolts sticking out to face the door these bolts where sharpen to a pin point , when the pit man pulled the lever watch out the grain was opened in short order. The guys would stand back and let as much of the grain as they could run out. For now came the hard,hot and very dirty work. Did I say dirty? Like binder said we used boards about 4ft x 4ft reinfroced with 2 bys one guy who was always the oldest ran the winch,there was two cables that crossed over each other, what happened was has one guy walked to his end of the boxcar the other guy would be pulled with his board toward the door and then he would walk to his corner while the other guy was pulled toward the door. A good crew could do a boxcar in about a 1/2 hr. depending how hot it was and the type of grain, but at the end they still had to finnish with a good 0ld broom and shovel.
I was a clerk every morning I would list all the cars in our yard empetys on the east end of the yard loads on the west end. On a really hot day my boss who looked like he ate tacks and nails for breakfast (but was a big push over) would ask me how many loads out there most days was 10 to 20. He would go into the little trailer we had for a locked room there he would tell the lead man I need 12 or 15 cars unloaded for the day and when ever they where done the guy's unloading could leave for the day with a full 8hrs pay even if it only took 6hrs. Need I say those shovels where hummimg all morning no lunch breaks hardly even a potty break by 1PM the unload crew was on there way home as for the loading crews their days were about 10hrs.
back in the day they used 40 ton boxcars fitted with side doors and false panels so the grain can be unloaded at the dock. cleanup was a mess and sometimes birds got into the cars looking for a free lunch or gullet rocks. that changed in 1960 when Rail Car America and Southern Railway invented the first hopper car The Big John since then all grain and soda ash is shipped in covered hoppers like the Big John. (source Trains Magazine Grain Special)