I know nothing of grain elevators, but I have worked in hazardous and explosive environments that had electric lighting.
It was specialized hardware, but if you can have electric lighting in a concentration plant, sugar mill, or fertilizer plant, why not a grain elevator?
-Kevin
Living the dream.
My earliest ancestors settled in the Swan River Valley in Manitoba in the 1790s. My cousin married a kid off the farm in 1976 from Saskatchewan. In 1969 they were still using horses and wagons to take their grain to the elevator and had no running water or electricity on the farm. They were probably the last farm in Canada to be operating like that.
I live a very comfortable life in B.C. but have had plenty of exposure to ranch and farm life. There are no cookie-cutter examples of what things should be like as far as what we model, If the cattle bust a 2" x 8" board in the cattle pen and you grab a 2" x 10" to replace it, so what. Yet if you do that on the layout someone will point out sloppy modeling. "Not all your boards are the same" they will say.
The same goes for lighting the elevator. All-nighters loading railcars were commonplace at that time of year, just to provide space in the elevator and bins for more incoming grain the next day. City slickers telling how it was done and what was is a none starter.
I have a 4 x 4 F-350 p/u that rarely gets put in 4 wheel drive. I remember my Uncle saying he did not think his truck had ever been taken out of 4 wheel drive from the day he brought it home. Half the time I drove that thing around the ranch I was not even on a dirt path never mind a road. It is another world on the farm and/or ranch and unless you spend time there you are being presumptuous pretending to know what goes on.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
BATMAN There are no cookie-cutter examples of what things should be like as far as what we model.
That's the truth.
Looking on farms for standardization is a losing venture.
Down here, if you give a farmer an old school bus and a couple tons of angle iron, he can build anything.
I was very surprised to find out that "grove goats" are mostly custom made from used school buses.
I grew up on a fishing resort. Somewhat similar to farm life I reckon as there was ALWAYS LOTS of W**K to be done. One difference between a resort and a farm is hospitality, you have to be nice!
International Falls was 35 miles away. Our basement and garage were full of things that you think you would need if anything went wrong and something always went wrong!
If the thing you needed was not there, it wasn't like you could stop what you were doing and run to town. Not Today!!! Not with guests running all over the place needing a fishing license, minnows, gas, fish cleaned, pizza or Whatever!
You taped things back together good enough so to speak until the next time you went to town. Literally!
It would get to 40-50° below zero in the winter sometimes (Just see how fast you become an experienced furnace repair guy on a night like that), although you thought you bled all the water lines in the fall under each cabin perfectly Not even close as plumbing was extensive in the spring but some of those didn't show up until your guests were there. Many-a-times we had those rubber things with the clamps on a pipe to Band-Aid it until the time it could be done right. Black tape wrapped tight worked for a while if you ran out of clamps. Just one example of the many.
So if someone said to me, That doesn't look right Track Fiddler. I'd say "I know", I haven't been to town yet!
Nothing ever looked right anytime all the time. So if something doesn't look completely right on your layout, don't worry about it, that's the real world!
TF
ModelTrainQuestion: I was thinking of maybe adding a light, in a few months, in the upper part of the elevator but I don't know if normally we can see lights inside a real elevator like this. What do you think?
There is a wide range of modeling thought here.
Are you aiming for absolute authenticity, or are you making a layout that is what you like but may not be accurate?
If you would like the look of some light coming from the windows, I'd say put it in. Who cares if it's completely accurate? You will like it, and that's the important thing.
York1 John
The distributor was at the top of the elevator and if it got stuck or didn't seat properly usually caused by spilled grain someone would have to go clear it. At busy times the loading could go on all night and if someone had to go up they would need light.
I may be wrong but I think the lights would all be turned on before operation started as a spark is most likely to occur when the switch is flipped. Flipping the switch before things get going means fewer combustibles floating around inside.
So have a light, it works for me.
I just googled explosion-proof grain elevator light and got lots of images. Note the pipe, just as I remember.
That was a nice find Brent, I guess that sums up safety lights for grain elevators or other high-risk explosive areas.
I would imagine that amber globe was shatter-resistant or shatterproof even though it had a guard on it.
BATMANI just googled explosion-proof grain elevator light and got lots of images. Note the pipe, just as I remember.
When we built the CNG training center in Atlanta, the explosion proof light fixtures in the lab area looked almost exactyly like that. They were about $750.00 each, and looked like something from 1940.
I've always been a big fan of lights on layouts - they just seem to add a bit liveliness and dimension. It looks like you've already received some mixed replies about lights on grain elevators specifically. As some pointed out its seems logical that it woud hve some light but the argument about the potential for fire also seems sound. That said, I imagine that somewhere there is probably at least one grain elevator somewhere that's lit up at night. And the ultimate answer is that if it looks right on your layout and in your scene then you should probably go for it. (You can always just not invite any grain farmers over to see the layout.)
ScenerySheetsI've always been a big fan of lights on layouts - they just seem to add a bit liveliness and dimension. It looks like you've already received some mixed replies about lights on grain elevators specifically. As some pointed out its seems logical that it woud hve some light but the argument about the potential for fire also seems sound. That said, I imagine that somewhere there is probably at least one grain elevator somewhere that's lit up at night. And the ultimate answer is that if it looks right on your layout and in your scene then you should probably go for it. (You can always just not invite any grain farmers over to see the layout.)
Hi Dom,
Very well said!
Welcome to the forums!!
Stef,
Sometimes some forum members state things in absolute terms that may make the OPs feel as though they are wrong if they do things differently. We shouldn't take those pronouncements to heart. It's your railway. If you want lights in the grain elevator, then put lights in the grain elevator!
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Finally, here is the final result and the prototype I tried to model.
I had lots of difficulties with the decals on this model. I have used Micro-Set and Micro-Sol but they don't seem to stick to the model.
Stef
You've done a nice job on the weathering, Stef...lights or no lights.
Wayne
doctorwayne You've done a nice job on the weathering, Stef...lights or no lights. Wayne
Thank you. I am also happy with the result. A little bit less about the decals.
Lastspikemike Decalling an uneven surface is very tricky. The decal does not lie down into the grooves or other surface irregularities very easily. There are stronger decal softeners than Microsol. Tamiya makes a couple of levels of stronger softener for example. When softening decals aggressively it's very important not to move or even touch the decal until the softener has dried up. Also, when placing your model on your layout note where the engine house is relative to the main elevator in that prototype picture. That little flat roofed building is the engine house. These buildings were separated from the grain handling parts of the structures for fire safety reasons. The belt drives from the engine house into the elevator lifting machinery ran under the truck delivery area floor. McNab isn't all that far from where I live.
Decalling an uneven surface is very tricky. The decal does not lie down into the grooves or other surface irregularities very easily.
There are stronger decal softeners than Microsol. Tamiya makes a couple of levels of stronger softener for example.
When softening decals aggressively it's very important not to move or even touch the decal until the softener has dried up.
Also, when placing your model on your layout note where the engine house is relative to the main elevator in that prototype picture. That little flat roofed building is the engine house. These buildings were separated from the grain handling parts of the structures for fire safety reasons. The belt drives from the engine house into the elevator lifting machinery ran under the truck delivery area floor.
McNab isn't all that far from where I live.
Thanks for the information. I really appreciate.
doctorwayneYou've done a nice job on the weathering, Stef...
I agree!
Your grain elevator model looks great Stef. I like your weathering job as well
hon30critter doctorwayne You've done a nice job on the weathering, Stef... I agree! Dave
doctorwayne You've done a nice job on the weathering, Stef...
Thanks Dave. I am still not very happy with my decals. They look too young for this building. I tried to sand it a little bit but the decals keep moving when I do this.
Track fiddler Your grain elevator model looks great Stef. I like your weathering job as well TF
Thanks TF. I really like building kits. It's the fourth kit I finished since I began in the hobby four months ago.
This video has nothing to do with the OP's topic, but here is some good video footage of what happens when grain dust and a heat source meet:
https://www.agweb.com/news/business/health/close-call-no-injuries-after-smoldering-grain-sparks-iowa-grain-elevator
Thanks John for the link. Very interesting to know more about those grain elevators. Here in Québec, Canada we have the kind of circular one. The biggest are made of concrete but the smallest are near farms and I don't know what they are made of.