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What would the function of this structure be?

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What would the function of this structure be?
Posted by John-NYBW on Saturday, June 11, 2022 9:45 AM

Shop Online, Find Deals, and Compare Prices | Shopping from Microsoft Start (msn.com)

I saw this on a pop up ad and I clicked on it because I was curious about what it was. At first glance I thought it was coaling tower. It's G scale and way too expensive for me. All it says is that it is a storage tower. Just what would be stored in a storage tower and why would a tower be preferred as a storage structure?

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Posted by doctorwayne on Saturday, June 11, 2022 11:24 AM

It doesn't look much like a storage tower to me.  With all those windows, it might be storage for sunlight or maybe air, or at best, office space for employees.

I'm sure it'll be a hot seller.

Wayne

 

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Posted by NorthBrit on Saturday, June 11, 2022 11:36 AM

To the world you are someone.    To someone you are the world

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Posted by wrench567 on Saturday, June 11, 2022 11:39 AM

  It's a European grain or barley elevator. There is a cylinder shaped sometimes oval inside with the elevation apparatus enclosed. There are also stairs and bagging equipment also. Not only bulk shipping but also anyone brewing beer at home could get the ingredients right out of the silo. The windows would be opened on nice windy days to blow out accumulated dust. The enclosure would keep out the moisture to inhibit rot and mold.

    Pete.

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Posted by John-NYBW on Saturday, June 11, 2022 4:20 PM

So is "storage tower" a euro term for a grain elevator? I googled the term and got lots of hits for tall indoor storage drawers.

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Posted by crossthedog on Sunday, June 12, 2022 12:22 AM

doctorwayne
With all those windows, it might be storage for sunlight or maybe air

Dang, there's my gut laugh for the day. Thanks Doc. I needed that.

-Matt

Returning to model railroading after 40 years and taking unconscionable liberties with the SP&S, Northern Pacific and Great Northern roads in the '40s and '50s.

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Posted by wjstix on Monday, June 13, 2022 9:48 AM

John-NYBW

So is "storage tower" a euro term for a grain elevator? I googled the term and got lots of hits for tall indoor storage drawers.

 
The link in your original post has changed so I can't see how it's shown there, but most likely it was either a mis-translation or just written by someone unfamiliar with industrial buildings who was taking a guess at what the building was. I'm pretty sure every European language has a phrase for 'grain elevator' or 'grain silo' etc.
Stix
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Posted by Doughless on Monday, June 13, 2022 10:17 AM

Producers will also make different buildings from the same basic molds, only changing the details a bit.  This may in fact be some sort of verticle storage building version of a mold that was originally made to produce a European grain elevator.

Here is an example of two buildings from the same molds (and we can think of many more):

Grain Elevator

Model Power 306 HO Grain Elevator Building Kit – Trainz

 

Sand & gravel tower

Model Power HO M. Walker & Son Sand & Gravel Grading Tower Kit – HOBBY RAILS

- Douglas

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Posted by Overmod on Monday, June 13, 2022 11:45 AM

When I clicked on that link, it took me quite some time to get back out of MSN trying to sell me stuff...

Turns out that it IS 'BayWa', which is a German company founded as an agricultural cooperative in 1923.  They have apparently since diversified into construction materials... which is another place the 'BauWa' in the ad text would trip the unwary (like me).

'Raiffeisen' is not a common noun relating to iron; it's a agricultural cooperative bank arrangement (named after Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen).

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Posted by BATMAN on Monday, June 13, 2022 11:51 AM

In Vancouver, there were and may still be a couple of small elevators like these used for local distribution just down the tracks from the massive elevators used for export. There was a single track through it for unloading a railcar and a bay for the trucks to pick up. Most elevators you see here have no windows, however, these two had windows all over them and most of them were always broken. Being harbour front, the pigeons and gulls flying into them smashed them to bits constantly. As the years went by I remember them giving up replacing the windows altogether and just leaving some of the openings open to the elements and boarded up others. Glass just seems like a bad idea for this type of structure but there may have been a reason to use so much.

Brent

"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."

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Posted by dehusman on Monday, June 13, 2022 12:38 PM

If you are modeling Europe this model may be good.  If you are modeling N America this model doesn't look like any elevator used around here.

Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com

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Posted by cefinkjr on Wednesday, June 15, 2022 6:46 PM

crossthedog

 

That was a good line but the final "hot seller" line was a bonus laugh. Big Smile

 

 
doctorwayne
With all those windows, it might be storage for sunlight or maybe air

 

Dang, there's my gut laugh for the day. Thanks Doc. I needed that.

 

-Matt

 

Chuck
Allen, TX

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Posted by wjstix on Thursday, June 16, 2022 8:31 AM

I think the Model Power building line was made in Europe (maybe by Pola?) and I think many of the buildings sold here as US buildings were "Americanized" versions of European buildings. Compare the pic of their grain elevator Doughless posted earlier to the Walthers one for example.

https://www.walthers.com/farmers-cooperative-rural-grain-elevator-kit-elevator-8-7-8-x-7-1-4-x-10-quot-23-x-18-x-25cm

 

Stix

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