Well I am at the beginning stages of a layout and I am looking to model a 30-40 silo concret grain elevator, im looking to model present day BNSF, I was looking for maybe some pictures of some grain elevators that people have modeled. Im looking at using the Suncoast Model Concret grain elevator kit, Just wondering if that is a good one to use? Its the only one I could find with an extention kit so I can have a 30-40 silo grain elevator.
My reason for grain elevator is im from Nebraska and grain is a huge industry in Nebraska, so watching switchers move cars at the elevator is something that interest me a lot, im currently trying to find a real life elevator to model but i cant find just the right one.
Looking forward to hear from everyone.
Try this link--hundreds of photos of grain elevators: http://www.bnsf.com/customers/what-can-i-ship/grains-feed/#%23subtabs-3
John Timm
Not a model, but here is a picture you might like. It is in Alton IL.
I was not taking a picture of the elevator but of the bluffs.
Cuda Ken
I hate Rust
So ive decided on two grain elevators, Im between the greenwood elevator and the Union Equity Grain elevator,
hhere are some pictures of the greenwood elevators.
Here are some pictures of the Union Equity Grain elevator
I used the ruler tool in Google earth on the grain elevator to determine the diameter of one silo, because i am going to be building these out of PVC, I came up with 32ft across which came out to be 5.1" in HO scale for the greenwood east silos, is that correct? Another problem I am having is I cant measure how tall these elevators are due to the fact that I have no access to them and Google earth will not let you use the ruler to measure how tall buildings are, so does anyone know of any places I could find heights on grain elevators, They don't need to be perfect im just trying to get as close as possible with this.
The help would be great and I would like to start buying PVC as soon as possible. some of you may ask if I will be able to fit such large elevators on my layout, yes im dealing with 16ft long layout but only 5ft wide so they should fit nicely.
I also have a thing for the grain elevator theme. I purchased 3 of the Walthers kits and kit bashed it together and it turned out perfect for what I wanted. I like the look of the second one you posted just because of the size of the complex. That would be a fun one to try and duplicate.
I am guessing they are right around 224 feet. I measured the top of one silo in the picture and on my screen it was 1/4 inch. Then I measured from the base to the top and it was 1 and 3/4 inches. Then took your 32 feet X 7 and I came up with the 224.
BN Grain Hauler My reason for grain elevator is im from Nebraska and grain is a huge industry in Nebraska, so watching switchers move cars at the elevator is something that interest me a lot, im currently trying to find a real life elevator to model but i cant find just the right one. Looking forward to hear from everyone.
I live in Kansas City, but am modeling the Santa Fe lines around Enid OK back in 1989 where I grew up. Enid is a town surrounded by many grain elevators and so I have finished a total of 31 elevators on my layout, which is three decks and 29ft by 33ft. The elevators range from some pretty large ones, mostly ex Union Equity/Farmland, but with a mix also of General Mills, Pillsbury (ADM), and several lesser known names. Most were built using the Walthers grain elevator kits (and I confess to have cleaned most dealers out of them over the past few years), plus some done with CVS for contrast, and even have a group of octonal shaped silos done for me out of hard wood by a gentleman from Texas who visited several years ago and built the silos after visitng my layout and he then brought them by for another visit. My largest elevators include 3 different ones that measure 9ft to 10ft in length but most are 4ft to 6ft in length. I also have a few of the old country style elevators that were found along the Enid District back in the days I model. Don't know where in Nebraska you live, but if you ever slip south of the border to Kansas, you are welcome to visit. another modeler in KC, Tom Stolte, who owns Oddball decals has also modeled several large grain elevators as has Jim Duncan who lives about 5 miles from me. All would be happy to have you visit.
Also I roster a few hundred covered hoppers, mostly ExactRail and Intermountain, with some P2K thrown in to serve those elevators. Takes a lot of grain cars.
Bob
Which wathers grain elevator kit are you guys using to kitbash? The ADM Concret Elevator kit or the Modern Grain elevator kit?
not trying to say your 224ft is wrong Cudaken but im just wondering if that sounds like a true height for a grain elevator?
Pastorbob, youve built a lot of grain elevators how tall are yours usually?
RiversideBNSF, I agree with you the 2nd larger complex is pretty sweet.
Also was my 32ft conversion to HO scale correct with 5.1"?
I use both Walthers kits for elevators, mostly the ADM. I have modified the head houses on some, the loading sheds on some, I have one on the workbench now which will be four silos wide and 16 bins long. The bin silos height is the height used in the kits by Walthers. I have experimented with higher silos but have found that too high looks out of place on the layout (in my opinion). the Hex shaped silos the Texas guy did for me are about 4 inches higher than the Walthers.
The biggest problems with higher silos is reaching over to uncouple cars without snagging sleeves.
I also use white body putty liberally in some places with the silos where they won't snug up.
5.1" diameter silos converts to about 37 (not 32) HO scale feet. The silos in the Walthers ADMgrain elevator kit #933-3022 are about 2 5/16" in diameter or about 16 or 17 HO scale feet.
Good luck.
skagitrailbird 5.1" diameter silos converts to about 37 (not 32) HO scale feet. The silos in the Walthers ADMgrain elevator kit #933-3022 are about 2 5/16" in diameter or about 16 or 17 HO scale feet. Good luck.
Thanks for that skagitrailbird, I am definitely not going to be useing the wathers kits, my prototype is almost twice as large. I guess its time to go buy PVC
B N Grain Hauler, in no way am I saying I am right. Plus I did not check the math.
Could they be that high, well if you look at the Picture I posted of the Elevator in Alton IL the buffs are around 150 foot +.
If the math was correct then in HO scale they be 2.5 feet tall, I as well think that would be way to tall.
Agreed but, your grain elevator is also a lot smaller in size then the elevator i would like to model, so 224 could be some what right.
Does anyone know of anyway of finding out the height of a grain elevator without climbing it? There is no info that I could find on the internet on how tall this grain elevator is.
The silos in the picture measure 9 inches hign by 2 5/8ths. in diamater,
Happy Railroading
Don't Ever Give Up
Here is some info on the grain elevator I am going top try and model,
Name: Eastern Nebraska Grain LLC
Capacity: 5,072,000 bu.
Track Capacity: 110 Cars
Railroad Service: R / OLB, UP, KCS, BNSF
Grain Handled: CR, SG, WH, SB
I am going to Email the Merch. and see if he will be able to give me any of the dimensions on the building, Mainly height.
As I mentioned in my first post, grain elevators on HO layouts can tend to get too high. I know what you want to model, I was the same way when I started, "run those babies up to the sky" but when I built a test elevator using some PCV and trying to match the Farmland elevators in Enid OK, I quickly found the height dwarfed the layout, and my layout is not small. that is when I tried the Walthers with the shorter silos, and they fit in better. My longest Farmland elevator is 8ft long with three headhouses incorporated and let me tell you they tend to look pretty impressive in the railyard at Enid. Part of my layout has a pensisula (sp) yard for Enid and I have solid complexes on both sides with tracks running down the middle.
I built a fairly large elevator for a free-mo module, it's about 15" tall (108 scale feet) and 26" long. The elevator housing is an additional 12" tall so the overall height is 27". I used cardboard mailing tubes, 14 of them and then cut some into arcs to form a "scallop" between the main silos. If I do it again, I'll make it out of thin walled PVC. Regular PVC would work but it ends up being very heavy for an elevator this size.
I used Google Sketch-Up to find the dimensions.
You can see it in this youtube video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL_oJww4HR0
Ricky
Export grain elevator modeled with wooden dowel silos 35 years ago for kids' layout...
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/511/nortelev.jpg
Mockup of export grain elevator on layout under construction
to recreate this prototype (view as seen from train...)
Okay, i do understand why if I made it full size everything would seem tiny, So i was think 18" tall would still be a reasonable height, that would still be quite tall compared to HO trains but then I would still get the effect of having a extremely large and tall building on my layout.
The question I have is if the silos are 5" round in HO scale would it look odd that it would be "short and Fat" The reason I ask this is because on the norther unit of silos on the ENG LLC they have three silos side by side not 2
BN Grain Hauler
This is a photo of my grain elevator. It is kitbashed from the Walthers ADM kit plus other kits and plastic pieces. On my layout, the grain elevator was a good choice for an industry against the backdrop of the layout. My model railroad is a fictional division of the CB&Q during the 1950's and 1960's when grain moved in boxcars.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
BN Grain Hauler Okay, i do understand why if I made it full size everything would seem tiny, So i was think 18" tall would still be a reasonable height, that would still be quite tall compared to HO trains but then I would still get the effect of having a extremely large and tall building on my layout. The question I have is if the silos are 5" round in HO scale would it look odd that it would be "short and Fat" The reason I ask this is because on the norther unit of silos on the ENG LLC they have three silos side by side not 2
I could show you some older elevators in the Kansas City area you wouldn't believe. They have been added on to so many times it is hard to tell which was original, though I have learned that shorter silos were used several years ago, and then progressed to using the taller silos. Also sheds and head houses were added on at various times and the handling equipment varied by age also. One of the more interesting elevators in the KC area was the old Santa Fe terminal elevator in Argentine area. Man, what a conglomeration. Chuck Hitchcock modeled it for his Santa Fe several years ago.
My first hand exposure was one summer in Enid Oklahoma when summer jobs were tight, and I was in college working for tuition money. I hired out on a crew building a new Union Equity (now Farmland) terminal elevator with the hex silos. 12 hours a day pushing a mud buggy with concrete from the edge to the silo forms. I still wake up at nights thinking about it. And I have a fear of heights. Don't cha just know I would be assigned to the buggy.
This is an old picture of my grain silos.
They measure 9 inches high. Imagine this scene with them twice as high. I m o in modeling you need to create an illusion of what you are modeling not an actual replica.
How woudl a mountain an other scenery look in comparison with 18" tall silos.
Just my opinion but it's your railroad
Well I crunched all the numbers to see just how much PVC it would take to build the ENG LLC Elevator, and it looking like its going to take 210ft of 3" diam. PVC with the silo's being 18" tall and when its all done the complex will be 8 scale feet long and will be 5 scale feet across. The top of the head house will be right at 38" high
As of right now I am still planning on modeling this and am planning to start buying and cutting PVC this week.
I will post pictures of the progress.
it's your call, however, having learned from experience, better add a few more feet to your PCV order because you will cut some that aren't perfectly cut and will have to be discarded.
BN Grain Hauler Well I crunched all the numbers to see just how much PVC it would take to build the ENG LLC Elevator, and it looking like its going to take 210ft of 3" diam. PVC with the silo's being 18" tall and when its all done the complex will be 8 scale feet long and will be 5 scale feet across. The top of the head house will be right at 38" high As of right now I am still planning on modeling this and am planning to start buying and cutting PVC this week. I will post pictures of the progress.
I would look and see what the price difference is on thin walled PVC. Irrigation supply stores and places like Ace Hardware tend to carry it and it may save you a few dollars
Pastor Bob, Thanks for sharing the website of your layout. Very fascinating and informative.
Grain Hauler. I just called Eastern Nebraska Grain in Lincoln and was told their silo's are either 14 or 16' in diameter and 100' tall. If it is the one in Lincoln that you are modeling this should help. This is the one by 27th street.
The DINGER line Free Lance Steam to Diesel
Sounds like you have plenty of space to do this. For those that are space challenged I just saw this picture today on Railpictures.net of a grain loading facility in Portland with actual 45 degree curves for the loading tracks. The picture is here:
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=339228
Here is a Google maps link that I created with the overhead angle view:
http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&q=cld+pacific+grain&fb=1&gl=us&hq=cld+pacific+grain&ei=TVqiTOLJHMH_lgesiOmfBA&ved=0CC8QtgMwAw&hnear=&radius=15000&ll=45.529369,-122.668662&spn=0.004103,0.00618&t=h&z=18
Looks like it would make a good diorama subject or a smaller facility if you don't have space for something huge but wanted some grain operations...
Joe
jmart4173 Sounds like you have plenty of space to do this. For those that are space challenged I just saw this picture today on Railpictures.net of a grain loading facility in Portland with actual 45 degree curves for the loading tracks. The picture is here: http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=339228 Here is a Google maps link that I created with the overhead angle view: http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&q=cld+pacific+grain&fb=1&gl=us&hq=cld+pacific+grain&ei=TVqiTOLJHMH_lgesiOmfBA&ved=0CC8QtgMwAw&hnear=&radius=15000&ll=45.529369,-122.668662&spn=0.004103,0.00618&t=h&z=18 Looks like it would make a good diorama subject or a smaller facility if you don't have space for something huge but wanted some grain operations... Joe
Holy cow!! That's the tightest radius I've ever seen on the prototype!
Michael
CEO- Mile-HI-RailroadPrototype: D&RGW Moffat Line 1989