Cargill Grain Elevator, 46 Silos Long!

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Trucklover

Trucklover

BNSF SD70MAC's
Hi guys, i just spent the day building this structure for a member on another forum, Scale Rails Online. His name is Dustin and he asked me to build a HUGE grain elevator for him. So he sent me the kits (3 Walthers N Scale ADM Grain Elevators) and i spent today building this HUGE structure.

The main Structure measures about 2-3/4" long x 3-1/4" wide (4-3/4" long x 3-1/4" wide with the large hopper car shed), and the silo structure measures about 29-1/2" long x 2-3/4" wide. All together it measures about 34-1/4" long x 3-1/4" wide. The Silo structure has 2 rows of 23 silos, making a total of 46 silos!

The entire structure is made to be set against a wall, so the back side has been left open. There are a total of 4 Cargill Signs on the structure. One of them is located on the front of the silo structure, 2 more along the side of the silo structure, and 1 more on the side of the main structure. It was painted white with Gray Conveyor Housing, Hopper Car Shed, Doors, and Roof Top Machinery.

Here are some overall pictures of this MASSIVE structure

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Just thought i would snap some pics off and share with you guys before i box this up and send it off to Dustin :D
 
Nice job on that grain elevator complex, Josh, Although it is massive for most HO layouts, it would only be a medium size structure in the real world. I saw one in Texas that was visible for miles before I got to it. I would guess it was about a mile long and had two switchers working a six track yard. Just because I was bored that day, I sat there and count the silos. The total was 158. :eek:. It was an ADM operation.
 


Any idea where, Jim? I'd like to see it too if it isn't far away.

Off of IH10, in West Baton Rouge, right before you cross the river to Baton Rouge, there's a nice elevator like this that takes the grain (or rice) from the cars and loads it onto barges. I thought about using that one as a guide for my little layout, and still may.
 
Trey, it was about four years ago, when I was traveling and living in my motorhome, so I don't remember the exact location. It was up in the panhandle. If I'm remembering right, it was in Vega, west of Amarillo. It was near sunset as I was approaching and the setting sun lit up those silos for miles. There's a nice little roadside park across from the elevator where I spent the night. For my evening exercise, I walked along the outer fence and counted silos as I went. I was amazed when I got to 158. I think there may have been even more silos behind the large silos that I couldn't see since the switchers were shuffling cars behind the big silos. It was a heck of an operation. Twenty four hours a day and I'll bet the yard must have had 200 covered hoppers.
 
Thanks, Jim. I checked my atlas and there are several graineries in the vicinity of Amarillo. I'll have to get out there sometime.

BTW, nice job on the Cargill elevator, Josh.
 
Using Google Earth, I found a pretty good-sized elevator in Amarillo, TX. I can't figure out how to cut and paste a link, but here are the coordinates:

35°13'5.07"N / 101°48'2.49"W

I looked at Vega, Texas -- and it appears that if there were any railroad tracks there, they've been removed. I also did not find any signs of an elevator there. I did a little bit of panning around, and didn't see anything around the Vega area. Of course, all that means is I didn't see it...

The one in Amarillo looks pretty big, though... as time permits, I may have to do some more "looking around".

BTW -- has anyone else done any "railfanning" using Google Earth? I know I can spend WAY too much time following tracks, especially in urban areas!

Regards,
Tom Stockton
 


I use maps.live.com (no www) it has a "birds eye view" of more populated areas, giving you an angled shot from 4 directions. It's MUCH better for rail-fanning, you can ID units, read road names, etc. Its like standing on the 10th or so floor a block away, if not a bit better...
 
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