Grain elevator progress (pics)

Ricky - Wow! Very nice pictures!  I've never seen a grain elevator I didn't like, but I like some better than others.  Love the Gold Medal Flour sign!

Art

I agree!  I gotta find an area to put some on my layout.  Just gotta do it.

I visited an HO layout recently that had about 20 grain elevators on it and they were done extremely well.  I will post a couple pictures of some of them later today.

Art

I'd like to see the control board.  I think there was a thread on that, I'll search.

Originally Posted by Big_Boy_4005:

Originally Posted by Apple & Spud Line:

Is anyone familiar with the ADM elevators on Hiawatha in Minneapolis? 

Very much so, I plan to devote 40' x 4' of layout to model the mile and a half long milling district.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you include the Cardinal across the street, I'll come visit.

I need the 4' width to get the elevators and the track in. I might be able to get it on the backdrop. Tell you what, if you come to visit, we can go there.

Want a grain elevator but  have a small area on the layout?  Check this out. This elevator is at Dodge City, Kansas.  They must have been short on money and/or it was a small company that built it.  Or did not have much plactic pipe.

Looks great Art!

Thanks for the comments and the great pictures.

I recently attended some HO layouts and one of them had the best selection of elevators I have ever seen.  In fact, this layout might the best overall I have ever seen.  I didn't count all the elevators but I'm guessing it has about 20 different ones.  Each is based on pictures taken of real ones.

Here is my grain elevator complex. You might remember that Alan (leavintracks) custom built it for my layout, and he had to fit it in the only space I had left available, which was along a curved section of track. As you can see, Alan did a wonderful job, and I am ever so thankful and fortunate to have an example of his superb craftsmanship on my layout. Afterwards, I added the piping, ‘metal’ structures, and lettering. Finally just today, after a year and a half, I had enough nerve to weather it.

 (Click on pictures for better detail)

Alex

Now Alan don't you think we could get twice that many on them

I'm with Bill on this one, the more lights, the better. 

I just never picture a grain elevator as being lit up like a refinery for example.  Maybe a few lights so workers can see but nothing special. 

Art 

Alex - What a beautiful model!  You and Alan did a great job on it.  Love the weathering.

Bill - Wow! That's a lot of pictures!  Where would you put a lot of lights?

Art

 Art,I like a lot of lights and think it makes the layout look very nice when running at night time. So I add a lot of lighting that people who like to run only day light don't really need.

So areas that I have lights are,  In the work house and around the silos and in the elevator and the unloading facility. If no work house then at the top of each silo so that the manhole area is lighted. Also on the Grain trucks themselfs. Lighting at the doorways and access ladders.

I think that the lights up on the silos themselfs really add dimension to them when the room lights are down a bit. Art Itried to get the pictures big enough so that you could see the little light fixtures.

Bill - I had forgotten that you had Alan make these great elevators for you, very nice!  I can't argue that lights make just about anything more dramatic.  You have proven that before with your refinery. 

Concerning this latest expansion of mine, I am struggling to not just try to make mine bigger for the sake of size, but rather try to represent the look and feel of the prototype.  I was so impressed with the large elevators in Kansas and Nebraska when we lived there that I wanted something like it on my RR.  Iowa and Illinois have large ones too, but usually more smaller ones.  I want to represent that too.

Art

Your new addition is looking great. It will also serve a little bit of a room divider for you sorta like you did with the farm dield I think.

I wamted a large complex that might be for flour and grains and some feed bins for the bye products of the varous milling operations. I wanted to have an unloading area that was enclosed due to the cols weather in the grain belt. So I have some larger diameter silos for corn,rice and sugar, smaller ones for flour, lite and heavy bran and salt.

I like the Big silos as well as the small ones. Just like in real life the concrete(slip formed ones are great) as well as the welded metal tanks. The bolted Harvestal probably are my least favorite.

Art & Bill:

What I like is you are both following your vision. That makes every model railroad special and reflects the design criteria each of us has in us. They both look sensational.

I especially  like these types of threads as they provide so many good ideas. Thanks for starting this thread, Art.

Here are three more pictures from the HO layout.  These are different types of complexes than we normally model in O gauge.

Art, that's a fantastic model. Can you post some more photo angles? By the way,since this has become a portfolio of grain elevators, here is one that is on the layout of the local HO club (http://www.lcmrr.org/).