Grain Loading Facility

john, Looking awesome!  

This is going to be one heck of a scene John! Keep the progress pics coming.

Dave

Mike, Dave, Joe,

thank you!

John,

Fantastic! What are your grain silos made out of? I was toying with using heavy construction paper shaped around round large ice cream buckets but haven't given the idea up,but am having trouble with forming the tops of the bins. These would be metal grain bins,not concrete silos.

Al Hummel

A good source for concrete silos is 4" schedule 80 PVC pipe. It's sold in 10-foot lengths at big box home improvement stores. Spray them with some primer and concrete textured paint and you're on your way. We were working on one as a view block but abandoned the project. However, we cut some of them down for a small silo set for the brewery.

Thanks Alan! I’m using 8” Sonotube for the silos, 1/4 foam board for the roofs, both sealed with clear polyurethane from rattle cans. I’m also applying a couple thin coats of drywall mud to simulate concrete and will score lines in them to replicate jump form seams, and then apply details. Matt’s recommendation of using PVC tube sounds great too.

I used Plastic pipe for my grain and cement elevators..

Great info here.....thanks to all.

Peter

Forget the Silo! Did your locomotive come with the walkway lights or is that someting you installed yourself?

Hi Mark! I installed the 3mm LEDs, and a NCE d408 decoder, in the loco when I bought it back in 2010. I'm going to replace the LEDs soon though, with 0805 warm white light SMD SMT LEDs, as I think they best replicate incandescent lighting. I'm also going to upgrade the loco with a Tsunami TSU-4400 at that time so it will have sound.

Nice work guys!  A few pictures of a prototype or just plain imagination, they all work.   I was posed with a problem of filling a corner and still make it productive. The answer was a grain terminal.  Just a styrene and wood frame main 'box' building and carpet/rolled flooring tubing for the silos.  The rest is just a few different size dowels,  some spare detail parts and windows, and let's not forget  a little artistic license. That's the fun in this hobby.  Keep up the great work!

That looks great Myles, and a good utilization of space, thanks for sharing! I'm still plugging away at mine, occasionally updating photos at beginning of thread.

If you want to see huge facilities, you need to go to, Kansas, Hutchinson. Not only lots of trains, but the area has the largest underground salt mine in the US. They use systems just like grain.

Dick

Hutchinson, Kansas.......

Rock salt from 600 feet down.

Air and Space also

Not all Kansas silo's held grain...Titan II

Myles corner problem definitley solved.

CBS072 thanks for those great shots of Hutchinson, Kansas.

john,

Thank you for the entertaining video! Would like to see a video of grain cars being switched sometime if you're far enough along with your elevator to be changing cars yet.

Thanks again!

As Always,

Al Hummel

Thanks Alan!

John, loved your video, hope you will shoot more.

Your track work is so very good and smooth. I know all the work and time involved to level it so well.

Ron H

Thank you Ron!

John,  Thanks for sharing your update!    Looks like it will  be a smooth operation! 

What are you using for detection on your blocks? 

Thanks Mike! I’m using NCE BD20’s for block detection.

John,

BEAUTIFUL trackwork!! Wish I had the patience and skill. 1st,the money! Lol!

Al Hummel

John,

I really enjoyed your video! Your layout is coming along nicely.  I like the Overland DASH 8 and 9's. Are the brass Geeps Overland Models? 

Thanks,

Travis

Thank you Travis! Yes the Geeps are Overland’s.

jgtrh62 posted:

I was tweaking some track work on the east side of my grain silo today and made a short video of it in the process if you care to watch.

Simply beautiful. No overbearing engine sounds. 

Thanks Rod!