How big would is this grain elevator be in S Scale?

Hi Frank, using your photo and a little background info I can make a guesstimate.

First of all I think the engines are GP30's as that's what the RR shown owns.

A GP30 stands 15 feet tall in real life.

Your engine image measures 5/8 inch on my monitor or in decimal form .625 inches.

So....  .625 in = 15 feet.

The silos look to be 3.75 inches tall so 3.75/.625=6  so 6X15 (feet)= 90 feet.(16.875 inches in "S")

The silo diameter looks to be .75 inches so .75/.625=1.2 so 1.2X15=18 feet

(3.375 inches in "S")

The elevator looks to be 5.25 inches tall so 5.25/.625=8.4 so 8.4X15=126 feet. (23.635 inches in "S")

I know all these are measurements taken from a monitor with a ruler but it's really a measurement of ratio's.

Since the engine's height is fixed all other items can be scaled from that known number.

Maybe someone know's this photo's location and can supply the real silo specs.

It would be interesting to see the actual dimensions.

Mark

Frank, I was able to snoop out this location...Haggard, Kansas.

Mark

I have a wooden grain elevator that was scratchbuilt from a Model Railroader article,

that I bought, that is S scale, not O (as thought).  I may be able to find the article it

was based on...but it is much smaller than that, but could served as its predecessor..

new concrete ones were often put up as additions to old wooden ones..It is a good

model but looks too small among my O scale ones.....$50.00, shipped....

 The headhouse should be approx. 120 feet tall. The top gallery(above the bin deck) should be approx. 80 feet. The main elevator has 80 foot diameter bins. The annex are only 70 footers. The top gallery is 10 foot tall. The round black spots on the side are 24" access hatches.  Good luck hope to see pictures.

PS. Grain facilities are called "elevators". "Silo's" are for the complete chopped up grain plant.

PPS. That train runs thru my pasture.

One thing about grain elevators is no two are alike.  If you need a smaller one check this out from Dodge City, Kansas.

The fence on the right is 8 foot tall.

Not in Wi:  I will have to get a photo....might be able to scan the article it was built

from, but that is just that, and not the model....will get a photo but will take a while..

Hi Frank, the modified picture looks great.

Father.dragon states the bins are 80 foot in diameter but I think he meant to say 80' tall. At 80' in diameter the 12 bins making up the structure would be about 960 feet long for the bins alone. That's fifteen feet in S scale. Wow!

If I'm right as to the diameter of the bin to be around 18 feet then an easy way to model them would be to use 3" PVC pipe. With an outside diameter of 3.5 inches or so they would scale out to about 18' in S gauge.

I like the fact that the bins all touch in the revised photo.

If you ever build the model be sure to post pictures along with the real life photo.

Good luck!

Mark

before you commit to anything, i would suggest you do another type of research.  take a look through back issues of Model Railroader for layouts that incorporate grain elevator structures.  i have a feeling you will see many examples where the structure was compressed and still looks very realistic.  unless you have a warehouse size space to play with, a full scale structure of this size will dominate the entire layout whereas i imagine your building a train layout, you would want the focus to be fixed more on the trains than the scenery.

just something you might want to consider.

cheers...gary

Good Evening Gary,

Thank you, I appreciate your insight. To me, the compressed look is exactly want I want to avoid on structures.  I have viewed many O Scale and HO grain elevators in the past 40 years and they just do not look right to me. I want the structures on my layout to be 1:64 scale.

Regards,

Frank

Frank,

I think Mark is pretty close with his dimensions.

Alan Graziano 

The first ever concrete one is still standing in Wayzata, Minnesota. It's just a simple cylinder with a crown around the top.

 banjoflyer, I did not make a mistake. I work in these elevators. You see less than half of each bin.

My apologies.

Mark

S Scale is 3/16" to the foot. Or .1875" to the foot. So if the silo's are 110 feet tall in real life 110 X .1875 = 20.625" tall in S. Just take all measurements in real feet and multiply by .1875 and you'll have your S measurement.

Gandy