On my layout I have 10 grain elevators. They are all in various levels of completion. I will make a series of posts in regards to them as I complete each one. Nine out of the ten elevators are scratch built and the only one that is completed is a Campbell's kit. The remaining are scratch built and use the same standard method for scratch built items which you can see in this post. How I build my scratch projects . They are all built based on pictures that I have taken and from my experiences in my farming background. Elevators are never built exactly the same and I have tried to incorporate different features into each one of them. There are not many decals available for my era of 1959. The only ones that are out there come from Microscale and the only ones that work are for United Grain Growers (UGG), Parrish & Heimbecker (P&H), and Federal. The others in the sets are too modern. Having said that we are lucky to have any of them. The decals for Searl, Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, Pioneer, National and Paterson were custom printed. As a point of interest Searl Grain is the only grain company that I am modelling that I did not actually deliver grain to while I was farming. There is an interesting article on the history of Canadian grain companies which is available on this blog http://vanishingsentinels.blogspot.ca This article is a time line for the Canadian grain industry Dates of Historical Interest. There is also an article that shows how an elevator works at this site http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/grain-elevators/ .
Take note not to confuse American and Canadian elevators as they are very different. The most notable difference being the driveway into the elevator itself. The Canadian ones are almost all raised and the majority of the American ones you enter at ground level. To do a full elevator scene would require about 14'X22" so you can fit in all the details. We can do it with less suing some compression. The office, the walkway from the office to the elevator, parking at the office, the driveways going in and out, storage shed, an annex and possibly a fertilizer shed are all things to consider in your build.
The 3 in Melville have been modified to fit the space that was available. These are all scratch built, being narrower than they would normally be to fit the space at the back of the yard. They are built using the same methods as I used for the 2nd class station.
These 2 in Waldron also will have some features left out because of space restrictions. These two are also scratch build.
The 3 in Atwater also will have some features left out because of space restrictions. These three are also scratch build.
This is the elevator in Lorlie and is a Campbell's kit. It is the smallest of all the elevators and would be the oldest plan. The fertilizer shed to the left is scratch built. This elevator kit that got all the space it needed.
This elevator is in Foster and is scratch built.
Take note not to confuse American and Canadian elevators as they are very different. The most notable difference being the driveway into the elevator itself. The Canadian ones are almost all raised and the majority of the American ones you enter at ground level. To do a full elevator scene would require about 14'X22" so you can fit in all the details. We can do it with less suing some compression. The office, the walkway from the office to the elevator, parking at the office, the driveways going in and out, storage shed, an annex and possibly a fertilizer shed are all things to consider in your build.
The 3 in Melville have been modified to fit the space that was available. These are all scratch built, being narrower than they would normally be to fit the space at the back of the yard. They are built using the same methods as I used for the 2nd class station.
These 2 in Waldron also will have some features left out because of space restrictions. These two are also scratch build.
The 3 in Atwater also will have some features left out because of space restrictions. These three are also scratch build.
This is the elevator in Lorlie and is a Campbell's kit. It is the smallest of all the elevators and would be the oldest plan. The fertilizer shed to the left is scratch built. This elevator kit that got all the space it needed.
This elevator is in Foster and is scratch built.
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