Silo Mockups

It’s been more than six years since I started the Great Western layout.  A major goal at first was to create a lot of structure mockups to help flavor the operating sessions. I recently completed ballasting the Loveland yard and the huge beet silo mockups now stuck out like a sore thumb.  This was a great impetus to get going on completing the silos.

The prototype dimensions were estimated using Google Earth images.   The diameter is easy to determine from above and that was used to estimate the height.  I settled on 170’ high.  The machinery buildings on top of the silos are about a 32’ cube with a large tube connecting them.  I don’t know what is in there but I suspect they contain typical grain elevator style equipment, just a  little stickier.

Here are the original mockups.  The silos themselves are 4 ½” PVC tube cut to 24” high. This is a little smaller around than the prototype (32 feet versus 40 feet) but the 170 foot height is correct.  The cardboard mockup of the loading bin was also estimated from the photos.  The mockups weren’t connected together at this time but were free standing.  Note that my version of the silos has the loading bin on the other side to make yard operations easier.  This photo is from the early construction of the layout – nothing much exists beyond the Loveland yard.

Silo Construction

The first order of business was to glue the silo quads together.  I had built silos for my previous C&S layout and I had difficulty getting them glued together square.  Some jigs were cobbled together to help out.

I used a chop saw to cut the silos to length and the ends were relatively square but not perfect.  The saw didn’t particularly like the PVC.  I used a vertical flat plate aligned with a level to look for the low spot on the top of each tube.  The tubes would be glued so the low spots would be on the inside hidden from view.

Once the low spots were determined, the low side was roughened with sandpaper and each tube pair was joined with high strength epoxy. 

The tube pairs were clamped and left overnight for the epoxy to fully cure.

Once the four pair were connected, the jig was again used to glue pairs together to form the quads.  A couple of squares were added to the jig to help align the sides of the pairs.  More epoxy was used to connect the quads.

Now I have four silo quads – much like I started with but now firmly connected together and very square and vertical. 

Silo Roof

Each silo is covered with a concrete deck (I guess).  The roofs are a cloverleaf shape with flat spots between the cylinders over fillets.  The roofs slightly overhang the silos.  From Google Earth:

My first attempt at the roof was a disaster. I figured 0.040” styrene was thick enough.  I also figured I could simply put a quad on the plastic and trace around the silos leaving a little margin for the overhang.

Easier said than done.  The silos are big and awkward to hold steady.  It was hard to leave a consistent margin.  And when I got the jeweler’s saw out to cut the plastic, 0.040” was hard to cut smoothly.  And when I did finally get a rough shape, it was too thin and didn’t look right.  Oh well, measure twice, cut once.

The next attempt was to use 0.080” styrene.  And I got my drafting tools out to draw the appropriate cut lines.  I left 1/8” around the outside of the silos for overhand and estimated how big the fillet area should be. 

This worked out much better.  The styrene had enough bulk to make the jeweler’s saw cut the plastic smoothly.  Some relaxing time spent sawing using old time rock and roll  to time the saw strokes made me a happy camper.  I added some short strips of styrene around the insides edges of the silos to align the roof.

Some sanding of the edges and some proper paint and I’m good to go.

Equipment Pods

I’ll call the cubes on top of the silos “Equipment pods” until a better term comes along.  The prototypes appear to be cubes about 32’ on a side.  A quick mockup showed a cube didn’t look quite right so I shortened the height to 26’.  It’s hard to tell the real geometry due to the perspective of photos taken of the top from ground level.

The pods are simple boxes of 0.040” styrene with a flat roof having a little less than a foot of overhang. The inside of the roof was reinforced with styrene strips that also align it with the sides of the box.  

A tricky part was to create the 2 ½” high “GW” logo.  I found a font in MS-Word that looked right – “Engravers MT (bold)”.  Though trial and error, I selected a 150 point high font.  This was then screen captured into a graphics program where it was stretched a little higher than normal.  It was then resized to double the height and saved as a JPEG file.  This file was imported into “Model Builder” and sized to fit a 26’x32’ box.  Simple (once you go through 7 or 8 trials)!

I first printed them on standard printer paper as a test and tack glued them to the pods. I will use matt photo paper for the final  build.  

I put the pods on top of the silo quads to see how things were looking.  I was satisfied things were working well after comparing then to a couple of photos.   It’s hard to get far enough away in the 24’x32’ train room to get the right perspective.  I also need a sky blue drop cloth to hide the rest of the layout for future photos.

The two pieces of blue extruded foam in front of the silos will be piles of coke and limestone.  A lot of raw material was brought in before the beet campaign started in the fall and the extra was piled wherever there was room.  The self powered ditcher crane was a busy guy!

The connecting tube between the pods is a piece of ½” PVC.  Boxes were fabricated to fit the tube and fit on the corners of the pods. I will add a piece of I-beam under the tube as a support.  I’m not sure if that exists on the prototype but it seems reasonable to me. 

Here is the final silo roof assembly before it’s all glued together.  There are probably some details I can add once it is complete.  I’ll skip the current cell phone antenna details.

Sugar Bin

The covered hopper loading building was called the “sugar bin” (current Google Earth photo below).   The prototype is 98’ feet long and 80’ high based on the 40’ silo diameter.  Since my silos are only 32’ in diameter, I shrunk the sugar bin to 75’ long by 60’ high.  Note that low shed in front is a modern addition not shown in the 1985 photos.  There were also some new extensions on either side (where the roof slope changes).  I will not model either of those items.

I suspect the bins are either poured concrete or concrete block construction.  I will go for smooth poured concrete.  The bin sides are 0.080” styrene.   The ends are also 0.080” styrene but are covered with Campbell corrugated metal  for visual interest. The ends will be slightly recessed on the bin.  The roof will be 0.040” styrene with either printed “Model Builder” corrugated metal or more Campbell corrugated metal. 

The reinforcing ribs are also 0.080” styrene with slightly rounded front edges.

The loading floor of the bin is simple basswood strips painted a concrete color (more color variation and weathering is needed). The center strip is a piece of linoleum painted concrete.   Hmm, is there an opportunity for sugar spillage at the ends of the loading floor (loose plaster piles)?

I like it

That's a great industry, George!

Thanks

Thanks Rob.  At least it's great big!

Much more to come, of course.

Great Job

I really like the the silos and your layout. I flew to Loveland from Buckly (east of Denver) on one of my cross country flights back in the early 70s. I was stationed at Lowry AFB.

Bill Michael

Really Nice

Thanks for posting this series George. Your elevator is turning out really nice and it has been educational. My future "dream layout" calls for a large grain elevator and some of the techniques you've demonstrated here have been documented in my personal files for future reference. Really nice work. I'll be looking forward to seeing the finished piece.

Thanks

Thanks Bill and Kevin. I hope what I am doing will help you in the future.

Glad to see the sugar plant coming back to life

Great job on those silos. I am saddened every time I drive by the dwindling remains there, so I love the fact that you are bringing it back to life!

Outstanding!

George, your silos and related buildings are coming along excellently!

Very impressive craftsmanship.

Nice Job

George,

   That looks fantastic!

Sugar Beet Guy

This is a great scratch built industry! Excellent.

Very Nice

...and don't you just love it when inexpensive things from Home Depot scale down?

Some Progress

Thanks for all the nice comments..

OK, I got most of the easy, quick part done now.  It’s on to adding more structure and details.

With the silo quads glued together it’s time to add some finishing touches.  The cylinders have a fillet between them, true purpose unknown to me. My “source of all GW knowledge” back in Colorado is currently not responding to my  queries so I have to do some guess work. Since there are doors and windows in the fillets, I assume they contain ladders or stairs to access the equipment on top of the silos.  

I cut strips of styrene and epoxied them between the cylinders on my original silos for the C&S layout.  This was tedious, error prone and did not look very good when itI was finished.  For this version I used model airplane triangular strips (aileron strips?).  The sides are ½” wide and the flat part is about ¾” wide.  This is about 6 scale feet, wide enough to hold windows and doors.

I prepped the strips by applying “sanding sealer” to the wide edge and sanding them to remove [most of] the wood grain.  Sanding sealer is highly stinky (contains toluol and methyl ethyl keytone) and required the use of my paint booth.  After they were reasonably smooth I painted them with primer.

The strips were glued between the silos using Woodland Scenics Foam Tack glue (my go-to glue for all kinds of stuff). Some glue oozed up along the joint and was wiped off with a damp paper towel.  Hopefully this will make the joint solid enough to avoid using spackle as a filler. I created a styrene template to make sure the fillets were aligned squarely.  I placed a piece of PVC tube on top of the fillet and weighted it to make sure the fillet was flat against the silos.  This was a multi-day process to add all the fillets since I wanted the glue to  cure fully before taking the weight off.       

I went back to the sugar bin area and added some color and weathering (various chalks) to the concrete loading pad.  The grey sheet behind the pad is the concrete base of the silos and will get the same treatment.

The limestone and coke piles were covered with coarse grey ballast (limestone) and medium cinders (coke). Once they are installed I will add more along the edges to smooth out the gaps along the bottom of each.

The sugar bin got a first coat of white paint and some details were added based on photos. A large vent in the upper middle was made from a piece of a Campbell window air conditioner with a fabricated styrene hood over it.  The power circuit for opening the end doors are pieces of brass wire, a small styrene rod, scrap box junction boxes and wire supports and upside down electric meters for the controls. The horizontal wire was bent slightly to indicate age related sagging.

The roof peak of the sugar bin has a piece of brass angle for a ridge line and a cobbled together receptacle for the sugar chute from the silo.  I’m going to use Model Builder printed rusty corrugated material for the roof.  A different color material will be used for skylights.  

Now I’m busy painting all the bits and pieces.  I intend to use Joe Fugate's zip weathering powder to give everything a semi grungy look.

Very nice

I used to live on the Front Range and Loveland and the Great Western was one of our go to trainspotting areas. Along with Cheyenne, North Denver, Colo. Spgs and Peublo ( including Caπon City.)

Turns out they had (have) some GP-20s that we loved to photograph.

Keep up the good work. Waiting excitedly for the final shots. But keep the progress shots coming...very inspirational. Thanks for your efforts.

Mark, Oroville, CA

Waiting for warmth...

to finish painting the silos. They are too big for my paint booth so I need to paint them outside. It's been cool and damp recently but it should be nice "soon". 

I have done some scenery updates in the silo area and will post some more photos this afternoon.

Thanks for the encouragement!  Have you seen this book?

Colorado's Great Western Railway, Two Decades of Color: 1990-2010
Orndorff, Kirk
Loveland, CO. Blurb.com, 2011

It has great color photos of the recent times.

Progress Photos

I haven’t had a chance to paint the silos or do any weathering yet but here are a few shots of the yard with most of the details in place.  

A close-up of the sugar bin entrance with a worker monitoring the covered hopper placement.  The sugar bin roof is a Model Builder print of corrugated metal with another material for skylights. Spilled sugar is along the track.   

An overview of the sugar beet yard on the left,  the sugar bin and “sugar hole” (warehouse) tracks in the middle and classification tracks on the right.  The backup limestone and coke piles are installed.  I’m not sure if it shows but I did some yard track weathering with alcohol and India ink.

    
A close up of the GW lettering on the equipment pod.  The silo and pod roofs are painted a camouflage color with a darker edge to capture the look in the prototype photos.

A view to the other side of the yard with the C&S interchange track along the warehouses.

I needed to increase the height of a Walthers Cornerstone water tank.  I used Central Valley bridge trusses to add the height and freelanced a shack for the beet yardmaster. The shack and platform act as a distraction from the clumsy connection of the CV trusses with the Walthers trusses.  

A view of the water tower and silos from the other side.  The water tower should be almost as tall as the silos but it’s “good enough” for me.  Yes, I definitely need some “sky” cloth to hide the rest of the layout room when I take photos.

I have really enjoyed

following your build here George.  The thought and detail you put into these structures are fantastic.  It was such a pleasure to meet you last month and have an opportunity to see your layout in person.  Truly an inspiration.

Awesome

I've really enjoyed watching this project come together.

A Sign of the Times

The GW plant was never much for advertising itself and had very few signs showing GW except for the big ones on the silos. A friend in Ft. Collins, CO, was looking through photos he had taken in the 1980's and came across this one.  He thought it may be appropriate for the train layout and he sent it to me.  All progress came to a halt as I took the bait.

A little work with MS Paint, Model Builder and bits of styrene produced this art deco version.  Now operators won’t have to ask “What factory is this supposed to be?”

A close-up of the message:

GW sign

I don't recall ever seeing that sign, Funny how things we see everyday don't stick in our minds.

Sticky Mind

Hi Rob,

I wrote my friend in Ft. Collins, Bill Kepner:

"Did you take that photo of the sign?   When did you do it?  It was Loveland, right?  Just curious."

Bill responds:

"Yes, I took it in Loveland.  I believe it was in the early Spring of 1984.  It would have been where the Sam's Club parking lot is now.  I was actually on a business trip to Loveland, staying in a motel by Monroe St and was wandering around the area with my camera."