Re: [CBQ] CB&Q Grain Elevators, Grain Covered Hoppers, and Traffic

["Douglas Harding" <doug.harding@iowacentralrr.org>]

Louis the Rulo elevator appears to be covered with wood clapboard siding. Witness the horizontal lines barely visible between the horizontal beams. The spacing looks to be about 6” which would match clapboard siding. Corrugated iron was usually installed with the corrugations being vertical to allow quicker shedding of water. The visible exterior beams are braces designed to counter the outward forces of the weight of grain. Typically an iron rod was run through the beam, the bin, and through matching beam on the other side of the elevator. The ends of the rod was threaded so large washers and nuts kept the sides of the elevator held together. The photo of the Elmer elevator shows the horizontal beams on all sides. Note esp the rusty spots where the rod ends have a washer and nut. The Elmer KS elevator is covered with corrugated metal sheeting, with the beams wrapped in sheet metal flashing.

 

Jack’s drawing clearly shows the typical finger joint construction used to build wood elevators, But every wood elevator I have seen was covered with a clapboard siding to protect the wood construction by shedding water and snow. Many were later covered with corrugated metal. You did not want water sitting in the horizontal seams between the 2x’s used to build the walls. Water leads to rot of the wood. Water that seeps through to the grain causes the grain to swell, putting outward pressure on the walls pushing them outward. Attached are two photos of a wood elevator that stood along the mainline in Villisca IA. Photo #2 shows the general construction, with wood clapboard siding, which was later covered with corrugated metal sheeting. Photo #6 shows a blowout of the finger joints at the bottom of the elevator. This was a common failure, most generally caused by swelling grain that had gotten wet.

 

Doug  Harding

www.iowacentralrr.org

 

From: CBQ@groups.io [mailto:CBQ@groups.io] On Behalf Of Louis Zadnichek via Groups.Io
Sent: Monday, April 15, 2019 12:41 PM
To: CBQ@groups.io
Subject: Re: [CBQ] CB&Q Grain Elevators, Grain Covered Hoppers, and Traffic

 

April 15, 2019

 

Doug - I'm attaching a post card view of the Q's Rulo, NE, yards dated 1912.  Although the image is very faded, it gives a good look at the massive timber framed grain elevator complete with box cars for grain loading. Can you tell if the elevator is wood planked or sheathed in corrugated iron (or both)? This had to be one of the larger grain elevators in rural Nebraska for its era.  This view will soon be posted in the BRHS Member's Section historical CB&Q Flickr photograph archive. Also, note the combination way car/combine at center.  Best Regards - Louis

 

Louis Zadnichek II

Fairhope, AL 

 

In a message dated 4/15/2019 8:52:21 AM Central Standard Time, doug.harding@iowacentralrr.org writes:

 

Thanks for the history. I was not aware that corrugated iron had been around that long.

 

Doug  Harding

www.iowacentralrr.org

 

From: CBQ@groups.io [mailto:CBQ@groups.io] On Behalf Of Gerry Michael via Groups.Io
Sent: Monday, April 15, 2019 8:04 AM
To: CBQ@groups.io
Subject: Re: [CBQ] CB&Q Grain Elevators, Grain Covered Hoppers, and Traffic

 

I did a little poking around on the Internet and found few items that might be of interest.

A short article on the "History of Corrugated Iron" at https://www.world-archaeology.com/features/history-of-corrugated-iron/
A few excerpts from the article:
"The story starts with Henry Palmer of the London Dock Company who, in 1829, took out a patent for ‘indented or corrugated metallic sheets’. "
" By the end of 1849, over 80,000 gold diggers and their hangers-on had arrived in California’s Sacremento Valley. San Francisco was ‘a bawdy, bustling, bedlam of mudholes and shanties’. Prefabricated wooden huts and tents sprouted but corrugated iron buildings were cheaper, fireproof and much more comfortable, according to Peter Naylor who shipped 500 of them from  New York. British manufacturers were not slow off the mark. Edward T Bellhouse of Manchester sent houses of up to 12 rooms, complete with wallpaper and carpets. As the Californian market declined, the Australian gold rush kicked in."
The article is based on a book entitled Corrugated Iron: Building on the Frontier by Adam Mornement and Simon Holloway.
 
Another article at http://www.buffaloah.com/h/elev/hist/3/ has a section on the motivation for using corrugated iron siding for grain elevators:  fireproofing and the relative costs of both the building materials and associated fire insurance.  The article also notes that timber prices began to rise in the 1890s, which would also effect the relative costs of wood vs. corrugated iron.

Gerry Michael

On 4/15/2019 1:48 AM, Denny Anspach wrote:

Some question has been raised about how early industrial  corrugated iron siding, i.e. “wrinkle tin" came into use.  The gargantuan  former Sacramento SP Boiler Shop was constructed new with corrugated iron siding in 1887.  This landmark building with its old siding intact (connected by working transfer table to the 26 bay Erecting Shop) is now a connected part of the California State Railroad Museum (as will be soon the Erecting Shop as well).

 

Denny

 

Denny S. Anspach, MD

Sacramento, CA 95864

 

 

 

 

 

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Villisca IA grain elevator (2).jpg
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Villisca IA grain elevator (6).jpg
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Elmer KS elevator.jpg
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Details of crib wall construction.jpg
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