Tuscola, IL: Grain Elevators

20160329 1942

While taking pictures of the TY Tower Junction, I noticed a concrete grain elevator north of the junction. If you look at a satellite image, you see some activity at the elevator. It obviously is no longer served by CN/IC. When I was there, I saw no activity. Either it has now been replaced by the Cargill elevator that is southwest of this elevator (see below), or it is a feed mill. But I do not see the big building or small bins that are needed by a feed mill.

Satellite

Looking at the satellite image, we can see the Cargill elevator has a modern balloon (loop) track for efficient loading of unit trains. It has immediate access to CSX tracks, but with appropriate backing moves, it could ship on UP and CN as well.

It has a small concrete core with two big drying towers and several steel bins for the bulk of its original storage.

But, as has become more typical because of our recent bumper corn crops, they have added a ground pile. The "pole" on the right below is in the middle of the small circle on the satellite map. It has already been emptied. The big circle was being emptied when I visited. An elevator probably empties these piles before they empty their bins because the bins provide better protection for the grain. I notice that only corn seems to be stored in storage piles. I've never seen soybeans in a pile.

As I approached the elevator on US-36, you can see there is a truck that is backing under the elevator and another truck on the road that will line up and be ready to back in when the first truck is loaded and leaves. The truck on the road indicates that they are hauling the corn to another facility. They are not just shuttling the corn to their concrete core to temporarily store it until they put it into a unit train. It makes me wonder how many miles they are trucking it. The more miles they are trucking the corn, the stronger the statement it makes about how bad Class I rail service has become.

safe_image for Flickr

I never appreciated how big the old elevator is until I saw this photo.

Steven J. Brown posted
Illinois Central Gulf wide-vision caboose 199353 (built 1972 as IC 9353, became Illinois Railnet 9353 to Iowa Traction 9353) trails a northbound unit coal train (Wisconsin Electric?) over the diamonds and by the tower at Tuscola, Illinois - August 11, 1987.
Steven J. Brown shared
Steven J. Brown shared

 

Jack D. Kuiphoff posted

(SEE & HEAR)---Illinois Central, IC SD40-2 6122, BN SD40-2 6763, leads a southbound over the CSX and UP diamond at Tuscola, Illinois.  June 12, 1993. Jack D Kuiphoff photo © video

See this live in my Youtube link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK9YDfz-sNY

IC 6122, built 2/1976 as BN 6731.

BN 6763, built 11/1976. Became IC 6153>IC 6260

Update: I saved this video mainly because it shows how a ground storage pile is built. I got this link from Facebook, which labeled it Tuscola, IL.


I used Global Earth to determine that the ground piles were built in 2005 and the balloon track was built between 2012 and 2014.

Mar 1999

Mar 2005

Sep 2005 

May 2012

Apr 2014

Dennis DeBruler posted this image in addition to some of the above images
Someone asked about examples of loading grain on the other side of mainline tracks. We have already discussed the elevator in Ransom, IL. I have discovered that the ADM elevator near Tuscola, IL, is another example.
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.7958513,-88.3002484,1392m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en
It had a traditional grain loading yard that was connected to CN/IC and UP/C&EI. But, according to Google Earth images, between May 2012 and Apr 2014 it added a balloon track that is connected to CSX/B&O. This addition included building a truss across the UP mainline. I also include an image that shows they built the ground piles in 2005.
When I visited the elevator in Mar 2016, they were actively unloading the grain pile.
https://towns-and-nature.blogspot.com/2016/06/tuscola-il-grain-elevators.html
Kevin A Erb Just a few miles north on CN is a setup at Pesotum. https://www.flickr.com/.../amt.../49747799051/in/photostream

Brett Ellis I always thought that was Cargill
Dennis DeBruler I was thinking Cargill as well. But Google Maps labels it ADM Tuscola:
https://www.google.com/.../data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4...
And the website listed is an ADM site:
admfarmview.com/cash-bids/bids/tuscola
Brett Ellis Dennis DeBruler hmmmmmmm strange. Tuscola was one of the first unit train locations in Illinois and it was a Cargill. I thought the pic was the same. I've been wrong before lol

In 1940, at the location of the northern concrete elevator, was a small wood elevator. And south of the B&O tracks and west of Central Street if it crossed the tracks was a larger wood elevator.

1940 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

Jeremy Plant posted
Westbound shot from Tuscola,IL tower, July 1973.
Randall Hampton shared
Dennis DeBruler: This is the first photo I have seen that shows the wood grain elevator just south of the B&O tracks. And the roof of the B&O depot appears in front of the grain elevator.