Covington, IN: Wabash Branch from Attica, IN and ADM Grain Elevator

(Satellite)
The Wabash branch that went south from Attica, IN terminated in Covington.

Jeffrey Bossaer posted
Covington, Indiana 1908. Look closely at the center of the picture and you can see box cars on the Wabash Railroad branch to Attica.

What I thought was the land scar of the old Wabash Branch is labeled the Wabash & Erie Canal. Josh confirmed in a comment in another posting that the tracks were built on the towpath until 1932, then after that only to the gravel pit until about 1980.

Satellite

Update:
Jeffrey Bossaer posted eight photos with the comment:

The Attica to Covington, Indiana branch of the Wabash Railroad was built in 1881 on the old Wabash and Erie Canal towpath. It ceased operating to Covington in 1932 but remained in use to the large gravel pit south of Attica until the mid 1980's.

[He also added a lot of information as comments on the photos including images of newspaper articles.]

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Jeffrey Bossaer commented on his posting about this branch
 Wabash Railroad depot in Covington and the 1913 flood.

Jeffrey Bossaer posted five photos with the comment:

Found some more pictures of the 1913 flood in Attica, Indiana and the Wabash Railroad Covington branch there. The poor residential area ''below the tracks'' was called Texas. This section of this railroad existed between Attica and the gravel pit south of town until sometime into the 1980's. (See the comments for more.) It was abandoned between the gravel pit and Covington in 1932.

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Jeffrey Bossaer posted seven photos concerning that last Wabash steam loco that finished its career working on this branch. His comment:

Wabash Railroad engine #556 was the last steam engine to operate in the Attica, Indiana area in 1959, in the large gravel pit south of town. This large gravel pit was always served by the Wabash Railroad. The tracks to the gravel pit were abandoned in the mid 1980's and it closed a few years later. The Fountain County Clerks Building Museum in Covington has recently acquired the bell from #556 and placed it on permanent display.

Troy Kleman Was 556 owned by the Wabash or the gravel pit in 1959? Sister #534 operated until 1957. 

Jeffrey Bossaer Troy Kleman, I don't know about that. Hopefully someone else will. Did the Wabash Railroad own operating steam engines that late? In the picture of it in the gravel pit it still has 556 Wabash on it.
Patrick Webb Jeffrey Bossaer I believe 534 was sold to the Lake Erie & Western and renumbered to their No. 1 by that point.
Troy Kleman Jeffrey Bossaer wabash retired steam in the early 50s. A few were working here and there under other ownership. 534 was Lake Erie & Fort Wayne as their no. 1. 578 found herself working a branchline that couldn't handle the weight of new diesels. 534 became the last steam locomotive overhauled by the Wabash when she was put on display in Swiney Park.

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While researching West Lebanon and Williamsport, I noticed that both towns have lost all of their grain elevators. So I wondered to where the local farmers haul their grain. I found this ADM facility along a remnant of this Wabash branch. In fact, this elevator is the termination of the remnant.

Satellite, according to Google Earth, this image is Oct 2018.

ADM has embraced ground storage. It appears they have to handle the grain twice. They would unload hopper trucks and dry the grain at their main facility. And then...

Satellite

...use dump trucks to haul grain to their piles.

Nick Garner, Oct 2019

I looked for a locomotive because they have a yard big enough to hold a unit train, but it takes a lot of more switching moves using a yard compared to the modern design of using a loop of track. Also, the yard holds about 50 hoppers. A unit train would have around a 100 hoppers. Does NS split a unit train between this elevator and the ADM elevator in State Line City, which also has a 50-hopper yard?

Google Earth, Sep 2017

While looking for a satellite image that had a full yard, I noticed that a straight truck is waiting to unload. I wondered what type of equipment they have to raise the front end of the truck to unload it. Also note that the two NS locomotives that delivered the train are parked near the upper-left corner of the image. Will they help load the train? I don't think so because I saw other images with cuts of hoppers here and there around the elevator, but with no locomotives.

Google Earth, Sep 2017