Showing posts with label grainPort. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grainPort. Show all posts

Sunday, October 4, 2026

Valdez, AK: Abandoned Barley Grain Elevator, Cruise Ship, Oil Docks and Museum

Elevator: (Satellite, 3x3 bins is unusual.)
Cruise Ships: (Satellite)
Oil Docks: (see below)
Museum: (Satellite)

I didn't know grain crops could be grown this far north.

Robert Houtwed posted two photos with the comment:
These 112 foot [24m] tall grain silos that held 522,000 bushels are located on the outskirts of Valdez, Alaska on ammunition island. They were built in the late 70’s during an oil boom to export barley but are no longer in use. They are currently owned by the city of Valdez as part of their port ground.
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While looking for the elevator, I discovered that cruise ships can dock at this town.
Street View, Aug 2026

Julio Petrovitch, Sep 2023

And I'm reminded that Valdez is the southern terminus of the 800 mile (1,287km) pipeline to Prudhoe Bay. I presume this is where the tankers are loaded. It looks like they have a couple of loading docks.
Satellite

They also have a museum with some displays unique to Alaska. For example:
Kevin Vakalis, Jun 2025

And the museum also has some generic history such as this jukebox.
Kevin Vakalis, Jun 2025

Saturday, September 5, 2026

Pillsbury, ND: Wood Grain Elevators and Unit-Train Grain Elevator

Old: (Satellite)
New: (Satellite)

Street View, Sep 2013

Street View, Sep 2013

Wesley Peters posted four photos with the comment:
Grain Elevator Photography Trip 2, North Dakota.
Pillsbury, Barnes County, ND.
Pillsbury Farmers Elevator Co. East headhouse built in 1954, Hogenson Construction Co. Bushel capacity unknown. Middle headhouse built in 1919, T. E. Ibberson Co. 85,000-bushel capacity. West headhouse built in unknown year. Bushel capacity unknown.
This complex was damaged by the derecho that went through the area in June 2025. As of my visit in July 2025 the complex was still standing, but its ultimate fate is unknown to me.
Photographed on 7/19/2025.
Photos courtesy of Wesley Peters.
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Even the little bins are rail served.
Street View, Sep 2013

The railroad was owned by Great Northern.
1967/69 Pillsbury Quad @ 24,000


Not only does BNSF still own this route, it has a wye so that it can turn the locomotives.
rail.guide

Actually, the wye feeds a loop track for a big green-field grain elevator that should be able to load unit trains.
Satellite

Justin Knott, Aug 2016

I presume the long building on the right holds fertilizer. Note the white cover in the middle for a ground pile even though they have a lot of bins for storage. I think the six white bins on the left side of this view store seed.
Street View, Sep 2025

ArthurCompanies
1957: "First ND retailer to apply bulk ammonium-nitrate fertilizer."
1960: "Builds North Dakota's first retail bulk-fertilizer plant, anchoring a full-service agronomy arm."

Saturday, August 22, 2026

New Carlisle, IN: 1990 I/N Tek & Kote Steel Mill and Viterra/Gavilon Grain Elevator

Steel Mill: (Satellite)
Elevator: (Satellite)

Viral Media posted
New Carlisle Tek - Kote Plant
The Cleveland-Cliffs Tek and Kote facility in New Carlisle, Indiana, receives substantially all its feedstock from Cleveland-Cliffs’ facilities in Indiana Harbor [East and West] and Burns Harbor via daily Norfolk Southern unit trains. The trains run daily from New Carlisle to 60 miles west to the Indiana Harbor Facility in East Chicago, Indiana, and back again. The Cleveland Cliffs Indiana Harbor complex is one of the largest integrated steelmaking facilities in North America.
The plant in New Carlisle was built in 1990 as a joint venture of Inland Steel Industries and Nippon Steel. 
ArcelorMittal later acquired Inland Steel. In 2019, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. completed the acquisition of substantially all of the operations of ArcelorMittal USA LLC and its subsidiaries, forming the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America. The Tek and Kote plant is now part of Cliffs.

railroad_journal posted three photos with the comment:
Cliffs Tek + Kote
Each morning Norfolk Southern B09 (turn) unit train departs with empty open coil cars and gondolas filled with steel scrap for recycling. After reaching East Chicago the empty cars are dropped and returns loaded with steel coils. The Cleveland-Cliffs Tek and Kote facility in New Carlisle, Indiana, receives substantially all its feedstock from Cleveland-Cliffs’ facilities in Indiana Harbor and Burns Harbor via daily Norfolk Southern unit trains.
Each morning the empty coil train leaves the New Carlisle yard to travel about 60 miles west to the Indiana Harbor Facility in East Chicago, Indiana. The Cleveland Cliffs Indiana Harbor complex is one of the largest integrated steelmaking facilities in North America.
The coil steel unit trains that supply the New Carlisle, IN are usually about 40 open coil cars with 3 to 5 coils per car depending and width and weight. Cliffs Tek performs continuous pickling and tandem rolling through the Continuous Descale Cold Mill (CDCM), and continuous annealing, temper rolling, and inspection through the Continuous Annealing Processing Line (CAPL) in order to provide material to Cliffs Kote for galvanizing or galvannealing. In the adjacent facility, Cliffs Kote, uses separate lines to produce 500,000 tons of hot-dip galvanized and galvannealed and 400,000 tons of electrogalvanized sheet annually. The principal are automotive and appliance markets. 
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Viral Media posted two photos with the comment:
Unit Steel Train Power
NS 9839 GE C44-9W and NS GE ES40DC tied up in the Cliffs Tek + Kote yard in New Carlisle, Indiana in 2020. The locomotives are always tail-to-tail as this unit train is a “Turn” – it brings empty coil cars to the Indiana Harbor Steel Mill in East Chicago, Indiana, and returns loaded with coils.  The train is known as Norfolk Southern B09 New Carlisle, Indiana to Michigan Avenue Yard - East Chicago, Indiana. The locomotives always overnight in New Carlisle.
The Cleveland-Cliffs Tek and Kote facility in New Carlisle, Indiana, receives substantially all its feedstock from Cleveland-Cliffs’ facilities in Indiana Harbor and Burns Harbor via daily Norfolk Southern unit trains. The trains run daily from New Carlisle to 60 miles west to the Indiana Harbor Facility in East Chicago, Indiana, and back again. The Cleveland Cliffs Indiana Harbor complex is one of the largest integrated steelmaking facilities in North America.
[The rest of the description is a repeat of the above post's description.]
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Grain Elevator


Viral Media posted
GAVILON GRAIN ELEVATOR
A westbound Norfolk Southern empty coal train with BNSF run-through power on the NS Chicago Line passing New Carlisle, Indiana. BNSF 5740 GE ES44AC leads with BNSF 5679 GE AC44CW trailing. The coal gondolas reporting marks are DEEX (Detroit Edison Co.). The train is passing in front of the Gavilon Grain elevators which is a prominent landmark in the area. Founded as Lake's Farm Service, Inc. in 1968, it was acquired by DeBruce Grain. In 2010, DeBruce Grain was acquired by Gavilon. Gavilon's history dates back to 1874 when Peavey Company built its first grain facility in Sioux City, Iowa. Gavilon employs 2,000 people around the world and is the second largest grain handler in North America based on storage capacity.
[According to a Google Maps' label, this elevator is now owned by Viterra.]

In the lower-right corner is the center cab locomotive that it would use to load cuts of hopper cars.
Satellite

This view shows the two large jump-form silos that we can't see in the trackside photo above.
Street View, Aug 2019

Viral Media posted
Passing Huge Grain Elevator
Eastbound freight passing the massive Viterra Grain elevators in New Carlisle, Indiana on the Norfolk Southern Chicago LIne. BNSF 3800 GE ET44C4 is on point with NS 9487 and NS 9689, both GE C44-9W locomotives trailing.
The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, established in 1833, was a major part of the New York Central Railroad’s Water Level Route from Buffalo, New York, to Chicago, Illinois, primarily along the south shore of Lake Erie and across northern Indiana.  In 1998, its ownership was split at Cleveland, Ohio, between CSX Transportation to the east and Norfolk Southern Railway in the west. Now from Cleveland, west to Chicago, the line is known as Norfolk Sothern’s Chicago Line.

Viral Media posted
PASSING TIME
A westbound Norfolk Southern Intermodal on the NS Chicago Line passing a unit grain train in New Carlisle, Indiana. The intermodal has NS 4196 GE AC44C6M is on point with NS 7685 GE ES40DC trailing. The train is passing in front of the Gavilon Grain elevators, a prominent landmark in the area. This is a very busy time of year at the elevator, preparing unit grain trains with grain from the fall harvest.

Viral Media posted
WESTBOUND FREIGHT
The freight is passing a Plymouth MDT 35 Ton industrial locomotive at Gavilon Grain in New Carlisle, Indiana.  While the ground has a dusting of snow, the critter has a dusting of grain dust. This is a busy time at the elevator building unit trains. The westbound train has just passed through South Bend, and is an hour outside of Chicago. NS 4015 GE CC44C6M is on point with NS 9555 GE C44-9W and NS 1075 EMD SD70ACe trailing.  NS 4015 GE CC44C6M was rebuilt in GE Erie in July 2016 from a C40-9 that was originally built in 1995. This is a example of the Norfolk Southern “DC to AC” program repowering their fleet for the more efficient future.

Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Breckenridge, MN: Wood, 3 Rail Served Grain Elevators and GN Roundhouse

Wood: (Satellite)
Minn-Kota: (Satellite)
Red River Grain: (Satellite)
Sunrich Products: (Satellite)
Roundhouse: (Satellite)

The wood elevator is one of the three rail-served elevators.
Street View, Jul 2024

The first three photos below are of the above elevator. I could not find the elevator for the fourth photo.
Wesley Peters posted four photos with the comment:
Grain Elevator Photography Trip 2, North Dakota/South Dakota/Minnesota.
Breckenridge, Wilkin County, MN.
North Complex- Early history unknown.
South Complex- Early history unknown.
Photographed on 7/20/2025.
Photos courtesy of Wesley Peters.
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This is the next elevator to the east, Minn-Kota. 
Street View, Jul 2024

It also has a fall protector. The in the right background is the Red River Grain Elevator.
Street View, Jul 2024

I'm using a satellite image instead of a street view for Red River Grain because it is so big and because I want to show the loop of track that can efficiently load unit trains. Sunrich Products in the upper-left corner producest sunflower products.
Satellite

Photo, Mar 2026

Great Northern, Northern Pacific and Milwaukee used to serve this town. 
1953/65 Fargo Quad @ 250,000

BNSF kept the GN spokes going North and Southeast. Red River Valley & Western (RRVW) took the GN spoke going Northwest and connected the western spoke of Northern Pacific to its track. Popups on the map shows that BNSF owns the industrial tracks on the right side. NP to the East and Milwaukee have been abandoned.
National Rail Network Map

I think RRVW now uses the former GN railyard. The street view at the top of these notes shows four of their locomotives.
Satellite

The GN roundhouse is extant.
Satellite

Street View, Jul 2024

I wonder what they used to process here.
Street View, Oct 2012

Thursday, June 25, 2026

West Clarksfield, OH: Sunrise Co-op Grain Elevator

(Satellite)

Street View, Jun 2025

While trying to get a better view of the locomotive, I noticed thatthey sell animal feed. But I think it is retail (packaged) feed. Their website talks about show animals. They have a couple of buildings that probably stock packaged feed. I found no evidence that they can grind feed here. In fact, the only service listed for this location is grain.
Street View, Jun 205

Jerry Krug posted
"The huge Sunrise Cooperative, Inc. (Clarksfield Grain) facility on Fitchville River Road North in Clarksfield, OH. 5:54PM on 6-5-26."
Photo and caption by Bill Kalkman.
Bill Kalkman posted with the quoted comment above.

Street View, Jun 2025

The railroad was the Wheeling & Lake Erie (W&LE), and it is now the Wheeling & Lake Erie (WE). (The shortline WE reused the railroad name, but the area covered is different.)
1960/62 Clarksfield Quad @ 24,000

This elevator is on the route between Norwalk and Wellington on this map.
Map via NKPHTS via Dennis DeBruler

Since WE is a shortline, the two conveyors across the tracks that we see in the top view are not over a Class I railroad. I think this elevator can handle a unit train because it has a yard and its own locomotive
Satellite