Pier 16 Grain Silos Mocked Up

Greetings All,

Earlier in July I once again contemplated the unscenicked portion of the Terminal Yard extension project. This project has been about two years in the making and indecision has ruled the final process.

The last leg of the extension was envisioned to have a coal fired Empire City Power Authority power plant facade next to Bruce Electric Equipment and a Pier 16 Grain Silos complex at the end of the benchwork.   

In order to try and jump start the project with the Pier 16 Grain Silos I swapped locations with the proposed and not yet built Empire City Power Authority power plant and started to mock it up.

The mocked up silos and head houses are in place in the former site of the E.C.P.A. I'm imagining there is a pier on the other side of this structure to allow for import and export by sea as well as rail.

For the silos I used these powdered drink containers that I started saving fifteen years ago until they changed the shape.

I drew straight lines on white construction type paper and wrapped it around the upside down containers. I secured the paper with masking tape and used the container caps at the top. 

I liked this overall look. The silos have two tracks each with a capacity of six covered hoppers. 

In PCCM 62 the Pier 16 Grain Silos got their first exposure as EBRR and APRR covered hoppers were sent there as part of their routing cycles. Bruce Electric Equipment (B.E.E.) occupies the corner and is the end of the scenicked portion of the layout. 

The EBRR & APRR covered hoppers were spotted to await their next PCCM load. Indecision then struck again. As much as I liked the look I felt the structure did not convey the bulk I was looking for to convey a series of grain silos that are served by rail and ship. 

So with that I moved the mocked up grain silos back to their original location. This meant some more mocking up with thoughts of My Cousin Vinnie and the addition of more silos. 

I built the base out of foam core board and painted it rattle can gray primer. The Pier 16 Grain Silos have two tracks. The loading / unloading track has an eight car capacity. The entire complex is 68'' long.

The base has been trimmed and a small cement walk was added.

The track under the base can be used for staging but must be kept open to allow for access to the Empire City Power Authority.

 The Pier 16 Grain Silos are back in place for the umpteenth time.

Sprues from the parts box and bits of black wire were glued to the cement walkway to simulate unloading equipment. 

The LV switcher is working the Empire City Power Authority. The engine will pull the cars completely under the grain silo base to allow for the turnout to be thrown to shove the cars into the ECPA. 

I'm also thinking this length of track can be used as a staging track for a short train or simulate a short train heading off layout on a running track to other industries or RR connections.

Staging a train here may work out but it would need to be out of the tunnel before I can switch the E.C.P.A. Note the insulated rail joiners that isolate this track.

Here's the Pier 16 Grain Silos in all their mocked up glory. A little more work to do but I like it so far. 

 The APRR & EBRR covered hoppers are ready for loading.

The Pier 16 Grain Silos are now operational.

Thanks for reading!

See ya soon!