Monthly Archives: January 2022

Drawings for an elevator of 314,000-bushel capacity with bin plan and schedule

by baggyparagraphs

Records show that Tillotson Construction Co., of Omaha, built a few reinforced-concrete elevators with capacity of more than 300,000 bushels. The drawings posted here depict the outlines of a 314,000-bushel elevator with two legs.

The first was a twin-leg, 350,000-bushel job on an original plan at Farnsworth, Tex., in 1945.

Next–310,000 bushels, also on an original plan–came four years later, in 1949, at Dalhart, Texas.

1950: Canyon, Tex., and Bellwood, Neb., on a shared plan for 320,000 bushels. That same year, Rock Valley, Iowa, came close at 296,130 bushels. And the Vinton Street terminal, in Omaha, was completed at 382,880 bushels.

1951: Sunray, Tex. added a 550,000-bushel annex with 14 tanks (silos) of 20 feet in diameter. Hereford, Tex., welcomed a 300,000-bushel elevator on its own original plan, and York, Neb., did the same–also an original plan–with 336,000 bushels that same year.

1953: Cherokee, Okla. (original plan) 309,400 bushels; Ralston, Iowa (original plan) 537,500-bushel annex with eight tanks of 28 feet in diameter reaching to 115 feet in height; Estill, S.C. (original plan) with 10 tanks of 18 feet in diameter reaching to 120 feet. (The year earlier, Tillotson had built 225,000 bushels of storage at Estill.)

1954: Orienta, Okla. (original plan) 312,000 bushels with 10 tanks of 20 feet in diameter towering 114 feet nine inches; Bellwood, Neb. (original plan) 340,000 bushels with 10 tanks of 20 feet in diameter and 130 feet in height; Iowa Falls, Iowa (Bellwood plan) 321,000 bushels of 122 feet (no other information is included in the records); Glidden, Iowa annex of 331,000 bushels (incomplete entry); Ensign, Kan. annex (original plan) 319,830 bushels with 11 tanks of 19 feet in diameter and 118 feet in height.

Tillotson built no elevators of such great capacity in 1955, the year our records end.

Drawings for an elevator of 300,000- to 354,000-bushel capacity with bin plan and schedule

by baggyparagraphs

Records show that Tillotson Construction Co., of Omaha, built a few reinforced-concrete elevators with capacity of more than 300,000 bushels. The drawings posted here depict the outlines of a 314,000-bushel elevator with two legs.

The first was a twin-leg, 350,000-bushel job on an original plan at Farnsworth, Tex., in 1945.

Next–310,000 bushels, also on an original plan–came four years later, in 1949, at Dalhart, Texas.

1950: Canyon, Tex., and Bellwood, Neb., on a shared plan for 320,000 bushels. That same year, Rock Valley, Iowa, came close at 296,130 bushels. And the Vinton Street terminal, in Omaha, was completed at 382,880 bushels.

1951: Sunray, Tex. added a 550,000-bushel annex with 14 tanks (silos) of 20 feet in diameter. Hereford, Tex., welcomed a 300,000-bushel elevator on its own original plan, and York, Neb., did the same–also an original plan–with 336,000 bushels that same year.

1953: Cherokee, Okla. (original plan) 309,400 bushels; Ralston, Iowa (original plan) 537,500-bushel annex with eight tanks of 28 feet in diameter reaching to 115 feet in height; Estill, S.C. (original plan) with 10 tanks of 18 feet in diameter reaching to 120 feet. (The year earlier, Tillotson had built 225,000 bushels of storage at Estill.)

1954: Orienta, Okla. (original plan) 312,000 bushels with 10 tanks of 20 feet in diameter towering 114 feet nine inches; Bellwood, Neb. (original plan) 340,000 bushels with 10 tanks of 20 feet in diameter and 130 feet in height; Iowa Falls, Iowa (Bellwood plan) 321,000 bushels of 122 feet (no other information is included in the records); Glidden, Iowa annex of 331,000 bushels (incomplete entry); Ensign, Kan. annex (original plan) 319,830 bushels with 11 tanks of 19 feet in diameter and 118 feet in height.

Tillotson built no elevators of such great capacity in 1955, the year our records end.

Drawings for an elevator of 50,000- to 100,000-bushel capacity with bin plan and schedule

by baggyparagraphs

“Sorry these are printed with margin on wrong end,” write Uncle Tim Tillotson after copying the elevator plans in his possession.

“Was busy unfolding and folding the old originals for the [printshop] guy because he tore the first print I handed him (on fold line) just unfolding it. They came out of printer 3 feet long. Didn’t realize Boo-Boo till I got home. Too much $ to re-do!”

Nevertheless, we benefit from Uncle Tim’s efforts and from our cropping tool, which lead to this series of posts with all plans from that printing session.

Specifications from Alta, Iowa and drawings of a likely model for that elevator

by baggyparagraphs

In response to a reader’s question, we are posting some basic specifications of the Alta, Iowa, elevator that Tillotson Construction Co. built in 1950. (Plans alter between “Tillotson Contracting Co.” and “Tillotson Construction Co.”

The drawings seen above are Tillotson’s standard plan for a 250,000-bushel elevator with eight tanks (silos).

Capacity at Alta was 246,070 bushels. The eight tanks of 18 feet in diameter sat on a main slab of 60.0 by 73.5 feet. The driveway was 13 x 15 feet.

The walls of the tanks rose 115 feet from the slab, and they were topped by the cupola measuring 23.0 feet wide, 61.5 feet long, and 39 feet high. That brought the structure up to 154 feet–quite imposing.