An elevator at Portage la Prairie

http://wvrr.ca/images/Update%20 photo % 204%2 0Oct_04.jpg

A feature of Portage la Prairie Manitoba is that the long, narrow yard area is divided down the middle with CP Rail on the north and CN in the south. As a result, both railways shared access to the one United Grain Growers elevator. CP serviced the facility in the traditional manor, with tracks on the big, familiar, freight door side. At the same time, the photo below shows how the CN siding (foreground) serviced the back, or scale house side, of the elevator. The obvious late additions to the original structure are a modeller’s delight.

The wooden siding had been removed, and then replaced, to accommodate the installation of two new loading spouts. A rough and ready tower was built to support one spout and an even simpler A frame structure was provided for the other. The two cyclone dust eliminators were placed on a spindly frame over the driveway. A Tee-Pee of grain doors remained handy. Something you won’t see today.