I love these old prairie grain elevators but they are becoming a thing of the past. Every little whistle stop along the railroad line had at least one of these, but alas, no more. The huge centralised concrete terminals have taken over and these ageing, all wood construction buildings, are being taken down for safety sake. The cost of restoring and maintaining one of these is beyond the means of most small communities. There are very few left now, but they used to dot the skyline in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. When I was ten I saw one of these burn to the ground. They are constructed of 2 x 8 dimensional lumber, nailed together on the flat, so they are very sturdy, but when laden with grain dust, they are a fire waiting to happen. The fire was so intense, the townspeople could only stand way back and watch it burn. It was said that the fire was seen more that forty miles away. It was not rebuilt. I suppose someone saw the writing on the wall and knew it would soon be useless anyway. The famous prairie grain elevator has been reduced to a subject of paintings and old photographs.
1 comment:
Good Morning Terry. To answer your questions, I have not yet read Grisham's "The Painted House" but I'm sure it is good, as well as his other novels. Hopefully I'll get around to reading it one day. As for the "If momma ain't happy", no I don't know the rest of the phrase. But I'm sure you'll be more than happy to inform me, LOL. When we lived on the west bank of New Orleans, there was a grain elevator on the riverbank. I remember the news when it exploded and there were several workers killed or injured. That's about all I know about grain elevators. Hope you and yours have a nice Sunday.
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