Agricultural supply centers

[JeffShultz]

One big railroad dependent (or nearly so) industry in the Willamette Valley of Oregon are agricultural supply centers.

These boil down to two basic types - those doing fertilizer and those doing cattle feed.

The fertilizer ones in this area are larger, since they have to have actual storage space.

Wilco Ag Co-Op facility in Stayton, OR (right side of tracks, with tanks and silos):
http://www.shultzinfosystems.com/gallery/albums/overhead/P1000317_001.sized.jpg

Another view - I don't think the buildings on the left are part of Wilco:
http://www.shultzinfosystems.com/gallery/albums/overhead/P1000318_001.sized.jpg

Another Wilco site, this one outside Silverton, OR:
http://www.shultzinfosystems.com/gallery/albums/overhead/P1000354.sized.jpg

The cattle feed ones are generally transshippment points and look a lot like team tracks - in these cases the hopper & boxcar loads are going straight into trucks to be taken directly to the customer, who is responsible for storage. I imagine that the loads get "stored" in the cows rather quickly.

Cattle feed transloader in St. Louis, OR:
http://www.shultzinfosystems.com/gallery/albums/Scenery/DSCF1071.sized.jpg

White's Hauling, Hopmere, OR:
http://www.shultzinfosystems.com/gallery/albums/Scenery/Whites_Hauling_Hopmere_8.sized.jpg

For cattle feed you're talking soybean meal and corn distilates in the covered hoppers, and cottonseed bales in the boxcars.

[CSX_road_slug]

Great arial pics Jeff! Were you in your F-I-L's plane when you snapped these?

[JeffShultz]

Yep - this is from the trip a couple years back. We need to go out and do that again.

Here is another shot of the Silverton facility:
http://www.shultzinfosystems.com/gallery/albums/overhead/P1000356.sized.jpg

[NWR #200]

I think I'll need to add room on my layout for one of those transload facilities. Good for another car on the "Ony Local."

[JeffShultz]

I have bunches other photos of the places, including closeups, on my website:

http://www.shultzinfosystems.com/gallery/Scenery?page=12
and the next few pages.

[dthurman]

I have bunches other photos of the places, including closeups, on my website:

http://www.shultzinfosystems.com/gallery/Scenery?page=12
and the next few pages.

Great shots Jeff, what's Hopmere? Is that the company, town or the product?

[JeffShultz]

Hopmere is the name of the "area" - one of those railroad station names that stuck. It is named after one of the primary local agricultural products - Hops.

In fact, those low yellow buildings you see just beyond the White's Hauling siding are hop warehouses.

[Larry]

Jeff, Here's a few photo's of a fertilizer bulk plant in Clewiston, Fl. These photo's have been on this forum before. Quite a few years ago. These photo's were taken in 1987, but the place hasn't changed much since then. Those nice new colored liquid fertilizer tanks are slightly discolored & rusty.
The rails going to the bulk unloading area are still warped & out of alignment.

[Larry]

Someplace in all my photo's I took a lot of pictures of a Brewery in Kentucky. It had a lot of road railers around it. Maybe I can locate them in the next cpl. days.

The fertilizer plant above had 3 sidings behind the building for loading & unloading powdered & liquids.