A grainy bit of my childhood history revived - Grain Elevator MOC from 1999 finished

[Murdoch17]

This grain elevator model was made by my dad in 1999 / 2000. Like most of his MOCs from that time (the single-stall version of his train shed, Bridge on the River Baseplate, the factory in sand red), he built it before he had a BrickLink account. With this one he never finished it 100%, probably due to having kids (including me) tearing it down and scattering parts every other weekend while he fixed it during the week. Eventually, he put them up out of reach except for special occasions such as the two weeks bracketing Christmas. This vintage model has been used by our family for layouts at his house at Christmas and other times for a long while, throughout most of my childhood up to 2015 or so when we stopped doing a tree + floor layout.

He eventually gifted it to me about a month ago because he built the Brick Train Depot version and it is better / bigger by like double in size.  (I've been asking for it in one way or another since early 2020 when he built the BTD model.... took me almost a year and a half, but I got it at last!)

But before we get to the revamped version, here is the photo of it in it's pre-restoration state. This was from the day I got it, September 12th 2021. It was actually dirty in places, missing several parts, slightly yellowing, and very dusty.

...and here it is now! It's still got some yellowing, and slightly dirty despite my best attempts to clean it. (I don't have any cans of air at my place, so it might be a while until that's done!) The model has finally been completed after ~22 years, with the conveyor belt added and missing old gray parts added in. I added tan baseplates for the bottom, as it fits with the rest of my buildings better.

My dad always wanted a conveyor put in to his elevator haul grain to the dump-chute to load his six blue 4536-style hopper cars.

Well, it's no longer his grain elevator, but it's finally got a conveyor! The white handle, which can be turned to make the belt move.

This view looks down the chute into the area where the grain is stored before being dumped into the hopper cars I haven't made yet.

Looks like someone forgot to close one of the two hatches all the way!

These two finger-hinged doors hold the grain back until it is needed to be loaded.

But what's a elevator without something for it to load?

These five single-bay grain hopper cars plus the matching caboose are (eventually) going to be built for the vintage grain elevator MOC my dad gifted me recently. The engines that are going to pull them will most likely be the two Santa Fe bluebonnet F7 units I have lying around. Also, the bay on each car can still empty out as designed in the 1991 set (4536 Blue Hopper car) this model was taken from.

Here is the Bluebonnet units I have already constructed.

That's all I got about these MOCs, any thoughts?

Comments questions, suggestions, and complaints welcome!

[Paperinik77pk]

Very nice building!!! And the conveyor belt is really a nice addition! 

[M_slug357]

Is it alright if I copy this? I'm terrible at building structures....!

[Murdoch17]

2 hours ago, M_slug357 said:

Is it alright if I copy this? I'm terrible at building structures....!

Go right ahead, @M_slug357! I will warn you that some of his design choices need updating such as window frames need to become tab-less, a 5-tall door needs to be added instead of the one shown, corner panels in white need changing to the new kind, etc. However, the finger hinges for the grain loading doors are unavoidable, I think. (If you need design help or more pictures, let me know.... I'll do my best to answer any questions!)

7 hours ago, Paperinik77pk said:

Very nice building!!! And the conveyor belt is really a nice addition! 

Thanks @Paperinik77pk! I have been wanting to do that for YEARS.... 2011 was the first time that part was released, and that's just about how long I've wanted to do this.