Unloading an annex

was done in two ways:


In the early days, annex bins had flat bins, which were emptied by pushing a grain auger into the annex , and emptying the grain into a truck. The truck would return to the elevator, and dump the grain into the grain pit, sending

it to its destination.

In later years, a auger or chain drive conveyor was placed at the bottom of the annex. Grain flowed from the bottom of the sloped bins into the auger, which transferred the grain to the grain pit.

To load railroad box cars, grain would be transferred from the grain bins to a weigh scale / hopper. Here, the grain would be weighed, and the weight recorded by the elevator agent.

Once the overhead distribution spout was set into a tube which sends the grain out to the box car, and the lifting leg activated, the grain was released from the hopper into the grain pit below.

Additional storage structures, called annexes, were sometimes later added to the elevator to increase the storage capacity.

Transferring grain to the annex was done by resetting the distribution spout to a tube which lead to the annex. From there, grain flowed into a smaller gurber, which then distributed the grain into one of the annexes bins.

Railroad box cars were originally used to ship the grain to market.

The elevator agent would install door barriers lined with cardboard to prevent grain leakage

from the car during transport.

Loading lines in the box car showed the maximum level that the grain could be loaded.

A set of ladders allowed the agent to exit the box car when

the barriers were complete.

The lifting leg transfers the grain to the top of the elevator, and the grain flows through a tube leading to the rail car. The end of the tube was aimed at the upper rear corner, which allowed the grain to evenly fill the boxcar from both ends. The agent or his helpers would monitor this to make sure the car was filled evenly.

Once the car was loaded, the doors were locked and sealed. The agent would then move the next boxcar into position, and the process would start all over again.

Sending the grain to markets was done by using railroad and box cars.

Later, steel hopper cars replaced the box cars.