Grain
See also 'Lineside Industries - Flour milling (domestic grain)' for more on inland flour mills, see also 'Bread & Cakes', 'Biscuits', 'Breakfast cereals' and Animal Feedstuffs' for customers of the flour mills.
Britain imports much of its grain, hence many of the larger flour mills are located at or close by sea ports (or on a ship canal as at Manchester). These mills have an associated silo to store the grain, these are very large buildings with few windows, handy as a low relief structure for disguising the entrance to a fiddle yard. The building used to store the grain at the docks is generally called a 'grain elevator' although in function it is basically a silo (most were rectangular structures not cylinders until the 1960s).
Fig ___ Typical large flour mill and silo building in a dock area
Not all the silos were built of concrete, the illustration below is based on the big silo at Manchester docks, note the figures in the foregound, these buildings are very big indeed. This particular structure fell foul of the heavy German bombing raids on Manchester in World War Two.
Fig ___ Brick built grain elevator in a dock area
Vacuum unloading of grain has been in use since the 1920s, requiring a tall tower with a crane jib to lower the hose (typically about a foot or 30cm in diameter) into the ships hold. An alternative arrangement is to have a covered gantry extending from the building and across the quay, supported on steel masts. There is an example of such a structure at Wells on Sea in the South East. The sketch below is from memory and probably different from the prototype in many ways, but it shows the basic idea and if modelling your own port you get to design the thing yourself.
Fig ___ Gantry feeding a mill building in a dock area
For model railway purposes a quayside grain silo might also load imported wheat into hoppers for delivery to inland mills operated by the same firm. A covered loading bay at the foot of the silo with a couple of pipes (thick wire) running down to it from about 'first floor' height would serve and justify hopper wagons as well as vans for the bagged flour and coal wagons or oil tanks for the boilers.
If space is really tight you can do what I did and run the siding under the building, behind a series of brick arches or iron columns (these would be perhaps eighteen inches or 45 cm in diameter and spaced at about 12 feet or 4m). The track plan shown below can be accommodated in about five feet (if you limit arriving train lengths to 8 wagons and a brake van). A is a raised platform with small cranes, also serves for the 'workers train' coaches and provides 'end loading' facilities. B is the gantry carrying the vacuum system that unloads the ships and barges. C is the mill and silo, with the associated siding run underneath as described. D are coal hoists, positioned against the centre of the loop so they do not get in the way when uncoupling (you can replace these with simple chutes to load barges from hopper wagons if you don't like tall things at the front of the layout). E is a possible bulk oil depot at the end of the coal siding (run by the same firm). F is a spur for brake vans, also handy for parking the dock loco when railway company trains arrive on the shunting loop. No inset track is required where the points are, only on the quay area to the left and possibly along the coal and oil siding.
Fig ___ Flour mill and silo at a docks
If you are really strapped for space one option would be to have the silo itself right on the edge of the quay, with a track passing underneath to load hopper wagons. The example illustrated below is based on one on the Manchester Ship Canal, the red arm swings out over the water, supported by cables from the upper walkway, the dark grey hose hanging from the arm can be pulled up and laid on the platform out of the way if required.
Fig ___ Quayside grain silo
Not all flour was milled at the docks, a lot of grain was shipped in bulk or in bags from the port to inland mills. This side of the business is discussed under 'Linscide Industries - Food Related Industries - Flour milling (domestic grain)'
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