The Mentmore grain elevator stood on private property southwest of Neepawa, Manitoba. It was demolished on April 15, 2021.
The elevator consisted of a 30,000 bushel elevator with a nearby office / lift engine building. The elevator had an annex but that was moved to Franklin, Manitoba.
The rail line (the CN Rapid City subdivision) was abandoned in 1978 and the Jayson Brothers purchased the elevator in 1977. In 2014 it was still in use, storing grain until it is shipped. The grain was shipped by truck, of course.
The owner was kind enough to give me a tour of the elevator. Do not enter the elevator without permission. It is private property.
The grain is brought in by truck and dumped through a grate into a bin in the floor. Originally it was brought in by wagon. There is a lift at one end of the grate to raise the front wheels of the wagon or truck to allow all of the grain to flow out.
The grain is then raised by a conveyor of buckets through a “leg” to the distributor at the top of the elevator. This wheel determines which bin the grain flows into from the distributor.
To load grain into a waiting truck or rail car, a gate at the bottom of the appropriate bin is opened to allow the grain to flow down to the bottom of the elevator. Then the leg raises the grain to the top of the elevator, where it flows down into a scale in the elevator. The operator uses a gate to fill the elevator, then takes a measurement and empties the scale into the truck. This process is repeated until the truck is full, and allows the operator to accurately measure how much grain was unloaded.
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