Having seen my post about the grain doors and end doors used with wooden boxcars, Jim Christie thought I might be interested in this piece he found some time ago, from our favourite professional journal Canadian Railway and Marine World ... Page 175 of April 1922 ... if you go looking for the original at archive.org .
Clarence Decatur Howe (1886-1960) was an engineering consultant in the grain trade. He was elected to the House of Commons in 1935 at age 50. Over the years he was ... Minister of Marines, Railways and Canals (i.e. Transport); Minister of Munitions; Minister of Reconstruction (after the War); Minister of Trade and Commerce.
He was a cabinet minister under Mackenzie King, and later St. Laurent for a total of 22 years and his accumulated wide-ranging power and authority resulted in the nickname: 'Minister of Everything'.
In the beginning ...
Howe was born in Waltham, Massachusetts and graduated from MIT in 1907. His engineering specialty in grain elevator consulting began in 1916 at Port Arthur. So this 1922 article finds him early in his grain elevator consultation period.
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It is with a great deal of humility that I tiptoe into the subject of terminal elevators at the Lakehead. In spite of owning many postcards, I cannot accurately describe the location, corporate builder, changes of ownership or current status (standing or demolished) of most of the elevators shown in my postcards.
I believe that the two postcards in this post represent the elevator in CD Howe's article. Elevators are long-lived assets which are often subject to considerable alteration to modernize their automated systems. At least one catastrophic explosion, with loss of life, caused significant damage to this elevator, as well.
If I understand some of the excellent websites which document these buildings (and the article text), part of this elevator was constructed not of poured concrete but multiple layers of tiles. Some fascinating photos of the tile bin interiors can be found on the internet.
You should start here:
https://friendsofgrainelevators.org/
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| Postcard mailed in 1912. |
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| from: Guardians of Progress; Thorold J Tronrud; 1993; Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society. |
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Jim Christie's article appears below. CD Howe writes in straightforward engineering terminology. You can see his ability to cut to the essential as he describes the cumbersome power shovel work when compared to his gravity dumping system.
The article details at some length the description of the mechanism and the rationale for its design. Much of the value of this post comes from the images, so you may wish to concentrate on them if the description becomes too abstruse.
I have tried to make the text as legible as possible and the illustrations as clear as possible. I have provided the images early in the article as it may make your journey through the explanation a little easier.
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| Unused postcard. The date may be the date purchased. |