I enjoy photographing grain elevators and feed mills as they come in all shapes and sizes, are generally serviced by the railroad, and are vital to the local and national economy and food supply. Plus, growing up in Nebraska I saw a lot of them riding in the back seat of my parents’ car. If I woke after dosing off, or was preoccupied reading the latest issue of Model Railroader, I could always tell what town we were in just by glancing up at the towering structures as we drove past. Here are a few of my favorite pictures I captured over the past few years.
Union Pacific Coal Train Passing by Grain Elevators on West Military Ave in Fremont, Nebraska, January 1, 2009. View across frozen lake.
Covered hoppers at Con-Agra Mills along Broad Street in Fremont, Nebraska - June 2009
Along Old Lincoln Highway in Ames, Nebraska - January 2009
E. J. Houle Feed Mill in Forest Lake, Minnesota - November 2009
Hugo Feed Mill, Hugo, Minnesota - June 2010
I did put together a Photosynth of the Houle Feed Mill in Forest Lake a few years ago. The site requires Microsoft Silverlight browser plug-in, but it allows you to “walk around” the structure since it stitched together all 100 photos I took of it.
