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Project:
Broom Corn |
I've
always been fascinated with old buildings, so when I got
the opportunity to explore an old broom corn elevator in
my hometown, I couldn't pass it up and knew it would be
a great photo op' as well!
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This old grain elevator was built in the 20's and
used for the storage and distribution of broom
corn in Shattuck Oklahoma. It was owned and
operated by the Ingle Brothers who are actually
distant relatives of mine. I haven't been able to
find out if they are actually the original owners.
In the 50's manufacturers eventually came up with
a better way to make the common broom, and the
elevator was forced to stop production due to
financial problems; However it was used clear up
to the late 70's as grain storage for Johnston
Grain.
I went out to the elevator the night before my
adventure through it, and worked up a plan of
attack. My plan was to enter through the front
door (seen in the picture on the left) and then
work my way up through there. Simple huh? Well it
would turn out not to be as simple as I planned,
but it was still fun!
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I got to the elevator
about 11 the next day and got my gear on.
This includes a Tamrac camera backpack with
a MX1000 tripod attached to it, a lantern
flashlight, gloves, and a hard hat with a
headlight attached to it much like the ones
miners wear (yeah I know, probably overkill,
but hey, I like my head).
I actually ended up
entering the elevator from the back through
the stall where the grain trucks would load
and unload their seed which is just on the
other side in the picture on the right...It
leads to the same spot that the front door
leads to so it wasnt really a big
change. Looking out the front
door there is an old wooden ladder on the
left and an old elevator on the right which
both lead to the top. In front of me there
is a conveyor belt which is what actually
elevates the grain from where the trucks
unload to the top to be weighed and sorted
to the proper bins.
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I attempted to use
the dumb-waiter-like elevator to get
to the top, but it was jammed, and I
didn't really trust that the cable
wouldn't snap anyways, so I ended up
using the old ladder to climb the
five-story tall building
instead.
As I ascended, I tested every rung on
the ladder before I used it, because
this ladder was more like scrap 1x4
boards just nailed to the side of the
wall and I was just waiting for one to
give way and let me fall. Getting
close to the top,I had to maneuver
around a grain chute that was placed
right in the path of the ladder. As I
was doing this, I looked down and
realized just how high I was. I also
noticed that the closer I got to the
top, the more pigeon crap there was...
As I got to the "top floor"
(there aren't really any floors
between the top floor and the
bottom) I had to open a trap door and go up
through it so I got a foothold on the
edge of one of the bins inside the
elevator. One slip and I would fall 4
stories either way which kinda scared
me, but o-well..Anyways, I gave the
door a shove and it didn't make it all
the way, so I tried again, and down
dumped probably about five pounds of
old petrified pigeon crap right on my
head, BUT I did get the door
open...just a little messy now..
I made it up through the hole in the
floor after a little maneuvering
around with my back-pack and looked
back down the ladder and couldn't
resist spitting down five stories. I
hadn't taken any pictures yet because
it had been to dark and I had my hands
full on that old ladder. |
So I am at the top! I take a look
around and the top room is probably
about 10 ft wide and 15-20ft deep with
about a 20ft ceiling. The huge scale
used for getting the right amount of
grain into each bin and top of the
conveyer belt that I talked about
earlier are in the middle of the room
which leaves about 2 ft of walking
space on any side of it so once again,
I maneuvered around to look out the
top windows that you can see in the
pictures above and snap a few shots of
the town and the trains rumbling
by. With many pigeons flapping
right above my head, this was a
challenge.
After snapping a few snapshots and
getting some fresh breeze through the
windows I hesitated a bit to go out on
the catwalk that leads to the five big
storage bins, but I really wanted to
go out there and get some more shots
so I conquered my fear of heights (yes
I'm a pilot and I have a fear of
heights, I know) and took a few slow
steps out to make sure it wasn't going
to crumble beneath my feet. After the
first few steps I was sure it was
sturdy so I made the 15 ft walk out to
the bins.
Once I was over the bins, it was
actually very peaceful. There was a
nice cool breeze and no more pigeons! |
I made my way
out to the last bin and took
some pictures back towards the
evil little birds and then just
stopped to enjoy the view for
awhile. Off in the distance I
could hear a train coming so I
waited for it to show up and
give me a unique shot of a
train.
Shattuck sits on a mainline for
the BNSF railway so I'm used to
trains going through town as
there are probably 50 that go
through a day so this wasn't
much different for me. The train
came by going about 70 and all
of the sudden I noticed that I
could feel every car go by in
the catwalk. It wasn't real bad,
but enough to make me nervous. |
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I survived
the train, and went back to
enjoying the view. There really
isn't a whole lot to take
pictures of up there so I
snapped a few of the newer
elevator for Johnston Grain, the
ones who gave me permission to
take this trek.
After that, I wen't back down
the same way I came up and
decided to go get some lunch... |
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...After
endulging on cow parts
stuffed into a little
thing called a hot dog, I
went back to the elevator
and decided to see what
else I could find. At the
end of the last bin, there
is a storm shelter door
that leads down under the
bins so I figured I would
brave the rats and go
explore that.
Donning the same equipment
as last time, I made my
way down the metal stairs
into the
"tunnel". I was
amazed to see that this
tunnel appeared to run the
whole length of the
complex. This tunnel
is about 4 ft wide, 7ft
high, 100-150 ft long,and
made completely of
concrete. It reminded me
of a mine shaft. On one
side of the floor was a
big auger that ran the
entire length of the
tunnel. Access holes in
the ceiling of the tunnel
allowed the workers to
empty some grain out of
the bottom of the bins
into the auger and send it
into the main building.
(the one with the
pigeons) |
I
slowly walked down the
tunnel, expecting some
kind of rodent or a giant
spider to eat me alive,
but alas there was only
dust. The farther down the
tunnel I got, the darker,
mustier, and cooler it
got. I reached the end
without a problem. At the
end there was another
wooden ladder that led up
into the tool and
electrical room of the
main building so I went up
there for a short look
then went back down into
the tunnel.(I felt like a
prarie dog) Looking back
down the tunnel towards
the doors looked really
neat, so I set up my
camera to take a 30 second
exposure and sat there for
a bit while it did its
stuff. It actually
wansn't bad down there.
The breeze flowed steadily
from one end to the other
so it was cooler than
outside.
After the picture got
taken, I put my camera
back up and left the
tunnel. I decided that I
had enough for one day so
I headed back home to get
the pictures off my camera
and see whatsa I
gotsa.
Now realizing how long
this "report"
page is and that it's
actually almost 4 in the
morning, I'm going to end
it. I would like to thank
Kenton Burgess and
Johnston Grain for letting
me have free reign on this
exploration so that I
could get some good
pictures. I hope you enjoy
the pictures I took, I
hope to return here in a
few weeks and get some
video for those who like
exploring.
-Patrick
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