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Hello, I'm wondering if anyone can advise on a question about Walthers cement plant kit. They supply truck loading doors for the bottom of the silos. I have no idea but gather that the silos store materials for mixing elsewhere in the plant and assumed the silos were loaded from the top. Not at all sure how the material is removed for production. My question is what are the doors used for? Do the silos have floors something like 8 to 10 feet high inside? I'd like to know what type of truck would either load or unload at these doors. Thanks for any help!
I assume it i not a cement plant but a cement distributor. The cement arrives via train, is stored in the silo and filled into trucks that drive through the bottom of the silos.
There is no cement made and there is no concrete mixed from cement, sand etc. It looks like a plain "cement powder in" - "cement powder out" facility. Similar to small oil dealer etc.
Thanks Reinhard, that makes sense. What type truck would be used to load? Was this something done in circa 1950?
I have no idea what was used in 1950 for cement. I guess it would be a bulk trailer this days but did they exist in 1950 already and how did they look like?
faraway Wrote:I have no idea what was used in 1950 for cement. I guess it would be a bulk trailer this days but did they exist in 1950 already and how did they look like?

The only thing I found in my google search was a mention of a truck line buying its first bulk trailer in '58 and sadly there was no photo. My guess is a standard dump truck with covered dump bed was used for local delivery.
I hope this link will work, I found this photo of an Autocar from 1953, hauling what appears to be tandem trailers. I think it's really cool looking. I'll be looking to see if there are any models of Autocar cabs and if not suppose I can use any era correct cab. The trailers would be an interesting scratchbuild.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=1950s+era+cement+haulers&biw=1920&bih=947&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiH1bTnvPfRAhVi2oMKHQ8VCogQ7AkIJg#imgrc=tVpn0ZmzoGHqWM">https://www.google.com/search?q=1950s+e ... 0ZmzoGHqWM</a><!-- m -->:
Wow! Great stuff! Glad you found that photo.. Those hoppers are larger then what I would have thought.
Try <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.hankstruckpictures.com">http://www.hankstruckpictures.com</a><!-- m --> and do a search for cement or powered cement trailers in the 1950's. That should give you some more options.

Bruce
Ulrich made a dump truck with a trailer - I believe it was a Kenworth. I'd post a picture, but I gave mine to a friend some years ago. The cab/hood looked similar to the Autocar in your link. You may be able to find one on-line - they were metal kits.

Sylvan also offers some nice truck kits, and there are more photos HERE

Wayne
Would have used one of these:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=OIP.M61737c180429711c7fa8245d0638c6f3o0&w=241&h=148&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0&r=0">http://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=OIP.M617 ... =0&p=0&r=0</a><!-- m -->
What is about the weight? I mentioned todays bulk trailers but did not think about the very different weight of cement and e.g. plastic pallets. Covered hoppers are a good example for short cars for cement and the longer ones for grain and the very long for plastic pellets.
The same applies for road trucks. I assume cement bulk trucks had much less volume capacity then grain trucks to deal with the heavy concrete.

I think we should look in the 1950s for bulk trucks much smaller than grain trucks from that time.
Thank you everyone for your suggestions! Wayne, I found an Ulrich model on ebay, but at $80.00 I have to pass. I'm pretty psyched about building a model of the truck with trailers I posted the picture of. Reinhart, yes cement is heavier than a lot of other loads and the trailers in the photo in the link I posted are shorter than most, just like cement hoppers are shorter.

Any one have suggestions on how to scale the dimensions from the photo? Perhaps I should start with the diameter of the tires? I would want to buy or use the wheel/tire assemblies from available models so measure them and try to scale other dimensions from that?
Alloy Forms also makes an Autocar tractor for the 1950's <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.scale-structures.com">http://www.scale-structures.com</a><!-- m -->.

Bruce
faraway Wrote:What is about the weight? I mentioned todays bulk trailers but did not think about the very different weight of cement and e.g. plastic pallets. Covered hoppers are a good example for short cars for cement and the longer ones for grain and the very long for plastic pellets.
The same applies for road trucks. I assume cement bulk trucks had much less volume capacity then grain trucks to deal with the heavy concrete.

I think we should look in the 1950s for bulk trucks much smaller than grain trucks from that time.

See link posted directly above. Trucks overall were smaller in the fifties.
The Medusa plant represents a smaller transfer plant. Covered hoppers bring finished bulk cement in, it is unloaded into the silos, and delivered locally by truck. If your after a manufacturing plant, they are huge facilities.

Check this link for the former Hercules cement plant in Stockertown PA ( now Buzzi Unicem )
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Stockertown,+PA/@40.7506588,-75.2733717,538m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x89c469397fa4b429:0xc3fc5a19eabc044e!8m2!3d40.7539861!4d-75.2621228?hl=en">https://www.google.com/maps/place/Stock ... 1228?hl=en</a><!-- m -->

I had built part of this plant as it was in the late 40's

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