Icehouse and Harvesting - Printable Version +- (https://bigbluetrains.com) +-- Forum: Branchline (https://bigbluetrains.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=45) +--- Forum: Industries Along The Rails (https://bigbluetrains.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=29) +--- Thread: Icehouse and Harvesting (/showthread.php?tid=5598)

Icehouse and Harvesting - alpha_1 - 12-02-2012 Hi All; I'm wondering if anyone has built an icehouse and associated equipment for a lineside industry. My layout, the Kootenay Lakes Steam & Navigation Company will have such a facility when I get to that part of the layout. The equipment is very interesting.......mechanical conveyors and lifts......driven by steam. Most harvesting was done by hand out on the ice. Lots of possibilities exist for period modelers. Folks needed ice for their ice boxes, canning companies needed ice for their produce, and railways, of course needed ice for their reefers. I'd be interested in hearing about this industry if anybody has information. Re: Icehouse and Harvesting - Sumpter250 - 12-02-2012 A good start would be, Google " Ice Harvesting ". That should lead you to other information about the Ice Industry. Use the GCLaser link below, to see if the Ice House kit might be something you'd be interested in. Re: Icehouse and Harvesting - alpha_1 - 12-02-2012 Yup, did that and found some good information. I've also used other resources like the local public library but that turned out to be a bust. It looks like it will be a scartchbuild of an old CPR icehouse. The plans are available at <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.cptracks.ca">http://www.cptracks.ca</a><!-- m -->. There's also a CD on ice harvesting at <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://ghosttownmodels.com/">http://ghosttownmodels.com/</a><!-- m --> that sounds well worth the price. My biggest problem with building this structure is the mechanical equipment. The lifts and conveyors are very interesting. Google results just whetted my appetite for more as it didn't really give me many details yet plenty to get the juices flowing. Googling 'Icehouse' or 'Ice House' gets a lot of hockey rinks, so anybody trying this be patient. I grew up in the north yet I've never heard of rinks being called 'ice houses' before. There seems to be very little on 'Ice Harvesting' ergo my query here. Having said all this, one has to remember that this was never a huge industry. I'm hoping that some historical societies will be able to help out as well. Ever onward, every upward.......I hope! Re: Icehouse and Harvesting - BR60103 - 12-02-2012 When I grew up in Perth, we had the remains of the ice industry; in fact ice was still delivered to people on our street. The ice industry seems to have been in the sawdust field from the sawmill, near the river. I think sawdust was used as insulation to preserve the ice during the summer. Re: Icehouse and Harvesting - MountainMan - 12-03-2012 One of my wife's relatives used to work in the ice house industry at Palmer Lake, Colorado. The amount of machinery depends on the era you're working in. Go to Bing and click on images, then use the key words "ice harvesting". Re: Icehouse and Harvesting - MountainMan - 12-03-2012 This is the image posted at the entrance to Monument, CO., in which my wife saw her relative. Re: Icehouse and Harvesting - alpha_1 - 12-09-2012 Some interesting shots there, thanks. Where I grew up as a boy, we had a cabin out in the bush with an old icebox in the kitchen. There was a fella down by the lake who operated a small sawmill and icehouse. I can remember going there with my Dad to get ice. My God, time is just whizzin' by! Thanks for sharing, guys. Cheers.