I can remember if the plants that made the sugar from the beets shut down or relocated, but thats what ended Beet trains.
Jerry, Great work! I recall driving through Manteca, CA, on highway 99 in the '50s and '60s. We would all see how long we could hold our breath so we wouldn't smell the aroma from the sugar beet factory (at least that's what my parents told me it was from). It smelled like a combination of cow poop and hydrogen sulfide. Manteca would never be a suburban/commuter town until that odor was gone. It went, and it is. Anyone else remember smells like that from sugar beet processing, or did my parents lie to me? Don't answer if you feel that I'm hijacking this thread. I'm just trying to get more info on sugar beet processing. Thanks,
Some beet info. The FRA banned the cars in 1994, because of their friction bearing trucks. The final Betteravia run was made on July 17 1993. That train was made up of the wood and steel cars. The beet trains did still run to a plant in Tracy. Heres some shots of the "beets". loaded, being shoved over Cajon. beets at Mojave, east at Lancaster Holly car tag Thom
Thats the natural color , with a white glue coating that was applied to lock them in place . I kept these in an open container in the basement for a year before using in hopes that the liquorish aroma would dry up . Never stopped emitting that aroma till I mummified them in white glue upon installation . They are probably too large , but so are our couplers .
Give it a shot on some scrap first . Post some shots , this is something that should be known what is best for us to use . I will take a better shot of my anise and post them in a bit .
I was thinking of getting a bowl and mixing dirt and the seeds together. Then seperating the seeds and seeing what that did for the color. But overall they are both really close.
Jerry, your skills almost void the three-foot rule. On your railroad, it should be the three-inch rule! Your detailing is impressive! Freestanding grabs on those beet racks? Sam's Club may sell celery seeds in the big bulk containers. You might need a pack or 2 for that unit beet train, though!
Richie, did you glue a piece of card board or something near the top and then glued the seeds to that?
I used celery seeds, too, as I felt they were closer to N scale size. I added a reddish wash at the suggestion of some Belmont Shore members. They said the beets had a slightly reddish hue. Modified Concor hopper: Dimi Trains Gondola:
