Re: Durango's Graden Mill

The old mill building would have produced flour and other milled products as appropriate for that industry, not sure when that would have stopped. The complex was for a time associated with Ranch-Way Feed, which originated in and is still based in Ft.Collins, as far as I know (the internet told me). The earliest use of the Ranch-Way signage that I've seen is 1947, same logo they use today, though there may have been an earlier version - Ranch-Way has been around since the late 1800s. (Dorman RD004-095: [ngtrainpics.photoshelter.com])

So yes they sold feed locally.

Anyway, you have to get product into the building.


composited from Andy Payne photos acquired from FOCTSRR, used with permission

I'm rethinking the open shed on the south end for wagon/truck delivery. There appears to be a pit within the shed which can be seen in the post-demolition image, product then being conveyed (under the warehouse sheds) to the basement under the bins, also clearly visible and running the length of the building east and west, and then lifted and distributed to the appropriate bins.

If delivery was taken by rail there probably was a pit or "boot" for product to be dumped into from boxcars on the east side, though I've seen no photographic evidence of this. Here's a link to a similar elevator beautifully illustrating the process:

[www.loc.gov]

There was clearly the ability to load product into boxcars via the typical segmented delivery tube seen in photos, so I'd imagine it highly likely product was outgoing by rail (maybe both bulk and bagged) at some time, as well as sold locally by the bag.

So it's just a matter of knowing how product was delivered to the elevator, by truck or rail.

That's all I got for now.

Mike



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/2017 11:41AM by bonefish.