Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
5
Grain elevators, a symbol of Manitoba.
© Inglis Grain Elevators National Historic Site
PRAIRIE CATHEDRALS
There used to be a grain elevator and a town every 16km along the
railway line that follows Highway 61, and throughout the prairies for
that matter. The old elevator system was established in the 1880s and
based on the premise that a farmer and his horsedrawn carriage could
only haul grain over about 16km in one day.
The advent of longhaul trucks put an end to the need for so many
elevators and the phasing out of a government transportation subsidy
forced the construction of a new generation of elevators. The more
sophisticated “high throughputs” can hold more grain, handle the dry-
ing and cleaning and load the grain more quickly into the railcars.
As a result, grain elevators are being torn down so quickly that they
will be extinct within the next 20 years, and maybe even sooner
(some 6,000 grain elevators could be found in the Prairies during the
1930s; there are now less than 1,000)
.
The Provincial Museum of
Alberta has amassed a collection of old photographs to immortalize
these cathedrals before
they disappear forever.
In Inglis, Manitoba, a dedicated volunteer group has gone a step
further, by restoring a row of grain elevators which has become a
National Historic Site.
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