Western Railroad Discussion > Tacoma TEMCO Grain facility

I've been trying to document all of the grain terminals in the Pacific Northwest, and while the TEMCO facility is in my "backyard", I've not got around to it until recently.

Here's a few shots taken about a week ago during breaks in our rain storms.   

1) SW9 185 is shoving cars through the elevator.

2) The EFX mother/slug unit is working the south end of the terminal.   I felt like shouting "look out behind you!". 

3) After a battery change I waited a bit for an inbound grain train that rolled into the scene about the time a INBROO (garbage train) headed south. 

Steve Carter
Gig Harbor, WA
My Photography

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A little Googling suggests that this is the former Continental Grain facility.
TJY

GREAT photos Steve....the on the ground view doesn't give a good perspective of the plant.    Arlen

First time I've noticed that big overhanging roof over the ship loading area.
Of course with all the rain they get there is probably a pretty good idea. Wet grain in a ship hold is nothing but a mold factory.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/19/20 10:49 by PHall.

PHall Wrote:
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> First time I've noticed that big overhanging roof
> over the ship loading area.
> Of course with all the rail they get there is
> probably a pretty good idea. Wet grain in a ship
> hold is nothing but a mold factory.

That roof was added about 5-10 years ago.  But what's odd is that it only covers 2 of the 3 spouts (or whatever they're called).  

Steve Carter
Gig Harbor, WA
My Photography

I drove by that thing in 1995.  Thanks for some very nice pictures.

A couple of questions/thoughts about this dock:

The loading arms are fixed, meaning the ship/barge must be moved to load the various compartments. Is this common in the PNW? It reduces the cost of a loading dock significantly but requires the ships engines to remain on-line. Or would the repostitioning be done solely using the winches on the ship?

RE the comment about only 2 of the 3 arms being under a cover: My guess is the volume possible by the conveyor from the storage silos is not enough to run all three arms at once, an since a ship will have to be moved anyways to complete loading, that 3rd arm is really only used for semi-open barges.

Is this the only dock in the PNW that uses a cover so as to continue loading operations during the frequent rain?

Since this is an essentially a private dock, who is allowed to be involved in mooring operations? Ports are required to use union longshoremen. Does company personal handle that or do they have to call union longshoremen to handle that?

At the Seattle elevator the Longshore union run the elevator. Likely the same at other elevators .
RB
 

up833 Wrote:
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> At the Seattle elevator the Longshore union run
> the elevator. Likely the same at other elevators
> .

Dim memory tells me that you are right.

TAW

I am fairly sure that the ship can reposition itself with winches at each end and not need the main engine.  Of course the ship's generator should be on line.  Jeff

jst3751 Wrote:
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<snip>

> Since this is an essentially a private dock, who
> is allowed to be involved in mooring operations?
> Ports are required to use union longshoremen. Does
> company personal handle that or do they have to
> call union longshoremen to handle that?

This dock is handled by the Longeshoremen. I guy I used to work who was in that local said they also ran the trains, but I was never able to verify that. The ships are repositioned by winch.

Ken

The load arms or booms are not fixed.  They move side to side and the conveyor spout moves along the boom (forward - backward). 

So I've shot 6 facilities, TEMCO Tacoma is the only one with a cover.  

In the series of shots of TEMCO Tacoma, I captures images of the booms in different positions, including the one that is not under the roof and while it was filling one of the bays.

The Longshoreman do, as Roger said, operate this facility, including the locomotives. 

I'm going to guess that in some fashion the ship moves, as it didn't seem that the uncovered boom could reach the the bay nearest the stern of the ship.  Maybe it's winched in to position?

I've not seen every ship that has visited this facility, but I drive by frequently and seen a large number, and the all look very similar to this one.  i.e. covered bays or holds with hatches that open to allow for loading in this manner.  

All that said, I'd love to hear from somone who has worked at one of these places to get our questions answered with authority!

Here's a shot of with the uncoverd boom in action. 

jst3751 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A couple of questions/thoughts about this dock:
>
> The loading arms are fixed, meaning the ship/barge
> must be moved to load the various compartments. Is
> this common in the PNW? It reduces the cost of a
> loading dock significantly but requires the ships
> engines to remain on-line. Or would the
> repostitioning be done solely using the winches on
> the ship?
>
> RE the comment about only 2 of the 3 arms being
> under a cover: My guess is the volume possible by
> the conveyor from the storage silos is not enough
> to run all three arms at once, an since a ship
> will have to be moved anyways to complete loading,
> that 3rd arm is really only used for semi-open
> barges.
>
> Is this the only dock in the PNW that uses a cover
> so as to continue loading operations during the
> frequent rain?
>
> Since this is an essentially a private dock, who
> is allowed to be involved in mooring operations?
> Ports are required to use union longshoremen. Does
> company personal handle that or do they have to
> call union longshoremen to handle that?

Steve Carter
Gig Harbor, WA
My Photography

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Interesting information.

Thanks for the responces.