Manson Indiana is located northwest of the center of the state in Clinton county. The town is named after Mahlon Dickerson Manson a civil War general and Lieutenant Governor of Indiana. Manson was founded by three members of a Clark family in 1874, it had an early established church, and I have no idea if there were ever a post office, store or any other type of business supporting the community other than the elevator.
Unfortunately I have no history on the elevator however from observation of what’s left of the building it appears to of been a painted wooden structure that has had several areas added and eventually the whole structure was covered with tin. There are also remnants of a brick cob burner. I would guess the age to be around 100 years, give or take 10 or 15.
From the photos you can see Mother Nature slowly reclaiming the ground that this structure has occupied for many decades. The wind has removed some tin on the roof and sides letting in rain to start the decay process, some of the building has already begun to collapse.
I have designed and built an N scale model of how I think the structure looked in its final days of use. Measurements are based on window and door openings and are not completely accurate.
The model consist of 10 sheets of 67lbs letter size pages with 35 plus parts.
All the parts cut out.
I noticed that the silos didn’t have steel bar wrapping from top to bottom, just the upper and only a little over half. My though is that the bottom would have the most outward pressure.
Note on tubes: tubes are easy it’s the cap or plug that’s hard to get the correct size. I made several and still didn’t get them perfect.
Silos base and scale ramp.
The major parts of the model are made from boxes of various shapes and sizes.
I didn’t see anything left of stairs or walkway to access the two doors on the track side so my assumption is wood. I’m sure they didn’t jump up or down the 4 feet or so to get in or out.
4 layers of 67lbs paper laminated and cut into strips were used to make stairs and walkway. Stair casings also cut from laminate and painted.
All the boxes ready for assembly.
The roofs hide a lot of the seams.
The final touches are rigging, pipes and a winch beam.
Hope you enjoy this post, if you have any questions feel free to ask and if anyone has any history on this building please post it here.:thumb:
Unfortunately I have no history on the elevator however from observation of what’s left of the building it appears to of been a painted wooden structure that has had several areas added and eventually the whole structure was covered with tin. There are also remnants of a brick cob burner. I would guess the age to be around 100 years, give or take 10 or 15.
From the photos you can see Mother Nature slowly reclaiming the ground that this structure has occupied for many decades. The wind has removed some tin on the roof and sides letting in rain to start the decay process, some of the building has already begun to collapse.
I have designed and built an N scale model of how I think the structure looked in its final days of use. Measurements are based on window and door openings and are not completely accurate.
The model consist of 10 sheets of 67lbs letter size pages with 35 plus parts.
All the parts cut out.
I noticed that the silos didn’t have steel bar wrapping from top to bottom, just the upper and only a little over half. My though is that the bottom would have the most outward pressure.
Note on tubes: tubes are easy it’s the cap or plug that’s hard to get the correct size. I made several and still didn’t get them perfect.
Silos base and scale ramp.
The major parts of the model are made from boxes of various shapes and sizes.
I didn’t see anything left of stairs or walkway to access the two doors on the track side so my assumption is wood. I’m sure they didn’t jump up or down the 4 feet or so to get in or out.
4 layers of 67lbs paper laminated and cut into strips were used to make stairs and walkway. Stair casings also cut from laminate and painted.
All the boxes ready for assembly.
The roofs hide a lot of the seams.
The final touches are rigging, pipes and a winch beam.
Hope you enjoy this post, if you have any questions feel free to ask and if anyone has any history on this building please post it here.:thumb:
