Basic American Plover

sign by the mainline and Highway 54 by Hayes Avenue

.

here is a repeat of some notes made on wc2scale@yahoogroups.com I don't know the whole history of Basic American Plover. Before them, I remember a sign saying SunSpiced. The plant cooks, processes, drys vegetable products. Potatoes, and beans recently, Basic American was big in re-fried beans. Received many 3-bay Pullman Standard covered hopppers of beans, usually green BNSF or red ATSF cars. Some old yellow Milwaukee Road too. I don't know what state they came from, and someone mentioned Idaho, and Minnesota. Often, a half-dozen cars were held in the passing siding waiting to be moved into the plant. Trucks hauled a lot of the re-fried beans out. They originally processed potatoes. And many potatoes came in by covered hopper cars. These were manufacturing grade potatoes, too small for frozen food preparation. They entered at the main plant square buildings on the south side. A few years ago, a car thawing shed was built and I don't have pictures of that on this page. Potatoes are cooked and dried into dry instant mashed potato granules. Some granules are pipe-blown to the Tank Car building near the highway, it has some blue storage tanks near it and shows in one of Ben's pictures. The potato granules flow like dry pellets (I am told by people who have worked there). I am surprised they put them in black tank cars, although they would have the glass lining for food products. I would normally think of food pellets in pneumatic unloading centerflow hoppers, but I have only seen one of those there ever, and I think it was an inbound load. At this time I can only guess they used 2 to 6 hoppers inbound per day. And two or three tank cars out per week. I don't remember if they also received inbound tankers of cooking oil, I would guess that's what the blue storage tanks would hold. (I'll have to ask some former employees about the quantity of rail traffic.) Basic American Plover plant is being shut down, something about a change of contract involving re-fried beans. There are 106 employees. The whole plant will be moth-balled by September 2009.

.

As usual, I spent time replying to this instead of doing chores around the house. . . . . I drive by these industrial plants most every week. But some of my pictures are old, some are 9 years old. And some of my back-up copies on CD don't read anymore afer 5 years. But I found enough for this page. Could always wish for more quality on some, but that's as good as the camera was back then. First picture is looking southeast toward the tank car loading building. One car fits inside the white door. I've only ever seen Black tank cars in the building. They are not the gray paper mill clay slurry cars you see here. And here is an interesting train note, this was the Plover Patrol in 2004 with a day time schedule. For years now, this train runs after dark.

.

. . . . . looking further south at the main building.
. . . . . . . .. . gray is concrete wall, blue is steel siding.

. . . . . the hoppers enter beyond the white trucks.
. . . . . the low gray building on the southwest / right is potato storage

further west on the main line is the start of the long switch lead that goes to the south side of the plant.

Pine trees and oaks.. This was a pole camera picture, without that I wouldn't see nothing but trees.

.

looking northeast at the main building. The potato storage building shows again on the right.

.

looking north at the main building. Concrete panel ribbed wall construction. Blue trailer looks like a pneumatic unloader to or from a storage shed.

.

2001 A real variety of hoppers and lots of them in those days.

.

.

.

As usual, I have driven by on the highway side of the plant many times, but never stopped for many pictures. To keep the history correct, if someone knows the facts better than me, do please write to me.

.

.

Link to my original site, with no advertising, and a complete chronological list of my pages of ALL sites,
Bruce's RailRoad Pictures index page