Friends of Grain Elevators

Tours

Maurice Mailhot guides tour of his terminal.

If you tour a grain terminal, you will make a memory you won't soon forget. That's the opinion of most of the 500 people who attended our Open Doors Thunder Bay tour.

Unfortunately, given port security restrictions, tours of the interiors of grain elevators have been restricted. We do, however, conduct tours of the waterfront on request featuring grain elevator history. Contact us if you are interested.

We have partnered with the city to design a self-guided audio tour of the Thunder Bay waterfront. Please check back at a later date for more details.

Richardsons Terminal Tour

Here are some image and video footage examples from a previous tour of Richardsons Terminal in July of 2022. This is some of what you may experience during your tour, including information throughout the tour from an actual grain elevator worker. They are happy to answer questions you may have.

IMG_8563

Worker Unloading Grain

The worker slid each port open to drain the grain from the train into the elevator, then came back to close the ports before moving the train along. The train sat inside the elevator.

Grain Pouring

Here is a video of the grain pouring into the elevator from the train.

IMG_8577

IMG_8569

IMG_8567

IMG_8587

IMG_8584

IMG_8586

IMG_8578

The View

You can see the closed-down elevator from the top of the new one.

IMG_8571

The View

A beautiful view from the very top of the elevator.

IMG_8574

IMG_8573

Sleeping Giant "Nanabijou"

Taken from the top of the Elevator, you can see the Sleeping Giant (Nanabijou)

IMG_8590

Loading Grain

Here is a video taken from the top of the Elevator looking down onto the shipping dock. We watched as they loaded the grain into the ship. You can see how much powder comes off the grain and why they added more ventilation systems into the elevators over the years.

Voices Directory

Visiting Thunder Bay?