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UER Forum > US: Four Corners > Sugar Beet Mill (Viewed 1663 times)
"ghost" 


Location: Colorado
Gender: Male
Total Likes: 31 likes


I climb. I jump. I explore.

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Sugar Beet Mill
< on 4/27/2020 6:37 AM >
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Posted on Forum: UER Forum
This location is very well traveled, and in fact already has it's own thread here: https://www.uer.ca...urrpage=1&pp#post0. I have a more complete set of photos of the interior of the factory, and I'm going to (try to) explain more in depth how the factory operated, so I felt justified in breaking this off into a new thread. All my research comes from the depths of the internet, so if you know more or I got something wrong, I'd love to hear in the comments below.

<obfuscated history>
This particular sugar beet mill was opened in the early 1900's and operated steadily until it was phased out and abandoned in the 1980's. When it opened, it single handedly supplied sugar to CO and most of the surrounding states, able to process some 4,000 tons of beets per day! With the increasing availability of offshore can sugar and the volatility of the US beet market, this factory was eventually shut down and partially disassembled.
</history>

<process>
The process for turning sugar beets into granular sugar and molasses is surprisingly simple in theory, however the photos below show the sheer scale at which it was implemented. First, the sugar beets must be cleaned to remove any contaminants like dirt or pesticides. After that, the beets are sliced up and soaked in hot water to remove the sugar via diffusion. The remaining pulp is dried for use as animal feed, while the sugar dense water is heavily filtered and boiled to produce a thick syrup. This syrup is put in a pressure vessel and heavily pressurized, which crystallizes the sugar and suspends it in the molasses. Finally, the mixture is separated using a centrifuge before being dried and stored for distribution. My primary source for this information can be found here: https://www.wester...ugar-beet-process/
</process>

All these photos were taken on my shitty iPhone SE, so it goes. All of the information below is speculation based on what I saw and know about the process. If you'd like to view the photos full size at their original resolution, you can find them here: https://imgur.com/a/Nyu97w3

Edit: I found another thread on these mills with a lot more information here: https://www.uer.ca...0341&currpage=1&pp

The old rail tracks leading to the factory; this is likely how the beets/sugar/molasses was transported in and out of the factory.







The factory consists of two main buildings, building 1 on the right and building 2 on the left. From what I saw, it appears building 1 handled the cleaning and slicing of the beets, along with diffusion of the sugar. This heavy syrup was pumped into the top of building 2, which crystallized and separated the syrup before storing it in the adjacent (still used) towers.



I believe the first large rectangular shaft transported the waste pulp, while the large tube behind it transported the heavy syrup up to the top floor of building 2. I'm not sure what the smaller connecting pipes are for, water perhaps?





I suspect this 3-story vessel is responsible for cleaning the sugar beets right at the start of building 1. I'm not sure how it's loaded however, as the top parts are only accessible via suspect wooden platforms.


I think this room, adjacent to the previously photoed room, may have previously contained the machines that chopped up the sugar beets before transferring them further down building 1.





Aha! The fun part! At the very end of building 1 sits three monolithic 3-story industrial furnaces. Coal powered (via hoppers in the top), these furnaces diffuse the sugar out of the sliced beets before pumping the liquid to the final room in building 1 for filtering. The fumes are exhausted by the lone chimney stack, while the remaining beet pulp is conveyored over to building 2. The true scale of these machines cannot be portrayed via photograph (or at least, not by my hand).





At the top of building 2, the heavy syrup enters from building 1 and fills up these pressure vessels where the crystallization takes place.






The rest of building 2 was dark, and unfortunately most of the machinery was disassembled and removed. Floor 4 was mostly storage and organization, floor 3 handled crystallization, and floors 1 and 2 had large open spaces that I can only assume once held machines for separation and drying.


These silos would have held the final products: sugar, molasses, and beet pulp for livestock feed!






[last edit 4/28/2020 4:10 AM by "ghost" - edited 3 times]

Comrade Kip 


Location: Virginia, USA
Gender: Male
Total Likes: 52 likes


Endlessly cynical

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Re: Sugar Beet Mill
< Reply # 1 on 4/27/2020 8:08 AM >
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Posted on Forum: UER Forum
Bandos. Beets. Battlestar Galactica

Seriously though, nice pics. The Pac-Man graffiti is pretty funny.

Edit: Dear lord I just noticed the mannequin head in the pic below the gear storage pic (which is a pretty nice shot, btw). Damn near almost had a heart attack.



[last edit 4/27/2020 8:10 AM by Comrade Kip - edited 2 times]

aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Is "urbex historian" a legitimate profession?
randomesquephoto 


Total Likes: 1671 likes


Don't be a Maxx

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Re: Sugar Beet Mill
< Reply # 2 on 4/27/2020 8:49 AM >
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Awesome. This is the most complete set I've seen from this spot. I really like it.




RIP Blackhawk
becckeez 


Location: 804
Gender: Female
Total Likes: 648 likes


trippin.

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Re: Sugar Beet Mill
< Reply # 3 on 4/27/2020 3:10 PM >
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What an epic playground you have there.

Nice photography work - makes me itch to go see.

Cool post & thanks for sharing




ryanpics 


Location: Central Va
Gender: Male
Total Likes: 447 likes




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Re: Sugar Beet Mill
< Reply # 4 on 4/28/2020 7:21 PM >
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Nice set! Stopped by there last summer and it was really cool. You have such a complete set, it makes me wanna go back and see the rest.




"ghost" 


Location: Colorado
Gender: Male
Total Likes: 31 likes


I climb. I jump. I explore.

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Re: Sugar Beet Mill
< Reply # 5 on 4/29/2020 4:54 AM >
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Posted on Forum: UER Forum
Thanks guys! If anyone's in the area I'd be super down to go back, hit me up in the PMs.




UER Forum > US: Four Corners > Sugar Beet Mill (Viewed 1663 times)


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