Regarding the archive photo of 2-8-2 4116 at Enid. Does anyone have ideas what the colors are in the water tank in the background in the picture of 4116? It doesn't seem to be the usual all black water tank paint scheme. Thanks, Tom G.
Guys, I have a water tower question for you all to ponder. I wish the attached photo was better, but thus far it is the best I have been able to come up with. It is the two towers that stood in Dixon, one was treated water the second untreated. First, the tank in the background is obviously black, but what would the one in the foreground be, maybe a light tan? The second question regards the tower in the background. It would appear that it doesn't have a roof. Would this be because it was in the process of being dismantled or could there be a reason why it was never given a roof? Brad
Brad, A few days ago, Karl Brand answered just such a question about water tanks for me. But I can't locate that post now Maybe Karl can chime in or maybe someone else can locate the post. Tom G.
There were numbers of tanks on the various Missouri Pacific (MP) lines in the Gulf Coast area without roofs. In really rainy areas rain made up for a lot of the evaporation. Would make a great model, showing water in a roofless tank. Man, that is a ghostly picture. Ghosts from the past. The tanks, the multi arm telegraph poles, the depot, the old style grain elevators from railroading’s glory days, I miss them all.
The simple answer is that if the water was used for drinking as well as for locomotives, then the tank was covered; otherwise not. Ken McElreath
Never heard that, interesting. There were covered railroad tanks in towns with municipal water systems, although the railroad may have supplied potable water to its own facilities. In the 1980s in West Texas I saw a couple of tanks still standing on the Texas and New Orleans (T&NO) Railroad, likely for city water.
Look at post #2 in this thread. This thread is the only one on Frisco.com with recent posts regarding water tanks.
