Just as a general time frame and route. Way back when, Where/How did the railroad get water.?
Did they try to follow rivers, hire guides that knew well locations.? How did they keep those water tanks near a water source.?
Thank You
kenny dorham Just as a general time frame and route. Way back when, Where/How did the railroad get water.? Did they try to follow rivers, hire guides that knew well locations.? How did they keep those water tanks near a water source.? Thank You
Kenny: THe Southern Pacific and Santa Fe and probably(?), the Union Pacific used rail tankers (tank Cars) out in the dryer areas of the West and Southwest. Particularly, in areas of lower normal rainfalls. They would run them from regular, non-seasonal, water sources, to points with some kind of water storage facility.
Here in Kansas the water for locomotives was pumped from sources like ponds,creeks, rivers to some point near a railroad watering facility. Wells could be drilled in some locations and wind powered pumps, and some steam powered one, would lift the water to an elevated water tank.
( Such a large wooden tank still exists, preserved, circa 1885, in a community that was on an old SL-SF line,East of Wichita ( @ Beaumont,Ks). See link @ http://beaumontkansas.blogspot.com/2010/09/frisco-railroad.html
The railraods were usually located near rivers as that's where the easiest construction was, the rivers did most of the work in cutting a line through mountains, etc. An additional benefit was a good source of water along with traffic from communities already established on the river.
The Central Pacfic's line across Nevada followed the Truckee river from the summit to east of Sparks (Reno), struck out towards the Humboldt sink and then followed the Humboldt river till past Wells. The line from Wells to Ogden crossed quite a few streams draining into the Great Salt Lake, so the line had a reasonable supply of water.
The Southern Pacific line across Arizona also followed rivers for a good portion of the way, but there were many spots where the SP had to set up steam pumps for well water - some wells were on the order of 1,000' deep.
I see...that all makes sense...Thanks Again
I'd imagine more than a few windmills were employed if the water wasn't too deep.
Another issue with "local" water was that it often wasn't all that suitable for use in boilers - alkaline, hard, etc.
I don't know about the transcon, but railroads in areas with the potential for water power (ie, enough drop) sometimes used "hydraulic rams" to keep their tanks full. Basically a self-powered pump, such a device can pump up something like 25 times it's head, albeit not at great volumes.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
tree68I'd imagine more than a few windmills were employed if the water wasn't too deep. Another issue with "local" water was that it often wasn't all that suitable for use in boilers - alkaline, hard, etc.
Calgary's first water tank was filled using a windmill pump drawing water from the Elbow River.
Carstairs, on the CPR Calgary/Edmonton line was notorious for having bad water. It would foam like a beer keg after it had been on a paint can shaker for five minutes. There would be white residue all over the back portion of the locomotive, all over the tender, and the first few cars following. Fortunatly, it was not needed during normal operations. Wayfreight crews might have to use it if they had difficulties doing their work in a timely manner, and sometimes through trains might need it if the railroad got jammed up for some reason. Such use was always followed by angry meetings between mechanical and operating executives afterward.
Finding reliable water supplies in Canada, where winter temperatures could drop to 30 and 40 below was very difficult. The reason you hear of Banff and Lake Louise today, is because those locations developed because they did have reliable supplies.
Bruce
So shovel the coal, let this rattler roll.
"A Train is a Place Going Somewhere" CP Rail Public Timetable
"O. S. Irricana"
. . . __ . ______
Las Vegas was once just a water stop on the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake.
As is fairly well known, Hackberry AZ was a water stop on the Santa Fe that didn't have any water of its own. Santa Fe had to bring in every drop by tank car just to support steam operations.
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