Discussions

At intervals of about every thirty miles along the rail track a Water Tower was built so that Steam Locomotives could replenish their water supply. These towers were designed with an inner tub and an outer shell, both made of wood. The space between the two was well insulated, and until oil heat was introduced, a Pot Bellied Stove heated the towers in the winter. Its chimney ran up between the shell and the tub. A Pump man kept the fires stoked and operated the 10 horsepower motors which pumped the water up into the tower. When electricity became available, the hand pumps were replaced with electric pumps, which meant that one pump man could then care for about three of the water towers.  
 
The Brandon tower  
 
The Brandon tower was never used to service steam Engines, but it was used to provide water pressure to the city water system. Each foot of height provides 0.43 P.S.I. (pounds per square inch) of pressure. A typical municipal water supply operates at between 50 and 100 P.S.I., major appliances require at least 20 to 30 P.S.I. to operate. The water tower had to be tall enough to supply that level of pressure to all the houses and businesses in the area of the tower. So water towers are typically mounted on high ground. The water tower tanks were sized to hold about one day’s supply of water for the surrounding community served by the tower. One advantage of the water tower was that it allowed the municipality to size its pumps for average, rather than peak demand, which could save the community a lot of money, another was that if the power went out to the water pumps, the community could still receive water on demand.