The other day when it was bitterly cold here and everthing was frozen I began to wonder how in the world did the railroads keep the water towers from freezing in the winter , especially up north , so the engines could get water when they needed to refill. I am assuming that they would freeze up . Which brings up another question . If they did freeze , how did they keep the water towers from bursting when the ice expanded ? Any one have any clues ?
Where it really gets cold (not the balmy climes of Virginia [:)]),the lower part of the tower (and sometimes the entire tower) was often enclosed in a heated structure. It would be very rare for it to get cold enough for long enough to freeze all the water in the tank. However since the tanks are not airtight (you do have to let water out, after all), the ice which would form at the top of the tank would simply expand in the path of least resistance - upward. And a fresh influx of water from the pump would tend to keep the ice situation under control, with perhaps the assistance of the aforementioned heated shelter for the riser.
As for the fireman who has to manuever around on the icy tender deck - he’s pretty much on his own…[:(]
How would they construct the tent and heat the tent ? Now that you mention the tender how would they keep the tender from freezing up ?
Here’s how our Canadian brothers across the border constructed their water towers to keep the pipes from freezing:
All water towers were generally covered to keep debris out of the water supply, as well as protect the water inside the tank from freezing. It would seem logical, too, that water towers were not filled to capacity. So, in the event that the water in the tank should start to freeze, the frozen water could expand without damaging the tank walls.
And, if my recollection is correct, I think the lower portion of the water tower were also heated somehow.
Tom
Wouldn’t the constant movement of water in the tower keep it from freezing. And like said before. it would take quite awhile to freez a huge block of water like that. One way was to provide a heated enclosure underneath it. Like the one below.
Tom do you know how they kept the tender from freezing up ? I would assume that the piping from the tender to the engine would be the first to freeze ?
I would guess that either the pipes were insulated, or else the steam used to inject the water into the boiler prevented this.
The pipes were indeed insulated, but the injector steam, being confined to the locomotive, didn’t affect the tender water. There were many instances of the fierman having to climb out of the cab and heat up the pipes with a coal-oil torch to thaw them. Winter railroading was NOT fun!
The tender could be heated by simply running a steam pipe into the tank and back. Something similar was used with oil-fired locos in cooler weather, to keep the tar-like Bunker-C oil flowing.
Surface ice on top of the tender tank was something else, and could make it rather hazardous for the fireman to climb back there to fill the tank.