The mile long(or more) water troughs that were used during the late steam era for picking up water on the fly. In the northeastern railroads such as the New York Central how was the water kept from freezing during the winter months.
Basically, there was sufficient agitation of the water with frequent water pickups to prevent more than a thin skim of ice forming one the water.
Basically, there was sufficient agitation of the water with frequent water pickups to prevent more than a thin skim of ice forming on the water.
Thanks Gregg! After seeing a picture of a NYC Niagara taking on water on the fly in an older MR I often thought it would be a neat thing to model. It would have to be greatly compresed since I don’t have a scale mile long straight section of track.(My entire layout doesn’t even cover a scale mile!)So I often wondered how they kept the water from freezing. Trying to heat water for that amount of distance would in my opinion be very expensive.
It involved more than just a trough and a water pump. There were boilers for steam heat, water treatment facilities, and employees stationed 'round the clock to make sure everything worked properly, and they had to be built on a level section of track.
Agitating water does not prevent it from freezing. Ever have a slurpee?
The Pennsy had a water trough at Montrose Illinois on their main…They never worked very well and did not last very long…Cox 47
I have a track pan modeled on my layout…nothing fancy about it…but it looks cool…
I have (not so) fond memories of NYC track pans on the Hudson River north of the Bear Mountain Bridge. One cloudy, windy November day I was trackside when a Niagara came blasting through at speed, dropped its scoop and took a drink. About half the water went into the tank. The other half flew all over the local area - yours truly included.
Wet clothes and wet hair amplify wind chill. I still shiver when I think about it.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Track Pan!!! Everyone remember that. It is called a TRACK PAN!!!
[:-^]
Livestock eat and drink from troughs.
Pumping stations, and heating plants we’re usually located in close proximity. Drainage and recovery was rather sophisticated as well. When you look at pictures you’ll see what seems to be rock tiling with gaps for the drainage so that overflow could be recovered.
What did that sound like? Must have been close to an earthquake?
First guess would be a typhoon hitting shore. Musta been “cool” anyway
A chilling experience perhaps?
You might want to model a fence, too. Livestock would drink from a track pan, too, if they were thirsty and that was the closest source of water. All critters great and small, too.
Not in the country where they were invented, they were known as “water troughs” and are thoughout the rest of the English speaking world. “Track Pans” is yet another example of Americans inventing a word of their own just to be different from the Brits.
Dates back to the revolution and the need to be seen as different, don’tcha know. 
Stauffer in his Pennsy Power book states that sometimes a hobo would hitch a ride on the back of a tender only to be found frozen to death from the overspray when the train stopped.