Modern town water towers

AndyC · June 26, 2016, 6:27pm

In Decemeber, 2008, I started a topic under the title ““Town Water Towers””… The pictures are no longer there, so I thought I would update it starting a new topic…

I started with some PVC pipe and funnels, along with 2 light globes that were plastic… One was 9 inches in Diameter, and the other I think was 15 inches in diameter… I cut the funnels so the PVC pipe would fit thru them…

The one below is the smaller diameter…

The one below was the larger version.

The pictures are what they looked like back in 2008…

They got put on the shelf for a long while… This past winter, I finally got them painted, and lettered using a P-Touch machine for the lettering…

jeclarke · June 26, 2016, 6:34pm

They were labeled for 2 of the towns on the railroad…

The smaller one was for Sparta, see below.

The larger one was made for the town of Overlook… Overlook has a larger population and more industries, so it required the large water tower.

My goal was to use them to help identify the towns for operators… They are nothing real fancy, but I believe they do give the appearance that I desired…

Ken_Brunt · June 26, 2016, 7:01pm

Considering what the weather is like out there in the summer, I hope they hold real water…with ice cubes…(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

Rooster · June 26, 2016, 11:16pm

Ken,

I think they are actually filled with concrete and removable for beating Andy when he gets out of line at each town!

David_Maynard1 · June 26, 2016, 11:21pm

Rooster, now be nice. There is no need to be so fowl to Andy. I am sure he is a nice guy. Even though I am not sure he knows how to smile.

AndyC · June 26, 2016, 11:27pm

Smiling is so over-rated… (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

David_Maynard1 · June 27, 2016, 1:10am

Andy I smile most of the time. It makes my customers think I am happy. It makes my boss wonder what I have been up to. It made my one co-worker even more grumpy then his usual self. It makes my mom ask why I am so darn happy all the time.

I prefer to smile if I can. But some days, I can’t.

joerusz915 · June 29, 2016, 8:46pm

Actually, Andy, town water towers are a great idea that’s been all but ignored by modelers. Yours is cool–for a mod-urn tower, but some of the classics I’ve seen in the midwest, heck everywhere, have possibilities. In Buffalo, there are (were?) some concrete towers that look like round buildings, while even here in Orange County, CA, there is/was a steel tower on legs in downtown Santa Ana (are you reading this Todd Brody?).

Anyways, thanks for the idea.

David_Maynard1 · June 29, 2016, 9:05pm

Joe, I have wanted to make a Chicago iron works, Horton, tower for a long time. But making all of the zig zag bracing on the spindly legs, would probably push me over the edge of sanity. And I am already too close to that edge as it is.

AndyC · June 29, 2016, 9:36pm

Thanks, Joe… I do have a few other styles started, but they also have been on the back burner for a long time… One of the cool water towers is the ““ketchup Bottle”” water tower in Collinsville, IL… New towers out here lately are concrete and kinda look like a mushroom, with a thick top…

Rooster · June 29, 2016, 10:57pm

Andy Clarke said:

New towers out here lately are concrete and kinda look like a mushroom, with a thick top…

Exactly what I said earlier!

AndyC · June 29, 2016, 11:05pm

" Rooster " said:

Andy Clarke said:

New towers out here lately are concrete and kinda look like a mushroom, with a thick top…

Exactly what I said earlier!

Who are you???

Rooster · June 30, 2016, 12:23am

Ken_Brunt · June 30, 2016, 6:52am

Scott Paper Co, when they had a plant in Chester, PA, had a round water tank on the property painted to look like a roll of toilet paper, with Scott Tissue on the sides.