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| ID # 1,043 |
Many small railroads, such as this south Carolina logging-line, lacked the wayside storage tanks, pump-houses. standpipes, or track pans necessary to quench the thirst of their iron horses. This 1891-built No. 6 was serviced by letting a hose down into a muddy creek to suck up water. In early days on the Western plains the windmill often supplied power to pump water into a wayside tank. Later, pumps were operated by steam, gasoline and then electricity. At first the tanks were wooden with iron hoops: more modern ones were built of steel. Romance and adventure have gathered about water tanks: train robbers crouched in their shelter, waiting for the Fast Mail. and hoboes loafed underneath them, ready to hop the "rods" or "blinds" when a freight stopped for water. With the installation of track pans on some roads, beginning in 1870, many engines could scoop up water without stopping.
OLIVER JENSEN
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