Topping-up steam locos

1 hour ago, The Johnster said:

Having seen the plug pulled on the Brecon & Monmouthshire Canal at Llangynidr,  I can confirm that there is a comedic element at play in such proceedings.  Impressive, too.  

 

 

 

Pontcysyllte 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKR-n2civjQ

3 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

They don't come much smaller than Ingleton, though it wasn't free-standing, being adjacent to the engine shed:

 

 

[Embedded link to catalogue thumbnail of MRSC 61679.]

 

For the next size up, go to Malvern Wells:

 

 

[Embedded link to catalogue thumbnail of MRSC 63051.]

 

If you want one that looks bigger but you've only got a narrow space, how about Northampton shed?

 

 

[Embedded link to catalogue thumbnail of MRSC 63054.]

 

Four panels wide by five long (16 ft x 20 ft) and two or three panels deep (6 ft or 9ft) seems to be a common size; the one at Blea Moor exemplifies the type and also has a chimney (at the other end to this photo) for added character:

 

 

[embedded link to catalogue thumbnail of MRSC 6533.]

 

See also MRSC 77-13556 for a useful drawing showing how the tank was built; also showing that the official term for the support structure was "tank house".

Ingleton is a bit Airfix kit style. Although looks wooden.

Jason

Thanks, Compound. Malvern Wells looks good, though I've already started making a model of the one at Charfield as I've a plan of it. 

Just thought; is the top of the tank open so will I have to model the water in it too?

7 minutes ago, Peter Kazmierczak said:

is the top of the tank open

Unlikely unless the designer was a nature lover and wanted a garden pond. The wildlife you would get in an open topped tank would not go down well in the average boiler.

Yours, Mike.

Thanks, both.
Does anyone have a photo of the top of an ex-MR water tank?  I'll have a trawl through "Britain from Above" and see what I find. I just have the feeling that it was open to the elements.

I always thought they were covered to stop evaporation and dead birds getting in there. GWR ones certainly were.

Jason

The base of the water tower is coming along...

I am told that Crofton Pumping Station was kept in operation despite the Kennett and Avon canal falling into disuse because the supply for the water column at Devises came from the canal.

I might have thought that connecting it to the town supply might have been cheaper.

Interestingly enough Minehead was only to be used In Extremis because water came from the town supply while the main supply was at Williton & came from the river.

Post WW1 with the line already losing money the Somerset and Dorset issued instructions as to where locos should be watered on cost grounds

On 05/09/2023 at 08:16, stewartingram said:

Cambridge station/locoshed was (I'm told) fed by water from Chesterton Junction - the present Cambridge North station site. That must be at least a couple of miles away.

It’s about 2 and 3/4 miles! I know this as I cycle it most days! 
It does make sense as that’s the closest the railway is to the river in Cambridge,  I’ll have a chat with my friends at the tech museum next time I see them. 

On 06/09/2023 at 13:59, Compound2632 said:

  On 06/09/2023 at 13:13, Steamport Southport said:

I always thought they were covered to stop evaporation and dead birds getting in there. GWR ones certainly were.

I've seen references in footplatemen's recollections that on very hot days, some cleaners were want to go  for a swim  in the  tanks. Maybe that's why the GW roofed them in.  😉

3 hours ago, Matt37268 said:

It’s about 2 and 3/4 miles! I know this as I cycle it most days! 
It does make sense as that’s the closest the railway is to the river in Cambridge,  I’ll have a chat with my friends at the tech museum next time I see them. 

In the Y of Chesterton Junction there were some railway houses, and a pumphouse (or whatever), which is where the water was (I'm told) pumped along the railway to the station.

According to Ken Cook, GWR Works manager in the 40s, his predecessor, Hannington, was known to swim in a water tank from time to time. Apparently he also took a cold bath each morning in a pond in his garden, breaking the ice if necessary! In the end his love of water was his undoing as one day he dived head first into a 5 foot deep swimming pool at his daughter's school and fatally hit his head on the bottom.

2 hours ago, stewartingram said:

In the Y of Chesterton Junction there were some railway houses, and a pumphouse (or whatever), which is where the water was (I'm told) pumped along the railway to the station.

Is that where the science park is now? 

No. As I said earlier, Cambridge North  station.

2 hours ago, stewartingram said:

No. As I said earlier, Cambridge North  station.

It’s a big site though! I’m guessing you maybe mean somewhere in between where the line to St Ives branched off? (What’s now the guided busway) 

Making the actual water tank is doing my head in; especially in this heat...

There are so many little card strips I have to cut and glue, and as (I'm assuming) the tank isn't covered, I've got to do this on the inside too.

Didcot is certainly covered.

3 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

I think the tank plates only have their flanges on the outside, so the inside is smooth, apart from lots of rivet heads.

If the flanges are bolted on the outside there should be nothing inside.