Bringing water to a water tank

The exploratory work at Lava Tank brought to my mind how the C&C/SPng supplied the water tank at Belleville, the mill town for Candelaria.

On the old C&C (SPng) the water tank at Belleville was filled from distance sources. When the railroad got there it was able to utilize the several-mile-long pipeline that the mills had built to bring in water.

But, after the mills quit the railroad still needed water, so it brought in water from where it had a supply. The water cars were loaded at a location called Basalt where the railroad had a tank and the water line to Candelaria was in close proximity. One of the former spur tracks to the mills was modified to serve as a location to unload the water cars -- its elevation was above that of the water tank. A canvas hose provided a connection from the outlet of the water cars to a buried pipeline to the water tank. In this manner water was supplied to the water tank. The modified track was even elevated to a steeper grade so that three water cars could be spotted and as one was emptied the cars could be rolled down the grade so that the next one could be emptied.

The site is interesting because downgrade from pipe connection there is a cinder field. This would date from the coal burning era of 1902-1915. This would be at the right location for firebox to be raked out by the fireman while the brakeman was tiring down the hand brakes on the water car(s).

Ah, railroad archeology.

Brian Norden



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/2016 01:11PM by Brian Norden.