Re: May favorite and a question *LINK*

Greg,
The item on the sand dome is a steam hose, SVRy outfitted all thier engines with hoses connected to the injector lines to provide steam for thawing ice. We chose to replicate this feature for Martin's trains.
The water tower actually has strong ties with both our Alco mikados. Around 1920, the Oregon Lumber Company, who actually owned the Sumpter Valley Railway, was constructing a mainline out of Bates along the North Fork of the John Day. Numbers 19 and 20 were ordered as the road engines for this route, and came from Schenechtedy as 101 and 102 to fit in with the OLC roster. Since they were bigger than anything else on the line, two large water towers were constructed with close to the same capacity as those found on the Sumpter Valley. The box style was prefered over the octagon by most of the logging lines in the region, probably due to the simpler construction. Anyway, the mainline idea never really worked out as well as it should have, and the 101 and 102 were transferred to the Sumpter Valley as 19 and 20. The water tower was used at Bates, and after the railroad closed, was moved a couple miles to the the company town of Newtville. When everything was being torn down in the early 70's, the restoration was able to get the tank donated and the National Guard transported it to its current location. Another interesting note in this long winded ramble is that the other tank built for the OLC main exists as well, and is stored in Sumpter awaiting restoration.
Thanks, Taylor