Whitney Water Tank On The SVRy

I am a "how does it work" kinda guy, so this photo of the Whitney, Oregon water tank on the Sumpter Valley Ry. provides the perfect subject for a little more study. The original water tank at Whitney was adjacent to the depot. SVRy engine #11 was set up in stationary boiler service to run a pump to fill the tank. In 1919 a gas engine driven pump was installed. In 1926, a new water tank was built nearly a half a mile time table west of Whitney of greater capacity and having the signature Sumpter Valley octagonal tank house. It seems that initially the water source remained back at Whitney and the tank was filled through 2317' of pipe line. Based on the AFE and retirement data, a new well closer to the tank was installed and water was pumped through 1480 ft. of pipe. The final configuration was as we see in this photo. In 1937, a 200' deep well was drilled next to the water tank and a Fairbanks Morse Eclipse windmill installed to fill the tank. The tank site is adjacent to Camp Cr., so they also installed a 2" Sterling centrifugal pump with 5Hp Briggs and Stratton engine as back up. Today, one can find the concrete piers of the water tank and the collapsed pump house next to the creek. One source told me that the pump house was also used as a sand house. The scans are from SVRR Archive.