Stone and wood.

I have no idea why, but here

I have no idea why, but here is a place that has long severe winters with one that has a stone base.

and the answer is probably

to stop the feed-water pipe to the tank from freezing solid during the harsh winter. This pipe is smaller in cross-section that the tank and will freeze solid before the water in the tank will freeze solid. The structure below the tank would also prevent the inlet isolating valve valve and tank drain valve from rusting or freezing up as well. A tank is not much use if you can't get more water into it for the next thirsty loco that comes along after you have just drained most of the water in the tank into the tender of your loco....  

Harsh winters.

Interesting....

...that that tank has a round base below it.  Most I see are square. You would think you'd see more round bases than you do.  I spent last night online studying probably a hundred different photos of tanks both with masonry bases and timber supports too. They were mostly timber.  A lot of the timber ones had enclosed supply pipes. I suspect for freeze protection.

I'm not totally against timber construction for the supports but the thought of all those NBW castings I'd have to apply is certainly enough to give me pause.

While on the subject, another thing that I saw in one photo but that appeared to be quite rare was a tank with a separate free standing water column nearby. I actually have a water column casting that I bought sometime back.

Michael

Jerk water towns

That's interesting about the water pans. I always thought that a "jerk water town" referred to a town without a water tank and the the water had to be be manually "jerked" up to the tender in buckets. 

Not that I'm old enough to have been around back then to know firsthand!

Jerk Water Towns

Initially steam engines had to stop for water approximately every 10 miles to take on water until the invention and use of tenders which extended the operating range to 110 to 150 miles. Towns quickly developed around these often remote and desolate stopping spots. Because of the way the water spouts worked, the fireman had to lower the spout and then "jerk" on a chain to pull the plug in the bottom of the water tank to start the flow of water, is how the name "jerk water town" came into existence to refer to any remote, out of the way place.

Good info folks.....

But if anyone has any more knowledge about water tanks and can shed light on their construction, it would be much appreciated. Especially those with masonry bases.

Michael

Water troughs

 "I read that the Northern states had water troughs between the rails for refilling the tenders on the "fly" (at speed) had heaters on the troughs to keep the water from freezing. A device like a large scoop came down into the trough that jerked water into the tender on the "fly". Those towns that had a water trough got to be called jerk-water towns. By the way, has anyone ever seen one modeled?"

  Ed L. has one on his nice NYC S scale layout than can be seen on the layout tours of O/S scale west..DaveB

Enclosed Watertanks

Heated Tanks

Yes the enclosed water tanks had a wood stove in them with the stove pipe going up through the water tank and out the top to keep the water from freezing in the winter. The section man kept the fire going in the stove as well as keeping the water topped up.

Getting back to the initial question, most of them in Canada were built of wood, They were the same wood frame piling construction on the inside with an outer frame covered in siding. There are some in places in the US where the base was made of stone. I don't know the reason, but maybe stone (and stone masons) was available locally and was cheaper than wood. The wood supports have to be very substantial to hold up all that water, so it could have been cheaper to use local stone rather than bringing in the hefty timbers that would be required.

Kanamodels makes a kit for the CN and CP enlcosed water towers in HO scale.

Brent

Calgary 

In desert areas, stone

In desert areas, stone construction was sometimes preferred whenever possible, because rocks were local and free, whereas lumber had to be purchased and hauled in by wagon from distant mills. I can't think of any RR water towers with stone bases in the desert, off-hand, but I would be surprised if there wasn't one somewhere. I imagine it would be more likely on a small railroad with limited budget.

Build it with wood legs

Most of the western tanks have wooden legs.  Consider that It may be quicker to frame up some wooden legs than to make a master and molds for a plaster casting.  Having scratch built several tanks for my layout, I can tell you that it does get easier each time. 

I recommend looking in the gazette for plans or in the SP standards books. I have built three different styles of tanks using plans from these sources.  Most styles contains similar elements and design traits.  Most difficult part is the roof...Easiest way here is to use a roof casting. These are now sold by Wise man

Guy

Actually....

I think whipping up a quick square mold from a "plastic sign" and carving the rock work in the hardened plaster casting might be quicker than installing all those NBW castings on a wooden framework. I've built a couple of water tanks in N scale before but I didn't use NBW castings because I figured they were too small for anyone to really see. I think they would be a must in HO for a decent looking structure. Roofs aren't as hard as you might think, they just require a bit of math to figure the pattern out. I made my N scale ones from cardstock.

Anyway, I'm still thinking on it. I got my Walthers sand house kit the other day so that's the next project and then the water tower will come last.  As I mentioned earlier in the thread, I have a " water column" casting I bought back when I got my coaling tower. It was only a few dollars so I figured, "what the hey. While doing some research, I notice that RIX makes some steel tank models  that would work for a supply tank for a water column but I don't know if I want to go for quite that "modern" a look.

Michael

Whatever was available

I think the bases were made of whatever was most easily obtained - timber, stone, etc. I've seen photos of tanks in Mexico on adobe brick foundations. 

in the mountains

"FWIW the "Black n Blue" is supposed to be somewhere in the western United States in mountainous country"

  You might also look into just setting the tank on the hillside above the tracks and piping the water down to the standpipe. SP did this in spots, some concrete  tanks bases are still along the railroad near Tehachapi loop. 

I decided to make the water

I decided to make the water tower.

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/29487?page=2

Neil Erickson adding the perspective lines should help me figure out its dimensions.

I got the stone sheet, the dowels, and all I need now is scale wood or a wood water tower kit for the top half. Might even have to make the wooden part from scratch.

I'm going to put it at the bend of the track...

... that goes to the staging area.

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/28481?page=34

 "and all I need now is scale

Yeah, it looks like you could make the tank core from a tall cylinder then wrap the bottom half with the stone sheet and the top half with a scribed wood or cardboard wrapper?  The tank bands could be brass wire with the ends bent back to represent the connectors. The waterspout might be available from a detail part manufacturer. It might also be worth  checking ebay for old water tank kits that could be used for the tank and spout?  ......DaveB 

DaveB, So it appears the the

DaveB,

So it appears the the tank boards are vertical though I can't see them in the image. Now I have to figure out the width of the boards.

I'm going to do a search on the net...

 "it appears the the tank

Yeah, wooden tanks have vertical board with steel bands tightened around them. The board widths vary from tank to tank but about 6 inches would be about right for a large tank. You could scribe cardboard or thin sheet wood and wrap it around the tank or glue separate thin boards to the core cylinder. .....DaveB

DaveB, I like the idea of

DaveB, I like the idea of gluing separate boards.

I found some cardboard dowels

I found some cardboard dowels and will start collecting them wherever I can find them; I'm just trying to figure out if they will work by doing some experiments on them e.g., the effects glue, paint, etc has on them.

After looking a several images on locos at water towers, it appears the height on the base on average is just above the top of the cab’s roof. Probably about 20 feet.

Water Tank

Verner Niner is correct.
In Mexico, many tanks with stone bases were used for several reasons:
1.- It was an accessible material along the mountainous areas.
2.- It does not require maintenance.
3.- Resists earthquakes.
4.- They support vibrations of the machines.
I made mine based on photos of the existing ones.

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MEXICO CITY

RDG water tanks

The RDG had a lot of water tanks with round stone bases in the areas north of Reading, that were more up in the mountains.  Basically to keep the piping from freezing.  In slightly warmer climates they had a square box built around the supply pipe with insulation in it to keep the pipe from freezing.

Here's a link to the remnant of the base of a RDG brick water tower on Google Maps.  Unfortunately its buried in the underbrush and can't be seen by street view.  About 40 years ago the brush was much less and you could walk right up to it.