I got lucky......after the fact photo evidence

[Tom L]

I have been working on the small town area of my layout (I think of my layout as generic upper Midwest, like middle Minnesota, around late 1950s) and ended up with this

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I wasn’t feeling good about the water tower in someone’s backyard and then, several months after, I was searching photos on the Minnesota Historical Society website between the years 1940 and 1959 using keywords “street scenes” and came across this

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I think I can get away with it now. The two story house that matches the Model Power house is a bonus (it was just a stand in but now it’s staying). I thought it was kind of interesting to find a photo, after the fact, that resembled the random little scene on the layout.


Tom L
Wellington CO

[C855B]

Ed's Law.

[nkalanaga]

That's where all of the water towers were in Pasco, WA, when I lived there, in the 60s and 70s.  They had a reservoir on a "hill" north of town, mayby 300 feet higher than the downtown, but the actual water pressure for the city came from towers much like that one.  The main difference is that Pasco's tanks had a larger diameter relative to the height.


Such towers are very common in flat regions, because there is no other way to get good water pressure.  The water is pumped in, and supplies the mains by gravity.  In Pasco's case, the water is pumped to the main reservoir, and gravity takes it from there.  This also limits building heights, as the water won't go higher than the tower, with auxiliary pumps.

[Tom L]

Ed's Law.

Yeah, it is isn’t it. I never thought it would happen to me.

I think that house will become the residence of Mr and Mrs Edward S. Law

Tom L
Wellington CO

[peteski]

Your scene is a pretty close match to that photo. But there still are plenty of examples where a water tower is in the middle or residential neighborhood. Here is one in Hampton, NH.  The famous water tower landmark. 

[C855B]

...Such towers are very common in flat regions, because there is no other way to get good water pressure. ...

Exactly. Water towers like these are also an indication of the acceptance of function over form during the 20th Century. I think of St. Louis and Chicago - doubtless there are other cities with 'em - that had and still have water towers or standpipes designed as ornate obelisks, with façades or skins usually of masonry construction.

Our town's water tower used to be behind our studio, which at one time was on a residential block on the edge of downtown. As the town grew, two new towers with much more capacity were built in industrial areas and the old one was dismantled. The pumphouse is still here, serving as a public high-volume tap, 25¢ for 25 gallons delivered through an overhead pipe. We call it "The Baptismal" due to its occasional use in initiation rites. 

[MVW]

I have been working on the small town area of my layout (I think of my layout as generic upper Midwest, like middle Minnesota, around late 1950s) and ended up with this

Tom L
Wellington CO

As a life-long Minnesota resident (much of that time living in small towns) I can tell you that there's absolutely nothing unusual about that arrangement. Before we moved about five years ago, we lived in a town of about 600 people. The water tower was flanked by houses.

Jim

[tehachapifan]

Geez, that's almost an identical scene and shot!

[dem34]

Even closer.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.1942021,-74.0225298,3a,60y,154.72h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sLxasN4vFlKz7F_6bepedxg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en&authuser=0

[nkalanaga]

...Mike:  "Functional" is very much the idea.  Many newer ones look more like a golf tee with the ball, which probably looks better to the neighbors, but lacks the "industrial look" model railroaders tend to like.  The Pasco towers were built exactly like truss bridges of the time, beams, webbing and thousands of rivets.

[MVW]

Not my image, but I used to live a couple blocks from here.



The civil defense siren was located on that tower. We lived about a block away. It rattled the windows every month when it was tested.

Jim

[Tom L]

Not my image, but I used to live a couple blocks from here.



The civil defense siren was located on that tower. We lived about a block away. It rattled the windows every month when it was tested.

Jim

Good Thunder, one of the little towns I used as a reference.

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Photo from Minnesota Historical Society

Tom L
Wellington CO