Centralia, IL: Water Tower

(Satellite)

(Update: The other preserved IC cypress water tower in Illinois is in Kinmundy, IL.)

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On a trip down I-57 in Illinois, I took a side trip to Centalia because the town was founded by the Illinois Central where the Chicago branch separated from what was then considered the mainline. I could not find much railroad stuff. The depot looked like a modern Amtrak building so I didn't even bother to take pictures of it. But I did find a well preserved water tower in the northeast corner of what was probably a small yard with a freight house and team tracks. There was a pump house west of it.

Note the iron rods that are wrapped around the tank to press the boards together and to resist the outward pressure of the water. Because the water pressure increases as the amount of water on top of it increases, the pressure is greatest at the bottom. That is why the bands are spaced closer together as they get closer to the bottom of the tank.

I took more pictures from different angles because electrons are cheap and I was disappointed that I could not find more railroady stuff in town. (I learned several weeks later that there is a big yard, with a coaling tower and a roundhouse, south of town. So I'm going to have to visit this area again.)

Picture of a DG Historical Society or Museum picture

A standpipe like this one in the yard in Downers Grove, IL, would have stood next to where the engines stand when a train is parked at the passenger station. Actually, they probably had two standpipes, one for northbound trains and one for southbound trains. Pipes would run underground from the tower to the standpipes. Note that Gary's photo below has a standpipe in the foreground for trains in one direction and a spout on the water tower for trains in the other direction.

Gary Sams posted in Facebook

Update: Neal Gale posted two photos. He indicates the tower was made from Cypress wood. On a related posting, Steven Smith comments: "Supposedly only 2 of these left in Illinois, Centralia and Kinmundy Illinois on IC line."