Water Tanks

I built this one out of a birdhouse.

Even S Scale chooches need a drink every now and then...

Rusty

We are building an ON30 layout and needed 7 look alike water towers and current prices for kits just wasn't a good option.  So we went for 4 inch pvc, a paper printed wrapper, and a little scroll saw work.  I have a link to a 'build me' file also for those interested.  I like water towers a lot too!    Russ

watertank.pdf

Here's my custom tank by Craig Timmons.

Chicago Style Top Roof Water Tank.

Frank,

I got an unusual one for you. This is the Dinsney-MGM Studios tower down in Florida. I brought it up to New Jersey to photograph it.

Alan Graziano

Here is a water tower made from an old coffee can on my shop layout.

Several years ago, my friend and associate in this project, Don Curtis, scratchbuilt the water tank for our Oregon State Capitol Holidays Layout.  This is one of the few structures that is removed from the layout when the layout is stored or transferred.  It used to sit on its legs directly on the ground without any footings for quite a few display set-ups over several years before we finally got around to "pouring" the footings for the base which stays on the layout when the tank is removed.  The close-up is an early shot showing the tank before the base was installed, and the other picture shows the base in place.  I apologize for the low quality pix, but they are the best of what I have on my laptop, and both the water tank and the layout are currently stored in the trailer until the next set-up.

Cheers!

Alan

I have a few...One old American Flyer water tower I restored and had the coil rewound to operate the spout. The Stuffy's, the market depot and the Alexis theater towers made from Japanese tooth picks and toilet paper rolls. The other wood tower was made from Bamboo Skewers and the Queens Village Tower made from Polystyrene. There is also an American Flyer Tin Plate tower behind the Market.

Some stuff I have built in the past

Joe

Starting a Korber Lionel Factory build for a customer. The tall water tank is part of the kit however all pieces were missing except the tank body which was not looking too good it self. I ended up building the superstructure with plastic instead of wood. The original kit had wood angles for the four long posts and two different diameter coated wires for the struts. I substituted plastic angles and 80 mil square rods for the horizontal struts then TB-2 plastic coated wire for the angled struts. The water column is also a larger diameter plastic tube. The whole structure will be painted black.

Joe

One of our water tanks at NJ Hirailers. This an MTH model painted, detailed and weathered.

 Here is the brass Weaver model of an enclosed water tower.

 I have two, one is detailed and painted to CPR vintage colors and one, as is out of the box.

 Of course I need to fix the float ball staff lol

Al

So, does anybody have a functioning Lionel #38 water tank (the one with real water?) on their layout? As a fan of postwar operating accessories, I've always thought that this was one of Lionel's most ambitious projects (sadly, with fatal design flaws). It is one of the few postwar accessories that I have never owned.