Re: [CBQ] Yates City Water Tank.

["ken thompson" <mailboat4@gmail.com>]

Hi Bud,

I'm sorry, but I don't have a photo but I do have some personal knowledge of where and how the water for the Yates City tank was supplied.  There was also a coal chute adjacent to the tank but I know little else on that structure.  There is a hint of its presence in the one shot in your book at the top of page 41.  The photo looks west toward the depot with a steam train taking the west leg of the eye to go south.  You can make out a tall structure on the north side of the right of way about where the north storage track would end.

Some years ago I met the elderly son of the man that was employed to keep the water tank full for the use of the Q's steam locomotives.  I failed to write down his name but oh well.  He had me climb in his truck at Yates City and he took me to the sight of the tank and coaling tower.  There was still coal lying around the sight, and the spot where the tank was located was lush with vegetation and a willow tree or two.  I guess you'd say the spot was well watered.

Next we drove straight north about a half mile or so until we came to Swan Run.  This is a free flowing creek north of town and was the source of water to fill the tank.  There were still the remains of the pumping apparatus on the south bank of the creek on the east side of the road.  There's a fairly new bridge that crosses the stream there also.

The guy's dad would fill the tank by starting the pump at the creek, drive back to the tank and wait until it overflowed.  He would then return to Swab Run and turn off the pump.  Pretty simple!

I thought of putting these steam facilities on my model railroad at my Yates City, but I'm now modeling 1964 and doubt if any of these things were still there.

I wish I could have presented my model railroad at the BRHS meet at Morton, but I did give a presentation on it that you can see on You Tube under the sponsor of the Michigan Division of the NMRA.  I presented it on May 4 I believe.

I was able to use some photos that I found from the Flicker photos at the BRHS site.  I found some photos right in the era I'm modeling of the 1963 and 1964 steam excursions the Q ran then.  I was surprised to see that the two story white building the shows in your book in that page 41 shot was still there then.  I'll be building a model of that as it's just across the tracks from the depot.  I built a scale model of the depot that you can see on the presentation.  I sketched the prototype and took all the measurements. I wondered if that two story frame building was still standing when you began working down there?

My late first wife's grandpa was Q engineer Ed Block longer.  I think he retired sometime in the 50's.  He started out up in Rock Island before WW1.

If you'd like to chat sometime I'm at 414-491-6568.

I purchased two copies of your book just in case I wear one of them out!

Thanks for doing the Peoria Sub.

Ken Thompson 

On Wed, Jun 7, 2023, 4:19 PM Bud Linroth <wcman8@gmail.com> wrote:

Some folks at Yates City are looking for a photo of the water tank that was located on the north side of the main wset of the depot and west of the west 1 track switch.  I cannot find one, does anybody have a photo source to share.  Thanks  Bud Linroth.

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