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Cashton Water Tank
By Russell J. Decho
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The Homestead Act passed by Congress in May, 1862, gave access to free land to
thousands of families. The only
condition to obtain title to 160 acres of public land was to live on the land
for five years and to improve the land. Now
you might ask, what has this to do with a water tank?
The railroads were also given options to develop free land as an
incentive to expand their railroads westward.
Since there were few roads beyond a city limit west of the Mississippi River and a locomotive engine required lubrication about every ten miles, towns were
plotted and developed to accommodate the expanding railroad system.
The railroad depot became a place to service the locomotive and its telegraph
operator became the primary means of train control.
During this period of train depot expansions, it was discovered that the
hand dug water well was not reliable and more often ran dry in extremely hot
weather. To resolve this problem,
the Des Moines
Bridge
and Iron Company developed a 21-foot diameter tank with a capacity of 80,800
gallons. The company was comprised
primarily of engineers, manufacturers and contractors.
Des Moines Bridge & Iron Co. also subcontracted firms that could
drill fresh water wells through bedrock. The
water from these deeper wells was pumped into the water tank then for storage.
These water tanks were built throughout
Iowa,
Nebraska, the Dakotas,
Minnesota,
Wisconsin,
Michigan,
Illinois
and Indiana. I recently found one of the Des
Moines Bridge & Iron Co. water tanks in Monterey,
Tennessee.
The water tank shown in the photographs is a one-inch scale replica of the Des
Moines Bridge & Iron Co. tank design. It
stands twelve feet high. In the
process of replicating this tank, it was found that the bottom of the tank
"scaled down" to be the exact diameter of a Weber Grill.
After a telephone call to the Weber-Stephen Product Company in Palatine,
Illinois, and an explanation of what we intended to do with their product, they
donated a bottom grill portion without porcelain, vent holes, and brackets for
use in the water tank project.
The drawing board was the next step in the project.
When the necessary drawings were complete, parts and materials procured,
construction of the tank began. It
took three years to complete the water tank.
The results are shown in these photographs.
The tank is anchored to four reinforced concrete pads that measure 8
inches in diameter and are forty-five inches deep.
It is extremely strong and has a red beacon light on its roof.
The town of Cashton, Wisconsin, represented on the water tank, was chosen because a charter member of the
Illinois Live Steamers spent his childhood days in this town.
Since he spent his childhood in Cashton,
WI, he was able to supply additional photographs of the actual tank which still
stands today. In addition, he helped
fabricate the platform railing and other small tank parts while work progressed
on the tank superstructure.
(Click photos to make them larger)
  
  
  
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