When you say 'Water Tower' do you mean the large tank on a brick or stone base? Just that I've heard some people refer to 'Water Tower' when they actually mean the Column or 'Crane' which was used to put the water in the loco tanks or tender.
If it is the tower, then this was fitted in anywhere convenient to (i) the water supply (ii) the water coumns. So the end of a platform was quite often used - there's a very good example on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway at the end of Platform 4 of Keithley station. If there was a loco shed at a station, the tank would usually be sited near the shed.
If in a hard-water area, there would often be a short siding alongside it where the water-softening chemicals could be bought in and the resultant waste removed in wagons.
Chris Leigh's "A Railway Modeller's Picture Library" (Ian Allan, 1995, ISBN 0 7110 2392 1) has several pages of various types of water tower in a variety of locations.
Regards,
John Webb
If it is the tower, then this was fitted in anywhere convenient to (i) the water supply (ii) the water coumns. So the end of a platform was quite often used - there's a very good example on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway at the end of Platform 4 of Keithley station. If there was a loco shed at a station, the tank would usually be sited near the shed.
If in a hard-water area, there would often be a short siding alongside it where the water-softening chemicals could be bought in and the resultant waste removed in wagons.
Chris Leigh's "A Railway Modeller's Picture Library" (Ian Allan, 1995, ISBN 0 7110 2392 1) has several pages of various types of water tower in a variety of locations.
Regards,
John Webb
