Water Supply at Cisco, Part 3

Residents of Cisco practically relied their water supply on Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad[1]. The railroad supplied the water since the establishment of the town and to the 50s. Unfortunately, however, the railroad abandoned the system in 1955[2]. Here are the photos of the remainder:

Reservoirs

: the town of Cisco appears far left
: 6” pipe, maybe an overflow, sticking out from the foreground bank

The reservoirs were constructed on the hill at the highest point between Cisco Landing and Cisco, about a mile east of the town. According to the 1919 ICC Valuation Map, two almond-shaped concrete reservoirs had a capacity of 400,000 gallons each.

The pipeline would run through between two reservoirs guarded by the barbed wire fence. But the south side reservoir was out of order by the time of abolition[2].

All photos were taken on Sep. 10, 2017, except for special remarks.


Steel Water Tank

: Sep. 30, 1958 photo by Jim Ozment

The original wood water tanks which stood next to the depot were replaced by the 100,000-gallon steel water tank opposite the depot in 1928: Stearns-Rogers Construction Co. of Denver was the contructor[3, 4]. The steel tank was retired in 1955 and dismantled in Sep. 1958[5, 6]. It seems an old tank car with a hand pump was buried between the depot and the signal maintainer's house as the drinking water reserver.

The photos below are of the former Rio Grande water tank at Thompson, which was also dismantled and moved in 1958[7]. The shed next to the former Thompson tank seems also a Rio Grande heritage.

To maintain the whole water system, the railroad stationed the bulldozer B-2 at Cisco[8].

revised, May 1, 2022

revised, Mar. 29, 2023

[1] arx (2015) "Rio Grande as a Lifeline – Water Supply at Cisco", Boxcar Red Collection;
[2] Mar. 10, 1955 Times Independent;
[3] Jun. 7, 1928 Times Independent;
[4] Jul. 19, 1928 Times Independent;
[5] Mar. 10, 1955 Times Independent;
[6] Ozment, James (1958) water tank @ Cisco, UT;
[7] Oct. 16, 1958 Times Independent;
[8] Awards of the Second Division, National Railroad Adjustment Board, with an Appendix, Vol. IX, U.S. Government Printing Office;


　
: Cisco Pipe Line system map

　
シスコの住民が、飲料水・生活用水の供給を鉄道に頼っていたことは以前にも記した。飲料水はタンク車により、生活用水はおよそ6.5キロ離れた水源から鉄道が設置した施設により、シスコに供給されていたのだ。ここではその、「Cisco Pipe Line」と称されていた、大がかりな施設を紹介する。

貯水池
町のおよそ1.6キロ東にある丘の上に、コンクリート製の貯水池２基が、今も鉄条網のフェンスに囲われ遺っている。ICC Valuation Mapによると、1基の容量は2400立方メートル。細長い楕円の平面形状について、筆者にその所以は分からない。2基の間を、川および町を結ぶパイプラインが通っていた。

給水塔
当初は模型でよく見る木製のタンクだったが、1920年代後半に容量300立方メートルの鋼製のものに取り替えられた。1955年に用済みとなり、1958年に撤去された。下の画像は、移設され水道施設に転用された、西隣りのThompsonの駅に設置されていたタンクの現在の姿である。容量を半分以下に減らし再利用したようだ。