Exhibits

Nowhere without water

Water supply was of great importance during the construction of railways. The consumption of liquid by steam locomotives was enormous. Thus, the water reserve of steam locomotives at the end of the 19th century with three-axle tenders was 16 tons, and with four-axle tenders it reached 23 tons.

By the mid-1930s the appearance of such powerful steam locomotives as FD and IS required the use of six-axle tenders, which could hold up to 50 tons of water. The tender had enough water for 50–70 km of track for freight locomotives, and for passenger locomotives — up to 150 km. Therefore, domestic water supply was arranged at stations, which were ultimately located at a distance of up to 50 km from each other.

Operating principle

Supplying such a large amount of water required special devices for its accumulation and creation of a powerful pressure so that the collection would not take more than 8–20 minutes. Water towers were the main storage and distributor of liquid, which went along main lines laid underground below the freezing line of the soil.

Hydro columns were used to supply water. Externally, they could differ in design, but they were united by a common technical device.

The track crane of the column consisted of a vertical rotating cast-iron pipe with a horizontal filling trunk. A flow-calming cone was hung on the trunk. The filling pipe was installed on a cast-iron pedestal, bolted to a concrete or stone foundation.

Museum exhibit

A lantern was hung on top of the filling pipe: kerosene, and later electric. At night, it signaled its position relative to the tracks. When the column trunk was perpendicular to the track axis, a red light was visible in both directions. When parallel, it was white.

The design of the crane provided for the rapid and complete removal of water from the vertical pressure pipe to prevent freezing. Additionally, in winter, a stove was installed for the same purpose, the heat from which also went into the underground space.

The hydraulic column presented in the museum exposition was delivered from the territory of the St. Petersburg-Vitebsk locomotive depot of the October Railway in 2017

Historical context

Supplying such a large amount of water required special devices for its accumulation and creation of a powerful pressure, so that the water collection did not take more than 8-20 minutes.

Water towers served as the main accumulator and distributor of pressure water supply. Direct water supply from the water tower was carried out through pressure mains laid underground below the soil freezing line. Various columns were used for water collection: collapsible, fire, for watering horses, locomotive. Water for feeding the boilers of steam locomotives was supplied either to side or interframe tanks of tank locomotives, or to special tender cars, which were rigidly coupled to the locomotives.

There were two types of hydraulic columns by design: wall-mounted and intertrack (track).

Wall-mounted ones were fixed to the walls of water towers, which stood along the track. Such columns had dispensing trunks that could pivot horizontally and sometimes vertically. Externally, there were two types of track columns on Russian Railways: with a straight trunk and a curved one, like on the Ryazan-Ural Railway. There were no differences between them, except for aesthetic ones.

In the post-war period, German-style hydraulic columns were installed, brought from Germany.