![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHeQ6yTBXmRzRrXnCKYo3QcOxJin_wBAWi3dMMO3oGYwyK92lByZ261hxREA1OdFDo7hX3s5iWVwOCTQqy7Rkb7nK4Nb2WvJvilZeXQN0CHA7Y5SGLfzln_Wuj-MGHv5EhO8TqtePTYVTo/s280/Milan+Water+Tower3.jpg) |
This undated photo of Canadian
Pacific Railway’s water tower in Milan,
Quebec, was probably taken by my
mother in the late 1950’s. |
This is the best photo of CPR’s Milan water tower that I
have been able to locate. The photo was taken from the driveway of my
grandparent’s home. Their house faced the tower and railway which made train
watching very easy.
The intended subject of this
photo may have been the heavy snowfall or possibly the water tower itself. The
ball high on the mast shows that the tank was full and ready for the next steam
powered train to take on water.
This wood-framed,
octagonal-shaped building, painted in CPR maroon, was once a familiar Canadian railway structure. From this photo, the reason for the wooden shell was
obvious; the building was heated to keep the water from freezing during the
winter. Winters in Milan
were very cold.
As a small child, I remember
watching the steam locomotives of trains stopping and taking on water. Only
once do I recall having been inside the wooden structure.
I remember accompanying my
grandfather to pick up a 100 pound bag of grain. He had brought his wheelbarrow to carry the load and I was given a ride. We had to wait for someone
from inside the Poulin’s general store (which was also the town’s post office
and partly visible behind the tower) to come and unlock the door of the water
tower. My grandfather had to pick up the bag from inside and load it on to the wheel
barrow. I do not know the reason why the grain was stored there.
The water supply for the tower’s
tank was gravity fed, piped in from a concrete reservoir that the railway had
constructed on the slopes behind my grandfather’s home. The reservoir was not
on railway property. Perhaps this was the reason why the railway provided the water
supply to my grandparent’s home and the other nearby homes. Occasionally my
grandparents would talk about the water pressure at home being lost after a train
had stopped to take on water.
The tower was dismantled immediately
following the end of steam in 1960. The concrete foundation was visible for
years after.
The Oddblock Station Agent
Addition:
More than 50 years later, Frank Jolin captured this scene of 5013 westbound passing over the crossing in Milan. He would have been standing about 100 feet to the left of the location where the water tower photo was taken.
Addendum Nov 12, 2015
Not the Milan CPR water tower, but the one shown below is/was reasonably close to identical, including the paint.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY6fnpzDZ7cuZRN_3-2uCCTW60-EaZRcgRD8_Rzz0d9my_LnU9HcsR7tCRgo3oP22Q1RdDo4p6cnDsIUvy8ZeGQum5_2orPM6f79PL6nSxiIQvn71TFfsqjB1rGhD-gXpWHYKoJDZhCpiJ/s1600/cp1.jpg) |
CPR water tower at Franz, Ontario. (image from Trainweb) |