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Kentville Water Tower
Kentville Water Tower
A series of water towers associated with the Kentville Terminal Shops supplied steam locomotives.
The First Water Tower
Early locomotives may have been supplied by an internal water tank in the original Windsor and Annapolis Kentville Roundhouse, but the first documented water tower was located south of the mainline and just east of the W&AR engine house and shops, close to Main Street. The 35,000 gallon tank supplied locomotives from a six-inch wide stand pipe located between the DAR mainline and one of the yard tracks north of the tank.[1] The tank had a square wooden base[2] and an ornamental finial at the top along with a numbered water gauge facing north.
The first Kentville Water Tower on the south side of the DAR yard, early 1920s.
The Kentville Railyard looking east after a heavy snow with the first Kentville Water Tower, undated, probably 1920s.
Annotated detail of Kentville Fire Insurance Map showing the roundhouse, machine shop, the first water tower and Kentville Railyard, Aug. 1921.
The Second Water Tower
A standard CPR 10,000 gallon[3] semi-enclosed octagonal wooden water tower, it was located by the turntable fit and had two discharge pipes, one by the roundhouse lead and the other on the Kingsport branch line. A numbered water gauge was located on the tank side between the discharge pipes, facing east. A chimney pipe from the tank heater rose from the summit of the tank roof.
The Advertiser Jan. 28, 1965 photograph of Locomotive No. 544 on the Kentville Turntable with roundhouse and machine shop workers plus the . The Kentville Water Tower, circa 1930.
Detail from Kentville Track Schematic showing Kentville Roundhouse, Kentville Machine Shop and Kentville Water Tower, circa 1920.
No. 1090 on the turntable with the water tower in the background at Kentville on May 2, 1939.
Locomotive No. 470 on the turntable with the Kentville Water Tower and Yard Crane No. 3 in background, circa 1942.
No. 44 at the Kentville Water Tower on June 9, 1942. Note the two discharge pipes and the water gauge.
The Third Water Tower
A new water tower, also a standard CPR semi-enclosed octagonal design was built closer to the river about 1943. It was fed a water stand pipe located at the turntable lead by the turntable pit. A mast on the roof hoisted a ball up and down to indicate the water level in the tank. This tank served until the end of steam in the early 1960s.
No. 2511 at the Kentville Roundhouse with the Kentville Water Tower stand pipe after the tower was removed about 1943.
Locomotive No. 470 on the turntable with the Water Tower in background, circa 1944.
Train No. 14 arriving at Kentville led by No. 470. engine terminal at left. water stand pipe in centre. August 1949.
The Canada Foods Plant with the Kentville Roundhouse, plus the Kentville Water Tower, the Kentville Cornwallis River Bridge and the Spillway Trestle in 1949.
Water stand pipe with the Kentville Machine Shop in the background, c. 1950.
Locomotive No. 2551 in front of the Kentville Machine Shop by the stand pipe of the Kentville Water Tower, August 30, 1953.
Locomotive 6560 beside the Kentville Sanding Tower with the Water Tower and Yard Crane 3 in the background, 1956.
No. 6227 in front of Kentville Roundhouse on August 27, 1956. Visible as well, boiler plant and smoke stack, turntable, water stand pipe, coaling tower and sanding tower.
No. 2526 arriving at Kentville with Train No. 12 from Kingsport, Aug. 27, 1956. Also visible, switcher No. 6227, turntable, water stand pipe, coaling tower, sand tower, track crane and boiler plant stack.
No. 6227 in front of the turntable with the water standpipe behind on August 27, 1956.
No. 2627, 4-6-2 on the turntable with the boiler plant stack and water stand pipe, August 1958.
No. 8138, '58 Pontiac inspection car, Kentville Coaling Tower, Kentville Roundhouse, the Kentville Water Tower and the Kentville Car Shop all visible from this view of the Kentville Railyard, Kentville in August 1959.
View of the Kentville Railyard looking east from the roundhouse in 1961.
