CPR Water Tower (Enclosed)

[sailormatlac]

I wonder if the ball at the top was the insulator for a lightning rod. Many older structures dating from the late 1800s and early 1900s, especially barns and homes, had lighting rods.

I often survey heritage buildings and balls on lighting rods are a common sight. However, I always heard balls on water tanks were visual water level indicator. They are much more larger (about 2 feet) than lighting rod balls and the mast is too high for that purpose (old model are about 2-3 feet high steel rod with ornamental brackets). I don't deny the decorative purpose as many utilitarian things were few decades ago. However, the large ball and rod height would make the "gauge" purpose believable. In this respect, these kind of elements would quickly rot in Canadian weather condition. As many victorian era decorations, they would be taken down and not replaced. However, as far as I can remember, every tower I've seen kept them until the end of their utility life.

Decorative cupolas are an other thing as they serve both as lighting rod devices and decorative elements. They also are often reworked over the time and may change significantly in visual appearance over a century. I often find out evidence of steeples that were toppled after storms or modified after they were struck by lightnings. When you are standing in these structure, often somewhere between 120' to 180', you find out weather is completely difference from the ground.

For water tank, I think the rod was multipurpose and the ball was a gauge. Except that, enclosed water tank following your prototype don't have any othe means to know the water level. Sorry about my bad spelling, I'm quite tired and my English goes don't the drain under such circumstances!!!

Maybe I'm wrong.


By the way, be cautious about recent historic building repainting. They are not always prototypical. Thought, red walls with cream trims were a staple on CNR and CPR stations.

Matt