Trending
Iron Crew Busy At Work
On 100,000 Gallon
Capacity Water Tank
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NEW PLATFORM AND
HEATING PLANT HERE
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Improvements On
Property This Summer Reaches High Figure
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Within six weeks or two months time the locomotives on the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad will take water at New Ulm, as the filtering station and water tank will be completed and ready for use. Workmen are completing the construction of the tank and the electric pump will be installed very soon. Other improvements will be underway within a week or ten days and when all the work has been completed the total investment will be approximately $60,000.
Station Is Completed
Station Agent F. P. Starr reports that the pump station has been completed and all the pipe has been laid leading from the station to the huge steel tank which is going up right beside the present tank near the passenger depot. The pipe line runs along the tracks from the tank and follows the track line to the Eagle Roller Mill, along Front street past the concrete tanks to Third North Street down to the river. The new pump station is built on the bank of the Minnesota river which will furnish the water supply. The pipe extends from the station into the river and cribbing protects the pipe at that point. The electric pump which will force the water thru the pipe into the 100,000 gallon capacity steel tank has not been installed as yet but will arrive within a few weeks time.
Engines Take Water Here
The filtering station is being built beside the water tank and it has not been completed but will be in readiness, however, as soon as it is needed. More than a year's time was needed to make a complete survey of conditions here and equally as much time was spent testing the water from the river to determine whether or not it could be used for locomotives. As a result of the experimenting the process of softening the water will be 1taken care of at the pump house when the water enters the pipe line. The water will be filtered at the filtering station and when used in the engines will be the proper kind of water. It is necessary that the proper kind of water be used in engines as observation has proven that the life of a boiler depends upon the kind of water used. The water supply has been taken from several different sources prior to this time and the Railway Company realized that the supply would run out very soon and then a critical problem would be facing them. As a result the station has been planned for New Ulm and from now on the locomotives will have plenty of the right kind of water for use.
When complete the local station will rank as the second largest station to be located on the Northwestern railroad outside of a division point. The 100,000 gallon capacity steel tank is being built by the Chicago Bridge & Iron Company, a crew of six men working under the personal supervision of Ira Tanner, Construction Superintendent. This tank can be filled thru an automatic process in the space of eight hours. All trains traveling over the road from Waseca to Tracy will take water here.
Other Improvements
Several weeks ago the passenger depot was reshingled. A crew of fifteen men worked for a month reshingling the building, using an asbestos shingle. The cost of the improvement totaled $3,800.
New Heating System
Workmen will be here within ten days to start the excavation work preparatory to putting a basement under the passenger depot. When this work has been completed a steam heating plant will be installed.
At the same time the workmen will lay a brick platform to replace the wood platform now in use. These improvements will total $5,000 to $6,000. The passenger depot of this city will be one of the most modern of any along the line after this work has been completed.
New Ulm Review
Sept. 22, 1926
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