True West Magazine - Logo

Jerkwater Towns

by | Aug 1, 2007 | Features & Gunfights

How the early railroaders fueled steam engines in the Old West.
One of our readers, Raymond Hill, asked me how railroaders got water up the water towers for trains traveling in the Old West, especially in the desert? Good question. I’ve watched a lot of movies showing the old steam engines stop to fill ’er up. But who filled up the water tower? Frankly, I didn’t know, so I called the Train Man, Jim Clark of Tombstone,


Already Signed Up? Log in here.

Read this article now for Free!

Ready for a third free article? Create a free account by entering your email address and a password below.

— OR —

Sign Up Now for $29.95 a year and have immediate access to all of True West content, including the complete True West Archives dating back to 1953!

SIGN UP NOW or SIGN IN

This digital subscription is in no way connected to your Print Subscription. They are totally separate and cannot be connected. If you have a Print Subscription with True West, you will need to pay for a separate subscription to access this website and will receive a totally different Log In password. If you have an existing digital component to your Print subscription, you'll need to Sign In and request a new password.