HARRIMAN, Wyo. — Union Pacific has demolished an at least 70-year-old water tower on its Harriman Cutoff line over Sherman Hill, the news site Cowboy State Daily reports, to the dismay of locals who say they would have mounted a preservation effort if given the opportunity.
On Wednesday, Dec. 17, UP spokesman Mike Jaixen told the news site the railroad was “in the process of demolishing an obsolete water tower from near Harriman, Wyo., this week.” The railroad did not offer additional comment.
Harriman resident Michael Geary told Cowboy State Daily that residents of the unincorporated community of about 135 people are “sad and angry” about the demolition: “It’s been a landmark forever, and many people have ventured here to see it. It’s very dismaying.”
Harriman, at 7,388 feet on the Harriman Cutoff line built in 1953, is located just north of the Colorado state line and about 8 miles south of Interstate 8. The 50-foot-tall steam-era remnant could hold about 300,000 gallons of water.
Gosh, what will the 4014 do now? 🙂
In a town of 135 people, it would be a good idea to save that existing water tank filled with water in case of emergencies, such as electric power failures that cause the people’s various submersible ground water well pumps to become inoperative.
And I assume there must be a dedicated connecting well for that water tank that UPRR may have typically drilled/driven in the past???
Oops, I was too late, the article did say, “…was torn down.”
This won’t be the last. UP says the old CNW coaling towers are coming down as well. Enjoy them while they last.
JOHN — Mentioning coaling towers this brings up an entirely unrelated question that I have. How is it that the various Lackawanna Railroad concrete viaducts (latest edition of TRAINS MAGAZINE) have lasted so long? Concrete bridges on the Interstate Highways last only about 40 years (albeit with more traffic and with road salt).
BTW there’s an error in TRAIN’s Lackawanna article. The article twice describes concrete as “maleable” Concrete isn’t the least bit maleable. It’s moldable. My fondest memory of Junior High School c. 1959 was our science teacher explaining these properties of various materials.
“How is it that the various Lackawanna Railroad concrete viaducts (latest edition of TRAINS MAGAZINE) have lasted so long?”
Back in the startup days of railroading bridges were built on the cheap. Wooden trestles dominated to save on money and many of them failed killing people. As railroads gained more freight commerce, the weight required with it grew, so they started building more sturdy bridges to support it.
In the transition, many bridges were built with cut stone and many have survived to this day. But two major advances occurred as well, high strength steel and reinforced concrete.
The cost of many of those Lackawanna and Pennsylvania bridges probably paled to the amount of freight revenue they were bringing in, so even though cost was important, the overall cost to build them was manageable relative to the size of the railroad company. The railroad wanted them to last so they could get their money’s worth and not have to do it again soon. Today, those concrete and plaster bridges would be very expensive to reproduce exactly the same way.
To your question to why highway bridges “don’t last” is because they are paid for with peoples tax dollars. They go out to bid and the lowest wins. Companies are constantly trying to find less expensive way build bridges like this. Unfortunately we don’t build roads like the Romans did, to last. We build them to be inexpensive. Many states finance their road bonds in 30 year increments, so naturally it follows that the bridge made with that money should last just as long (or more).
Today, if the Lackawanna and Pennsylvania put those huge bridges out for a lowest bidder, it definitely wouldn’t look they did. Look at the changes to the New Kate Shelley Bridge west of Boone IA. It would look more like that.
DAVID: Should be Interstate 80.