Selkirk pump house

[Southpark]

Any fact or logical ideas as to why the C&S used a blow grade pump for the Selkirk Tank on Boreas Pass rather then a gravity feed line to fill the tank?  They used a gravity feed for the old Half Way tank before the Selkirk Tank  was built.  You may want to look at an earlier post on Selkirk Tank for a batch of tank photos, none of which show the the pump house.
Tom Klinger














any

[snapped_bolt]

    OK

    Below-grade pump? Perhaps they created a cistern to collect the water that was pumped. The cistern could have been no more than a bunch of rocks tossed aside to create a pool to pump from so the pump would keep it's prime. This may have only been run intermittently- it may have needed a pump attendant- turn it on, turn it off. The location could have been a "semi-seasonal" source of GOOD water. I am certain that if a gravity feed would have worked to get water to the tank, it would have been gravity feed.
    The Selkirk bridge just west sits on blocks rather than stone, concrete or pilings. There were probably multiple aquifers in the area, possibly making it an area that would need adjustment on occasion and unfit for a more "permanent" solution. Perhaps just a simple gravity feed couldn't tap into an available aquifer that had sufficient flow.

    Does this help?

      Cheers

         Stan

   

[Chris Walker]

I posed a similar question, in here : http://c-sng-discussion-forum.41377.n7.nabble.com/The-C-S-Coal-Chutes-Pine-Como-Dickey-Pitkin-and-almost-Breckenridge-tp4269p4725.html one not followed up on I sorrily admit.


The Boxculvert below the Trestle is interesting, is this the res.(reservoir) for the Watertank feedpipe perhaps?  I haven't gone and checked the locality in relation to Grade or anything yet.

I was referring to the obvious remains of a pond built under the trestle,  see Jim's picture posted here :http://c-sng-discussion-forum.41377.n7.nabble.com/The-C-S-Coal-Chutes-Pine-Como-Dickey-Pitkin-and-almost-Breckenridge-tp4269p4720.html

[snapped_bolt]

   Interesting.

   A built-up pond defies good sense, especially on a hillside. It would keep the fill around the trestle saturated year-round. Always direct water off the property as soon as possible! Any water on the uphill side will ALWAYS saturate the grade on the downhill side. The only reason I can see for a pond there is for settling out aggregates before they enter the culvert. They probably had something like old screen from a spark arrestor could be placed at the culvert inlet to limit aggregates from filling the cistern every spring. I imagine there just weren't any other options for the settling pond further upstream. Or at least no cheap way to do it!

   A track gang could have cleared out a rudimentary cistern for the pick-up pipe. A culvert would direct a semi-regulated flow to the  cistern.  I have no idea of what they would have used for a pump. But who started/stopped a pump way up here? MOW? How could a tank here be kept full enough at this location  to use before gasoline or Diesel engines were available?

    Thoughts?

       Stan