Water Tank (Built at Each Station) Hammond
BCA Photograph No. 74918
BCA Negative No. D-8575
BCA Call No. I-30833
Photo in Onderdonk Album, #4, p. 38. (BCA Accession No. 98401-6)

The water tank in the photograph indicates that the specifications did not require an enclosed structure to prevent freezing in winter, and while it might have been assumed that the coastal climate was fairly mild, it was observed during the winter of 1884-85 that the water in these tanks did freeze, causing delay to trains. An item in The Inland Sentinel dated January 8, 1885, notes the following:

Passengers have been considerably annoyed of late by the trains being so very irregular. In one sense the Company can scarcely be blamed as the delays were caused by the water tanks getting frozen, still in another way the fault is directly attributed to them, for had the tanks been properly covered there would have been no danger of their freezing. Snow falls or slides cannot be prevented, but railroads in northern climates usually have their water-tanks thoroughly protected from the weather.