Believe it or not, there are still several firms in New York City that specialize in wooden water tanks for apartment buildings. Perhaps one of them might consider taking on a railroad water tank project?

http://gothamist.com/2008/05/05/last_two_water.php

If you keep a wooden water tank full, it will last a LONG time; once emptied, the wood shrinks, the bands loosen and deterioration sets in fast.
Years ago when I helped put a wooden tank back in service (sadly, a few years later, it was emptied, and a decade later, fell down), we used deck screws to hold the bands up in place, then a sprinkler inside the tank to wet the wood. The bottom boards were so shrunk you could see through the gaps, but after a day or so of watering, the bottom sealed up, and then the tank started filling. We did have to wire a few staves to the bands to keep them in place until they swelled enough to stay put. I do recall we did have to tighten a few bands too--that took some doing; those band nuts were pretty rusty!
I was MUCH younger then. . . . .

Looking at the photos of the 50,000 gallon new tank at Jerry Jacobson's Age Of Steam Roundhouse, looks like it was built by Hall-Woolford Tank Co. of Philadelphia, PA
http://www.woodtank.com/

Most large cities have wooden rooftop tanks and the companies that maintain them. The main reason being that you can haul the parts of a wooden tank up in a elevator, or worst case, hoist them up the stairwell.

-Hudson

Another West Michigan tank is the GR&I tank on the Muskegon Branch in Ravenna. I was told that the original wood tank was gone and Swanson Pickle Co donated one of their old tanks to rebuild it. It has concrete arched legs and now has a bike path running next to it. Just West of it is a creek with a beautiful stone arch culvert and the remains of the pump that used to supply water to the tank.

Eric

There is a big one in Gerlach, Nevada on the old W.P line. It in the National Registry of Historical Things.

Bangor & Aroostook, Frenchville, Maine

I believe there's a tank still standing at the old West Virginia Northern (WVN) shops in Kingwood, WV. The local river restoration coalition plans to rehab the old site, and save the tank:

http://www.cheat.org/wv-northern-mainte ... alization/

Hi,

There are quite a few wood water tanks on the narrow gauge.

http://ngdiscussion.net/phorum/read.php ... msg-276792

Doug vV

A really nice example of a D&RGW water tank is still standing, and in good repair, in Del Norte, Colorado.

Last week, I took Amtrak's train 59 (the City of New Orleans) and was greatly surprised to see a wood water tank just to the north of Brookhaven, Mississippi. The tank was surrounded by a growth of young trees, but appeared to be in decent shape. On my return trip this past weekend, I confirmed that I hadn't been seeing things. Would be nice if someone saved this old ICRR tank. Might the folks in McComb have their eyes on it? They have a number of pieces of IC equipment at the depot there, including 4-8-2 #2542. A shame if this tank disappeared after surviving all this time.

Les