What is the best looking scale detailed water tower for a town scene?

There's not really a big selection of municipal water towers I know of.  There's the K-Line reissue of the Marx bubbling water tower:

and Lionel's:

Lionel also offered a more modern, if not basic Chicago Bridge & Iron Watersphereoid in various flavors.  These were being built in the late 50's.   I was using one on my S Scale railroad:

until Athearn came out with a really nice HO water tower:

Visually, they're pretty compatible.

The good thing is, water towers do come in all shape and sizes, so there's almost no wrong size.

Rusty

I like the waterspheroid.  But, I'm from the Chicago area and it's familiar.  Actually, I like the word waterspheroid most of all.  Hopefully I can work that into a conversation someday.  Thanks.

Thanks Rusty.  The Athearn HO model has the look I like.  Using it in O scale may be a stretch - how many inches tall is it? 

Forum member Alan Graziano can make exactly what you want. He does amazing work.

I realize you don't want to scratch build one, but this one close to Grossmont college in El Cajon, CA is unique.  IMO. Stainless steel clouds and all.

I have two of the Athearn water towers on my O Gauge layout, and they look great.  I have one as a trackside tower, the other is titled for Tuttle, the town in Oklahoma where I live.  The town water tower is the same style as the one made by Athearn.  I added some Plastistrut ladders and higher handrail to them with great results.  They really are tall enough to work in an O gauge setting, especially if at any distance from the viewer.

Jesse    TCA  12-68275

Don,

Thanks for mentioning my water tower construction. I have built many from pictures that were provided to me. Most of the time they have to be scaled down since they are usually at least 75 to 100 feet tall minimum.

Alan Graziano

Ed, I can't speak for knowing which one is the best, but if you are recreating something in a 40's Pennsylvania town I seem to recall from pictures of my parents coal patch town that for their town water supply they had a simple tall round tank much like an oil tank.   It had a guarded ladder cage to access the top, of which the bottom portion was removed to keep people from climbing it.    And it was located at the highest spot in town so it would serve well as a gravity water supply.

I love the Athearn style "water tank on stilts" but here in the east those are/were mostly used by factories as an industrial water supply for a sprinkler system.   And the "elevated spheroid" types are too new for steam era layouts.

HO picture scraped from the internet:

Based on the photo's posted above, I purchased a used Athearn water tower on the internet,  I'll do some upgrades like Jesse did and repaint it with a town name on it - and perhaps some love note graffiti.  Note a bad way to make points with my wife of 51 years.

If Menards, Woodland Scenics, or one of the other importers ever comes out with a better model I'll buy it and sell off the Athearn.

Thanks for all the responses

For prototype modelers like me who have an interest in things like this, a great place to go is to look at historical Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps.  They are often available on line via a library that has a subscription to them.

They will not only describe the source of any water supply  (a reservoir) but describe any water tank for storage (standpipe) and it's capacity.  They also describe the fire fighting capabilities such as the numbers and types of equipment as well as the numbers and type of staff, whether paid or volunteer.

Best part is they show all the rail served businesses and the location of train tracks!   A fascinating part of American history. 

Since I've yet to find a tower that fits my need, I'll be scratch building  a water tower for a location near my airport.  The one pictured below is located near BWI airport in Baltimore.  For the tank itself I'll use two 6" PVC caps and a short length of 6" PVC pipe and the support legs and water pipe will be brass tubing.

Should be a piece of cake, Nick.   

Just for reference/information, here is a pic of the Tuttle, Oklahoma municipal water tower.  Albeit, it is "updated" as all tall structures are now days, with the mandatory cell communications and other contemporary regalia.  Enjoy......

Jesse   TCA 

I have a few water towers on my layout, one restored American Flyer one not restored and a couple of scratch built.