In the days of steam trains, water columns would have been a familiar sight at many stations. The arm would swing out and allow the water in the tender to be topped up.
This one dates from 1907 when the line was part of the North Eastern Railway (NER)
Its no longer operational and the tank is now full of mud.
Battersby Junction, 1907 Water Column
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I wonder if this could be brought back into use for the NYMR trains which sometimes come to Battersby?
It was in use for Steam Excursions along the Esk Valley.
That tank is just for overflow and wasn’t stsndard, usually there was just a drain cover on the ground.
I don’t know for sure, I just found this comment :-
There’s one at Battersby on the Esk Valley line but it is presently non-operational. I believe the pipe from the tank is damaged.
https://www.national-preservation.com/threads/sellafield-water-column.701383/
The tank used to be full of goldfish
Back in the days when the Signal Box was permanently manned and trains had to swap tokens.