Unusual Fixture

[ghentjr]

I discovered this in the main bath of a home built in the 1870's. The home belonged to a wealthy industrialist. In my 30 + years of inspecting I only saw this one time before. Not sure how the water was "iced" but at my prior view the plumbing was coiled in a lined and insulated "ice box".

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[Les]

I have never seen that. It is really cool 'tho! Chad, the pun is intended.

[kurt]

Yeah, nice one. Never seen an ice water fixture.

I had one where a shower valve said "Rain", and it was piped to a large (1000 gal. +-) copper lined tank in the attic. The tank was supplied by a connection to the gutters with an overflow outlet back to the exterior.

The same tank supplied the laundry down in the basement. I guess the residents wanted "soft" water for rinsing their hair and to get whiter whites and brighter brights.

This was pre-digital camera....I got it on a slide somewhere.....

[Tom Breslawski]

Yeah, nice one. Never seen an ice water fixture.

I had one where a shower valve said "Rain", and it was piped to a large (1000 gal. +-) copper lined tank in the attic. The tank was supplied by a connection to the gutters with an overflow outlet back to the exterior.

The same tank supplied the laundry down in the basement. I guess the residents wanted "soft" water for rinsing their hair and to get whiter whites and brighter brights.

This was pre-digital camera....I got it on a slide somewhere.....

8,000 pounds of water in the attic. I'd like to see that installation. Back on the farm we either doubled wagon joists or shortened the spans under tanks of that size.

[kurt]

Calling this place an attic isn't accurate. It was overhead space of the 18,000sf mansion of the widow of Cyrus McCormick.

24" thick solid walls, iron truss, iron "joists", massive timbers reinforced with iron, etc., etc.

The tank was just a teeny little component in what felt like a cathedral space.

When constructed, this place had it's own coal fired steam powered electrical generation plant. At one time, they had steam snowmelt for an approximate 5 miles of trails and roads on the property.

I should dig out the slides and see if I can convert them to digital....

[John Kogel]

Slides, you might be able to scan them and save as jpeg.

[Tom Breslawski]

Calling this place an attic isn't accurate. It was overhead space of the 18,000sf mansion of the widow of Cyrus McCormick.

24" thick solid walls, iron truss, iron "joists", massive timbers reinforced with iron, etc., etc.

The tank was just a teeny little component in what felt like a cathedral space.

When constructed, this place had it's own coal fired steam powered electrical generation plant. At one time, they had steam snowmelt for an approximate 5 miles of trails and roads on the property.

I should dig out the slides and see if I can convert them to digital....

Sounds very interesting. I'd be interested in seeing the images if you ever get the chance to post them. Cyrus Mccormick was the founder of International Harvester. My grandfather was an IH mechanic until beginning his own farm, which he used exclusively IH equipment to run. Later he amassed a huge collection of IH tractors and memorabilia, which he restored.

An IH flag flew at his funeral a few years back. At any rate, the Mccormick home sounds interesting.

[Inspectorjoe]

This is in the 1927 Lehigh Valley Railroad passenger station in Easton, PA. It's a shame the fixture is gone.

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[Erby]

I've seen a couple of old houses around here with the big tank (250-500 gal?) in the attic space for collecting rain water piped to showers and laundry. People like rain water for washing their hair and clothes.