Water Towers Steam locomotives used thousands of gallons of water each day. To keep the big machines rolling, it was usually necessary to have water towers at certain points along the railroad because the locomotive tenders could not carry enough water for continuous travel. Most of these towers are long gone due to the passage of a half-century since the end of steam operations. This survivor, which sits beside the CSX line in Hogansville about 50 miles southwest of Atlanta, was constructed for the Atlanta & West Point Railroad, a CSX predecessor. The outline of the A&WP logo can still be seen on the tank. Georgia's Railroad History & Heritage. Copyright, Steve Storey. Railroad History | The Depot List | Locomotives On Display | Odds & Ends | Sources & References | Home