The last original, preserved and still functioning water crane in South Tyrol dating from the Austro-Hungarian era is located at the Bad Egart Imperial and Royal Museum (K.u.K. Museum Bad Egart) in Töll/Tel. The water tower was built in 1910 and the accompanying water crane was installed at the same time. Water cranes were used in the 19th century to supply steam locomotives with large amounts of water.
The museum acquired the water crane at the historic railway station in Töll from the Italian Ferrovie dello Stato railway company in the 1980s. It was recently extensively renovated, along with the accompanying water tower, by the provincial authorities in Bozen/Bolzano. The water crane is four meters high and consists of a cast-iron, freestanding vertical pipe with Art Nouveau ornamentation and a rotating arm which can be laterally swung over the track. It weighs 2000 kilograms. An 80-centimeter-tall lamp is attached to the top of the crane, which was powered by gas. In future, this will be mounted again on the water tower. There is a tank made of iron on the upper floor of the water tower, into which the water was pumped from the water reserves adjacent to the site. The amount of water required and the required water pressure could be controlled by means of the water tower and the on-site tank.
In the 19th century, similar water supply systems were located approximately every 25 to 30 km along the railway line and at shorter distances in the low mountains.
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