(Rewritten 20160607 and 20200425)
Steven J. Brown posted
A pair of Missouri Pacific C36-7's at Tuscola IL, August 11, 1987.
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| Mark Hinsdale posted "Coal for Inland" In February, 1987 a quartet of Illinois Central Gulf (ICG) SD20's lead a northbound coal train destined for Inland Steel in East Chicago, Indiana past the tower at Tuscola IL. The ICG Champaign District crossed the Missouri Pacific's (MP) ex Chicago & Eastern Illinois route to/from Southern Illinois as well as Baltimore & Ohio's (B&O) Indianapolis to Decatur IL branch here, all controlled by the operator at Tuscola. In subsequent years, the interlocking was streamlined and automated, with both MP successor Union Pacific and B&O successor CSX merging together on each side of the junction to form a single track crossing ICG successor Canadian National, controlled by the CN dispatcher at Homewood IL. February, 1987 photo by Mark Hinsdale Mark Hinsdale shared Mark Hinsdale shared Mark Hinsdale shared |
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| Stephen N. Brannon posted Anybody in this group ever work TY Tower, Tuscola, Illinois copying and delivering train orders for the IC, C&EI, B&O? Pictured here a southbound on the IC north-south main line. Richard Fiedler shared Kevin Endres: I visited once in late 80s or early 90s. The Armstrongs were still being used to complete the logic on the interlock to set the timer (7 minutes). The big difference when I visited all of the mechanical linkages were unused and replaced with electric systems. I found it really interesting. The tower attendant at the time had lost one of his legs and climbed the stairs, one tuff and nice guy. |
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| Jim Arvites posted View of a westbound CSX freight train, on the old B&O, crossing the Illinois Central mainline by the IC Tower at Tuscola, Illinois on April 7, 1990. (Jim Arvites Photo) |
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| Tom Haward commented on Jim's post interesting to see the new bridge structure being built on the right side, sans ballast and track. |
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Marty Benard posted a Roger Puta photo Illinois Central 1234 (SW9) crossing B&O - C&EI crossing at Tuscola, IL on switching run. Tower is a C&EI tower. May 7, 1966.[The IC train is northbound.] Jon Roma: Illinois Central tower, not C&EI. Kevan Davis: looks like the weed sprayer Marty Bernard shared Paul Brewer Visited a few time when the legendary Bob Moomaw was the operator. |
TY Tower at Tuscola, ILThe IC main line crossed the B&O and C&EI while the B&O and C&EI crossed each other. The Tower was closed in 1993 and razed in 1994. Source: https://southernillinoisrailroads.com/.../tuscola...Roger Puta's photo is of IC 1234 (SW9) on a switching run passing TY on May 7, 1966.The Tuscola Tower Map is from Jon Roma of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Historical Society.
Marty Bernard shared
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| 1 Brad Craig: Check out the MOW boxcar behind the switcher. Looks like an outside braced box converted to a bunk car? Or maybe a WWII troop boxcar? I can't see the trucks. Troop carrier boxcars all had passenger trucks? Jeff Lackman: Brad Craig troop cars were metal. It’s a boxcar converted to other use possibly as a transfer caboose. |
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| 2 Brian Watt: This was one of the more unusual railroad interlockings I've ever seen ... stuck out in the middle of the country! [Below is a higher resolution copy uploaded by Jon Roma] |
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| Robert Gibson Jr. commented on Marty's share Tuscola's old and new alignment. The tower is gone. CEIRHS comment on a post |
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| Thomas Bowers posted Westbound at (TY) Tower Tuscola, Ill. with MP #13519 over the IC diamond. April 1984 Dennis DeBruler: This is a reminder that MoPac bought the western routes of the C&EI in 1976 and UP bought MoPac in 1982. So in 1984 the caboose is about a couple of years overdue for a repainting. |
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| Michael Matalis shared a memory 11/29/80 view of a St Louis bound MoPac freight crossing the ICG and CSX at Tuscola IL |
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| 20160329 1944 |
The crossing changed over time to reduce the number of diamonds that needed to be maintained. The final simplification all the way down to one diamond happened in 1996. [Allen Tell comment on a post]
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| 1940 Aerial Photo from ILHAP |
Looking at the satellite, there is now just one diamond because UP+NS and CSX merge east of CN with a turnout and then separate again west of CN with another turnout.
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Jon R. Roma has a Flickr album for this tower. Some pictures show the work to go from five diamonds to a single diamond (looking East).
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| Dale Hearn posted Southbound ICG 9625 hammers the UP diamond while passing TY Tower at MP150, Tuscola, IL., 9-7-89. Dale Hearn [Clean ballast, but a dirty locomotive.] |
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| Mike Breski posted B&O, Tuscola, Illinois, 1959 Eastbound Baltimore & Ohio Railroad local passes Tuscola, Illinois, tower in late afternoon on a summer day in 1959 (Illinois Central Railroad line is in foreground while Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad slices between the other two). Photograph by J. Parker Lamb, © 2015, Center for Railroad Photography and Art. Lamb-01-064-0 Skip Luke C&EI train order board on left. The white square "sign" attached to the tower was the B&O order board. If you had orders you hung a yellow metal plate covering the white. Steve Kopacz Skip Luke, thank you for sharing that information. I often wondered how that type of order board worked. I guess instead of an order board consisting of a pole and blades, you could literally call this type a true order board. Again thank you for sharing this information. |
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| Mike Breski posted IC, Tuscola, Illinois, 1958 Illinois Central Railroad southbound freight train passing the tower at Tuscola, Illinois, on May 23, 1958. The IC crosses the Baltimore & Ohio and the Chicago & Eastern Illinois here. Photograph by J. Parker Lamb, © 2015, Center for Railroad Photography and Art. Lamb-01-031-08 Matt McClure Love the B&O position light in the background! Paul Jones Levers from tower now complete the lever bed in the Monticello Railway Museum's Stair tower which is fully functional. Jim Arvites posted View of a southbound Illinois Central Railroad freight train passing the IC Tower at Tuscola, Illinois on May 23, 1958. This is where the IC mainline crossed the Chicago & Eastern Illinois and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroads. (J. Parker Lamb Photo) Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Historical Society shared Robert Gibson Jr.: The IC train is crossing the B&O and about to cross the C&EI. |
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| Richard Koenig posted Southbound at Tuscola In this shot, one can see that the new track alignment is being readied (new bridge in bottom of frame). Image by Richard Koenig; taken during January of 1991.
Richard Koenig After this image was made (I'm not sure when), the alignment was changed to have the B&O and C&EI merge, cross the IC, and then split again on the other side.
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| Richard Koenig posted TY Tower
Here’s a northbound freight on the Illinois Central main line. The photographer is looking westward on the B&O while the sunlight of late fall reveals every detail of TY tower. In addition to these two roads, the C&EI crosses at the same spot, in a diagonal fashion.
One image by Richard Koenig; taken November 20th 1976.
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| Paul Jevert shared a Jon Oye post Interesting story about TY tower: http://www.cwrr.com/Lounge/Feature/ty_tower/ty_tower.html Is this a 2 light train order signal or a 3 light G type? Both signals pictured are train order signals for their respective railroads. Note the B&O order board on the south side of the tower. It is displaying a yellow indication. RIP TY ....worked there quite a few times. Handing up orders to the C&EI Northbound was always a little unsettling as you had to use the hand order forks and the trains were rounding that curve at a pretty fast clip. You had to stay close because the caboose would appear suddenly and you did not want to be too far away and miss the rear end. -- I was told a story about an operator in the old days, handing up there .... Head End got their orders OK, but when the rear end got there, the op was laying there unconscious ....had been hit in the head by a chunk of coal falling off the tender. It was built in 1899 to regulate train traffic not long after a massive wreck had occurred at this intersection of three railroads. Nearly a century later the configuration of the tracks was altered to form a safer crossing, negating the need for the tower. The ICRR offered to sell it to the city of Tuscola for $1 if the city would pay to have it moved to the other side of the tracks, off of IC property. It didnt happen - TY tower was razed in the early 1990s. I had a bad train wreck just south of this tower in 1982. We had just crossed over to the North bound main to clear a Southbound. He was flying by us when the rear 7 cars of his train split the switch and came thru the x-over and into our caboose. The impact cut the caboose almost in half. Royal Bolding the Condr. and I were on the caboose. Mike Mack the brakeman was on the ground watching the Southbound by. There were cars on the long lead so no one could be on the other side to watch him. Royal never worked again due to his injuries. Mike quit the railroad soon after. I ended up with a broken shoulder and a few stitches. I retired in 2010. I'm awfully sorry to learn of your plight. My Grandfather worked as a Timekeeper for the CB&Q in the Beardstown, IL area and told the story of how a helper Locomotive HIT the Caboose to HARD and just split it wide open. That was back in the Day of Wooden Cabooses. It killed everyone inside. |
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| Mark Hinsdale posted "Gray Morning..." On an overcast, but mild March, 1977 morning, a southbound Illinois Central Gulf manifest train provides a welcome spot of color against an otherwise monochromatic background at Tuscola IL. Tuscola Tower controlled the intersection of the ICG main line with Missouri Pacific's ex Chicago & Eastern Illinois route and a Chessie System (Baltimore & Ohio) branch to Decatur IL. The old wooden tower could definitely use some paint, and it would actually get some in a few more years, before ultimately succumbing to the tide of automation. March 20, 1977 photo by Mark Hinsdale
EMD Sd40A
When they painted a tower it was often a bad omen.
How’d 6006 lose it’s dynamic brakes?
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| Carl Venzke posted Three-way crossing of the C&EI, IC and B&O at Tuscola, Ill. A small east-central Illinois town. |
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| CEIRHS shared a Carter B Morris Sr. C&EI when double tracked from Findlay to Villa Grove (pre 1940) through Tuscola, Il shown. Depot at center of photo. TY-tower at left. Fred Heilich: TY tower came down in 1991-92 and tracks were realigned to present configuration. The diamonds are on a sinkhole and require constant maintenance. The diamond has been completely torn out, dug down, filled with gravel, and replaced with new track twice in the last 6 or 7 yr including now with titanium raised flangeways. They are there at least once a month working on it. I don't know when he C&EI station was razed. Carter B Morris Sr.: Kevin Endres Photo had to be taken 1940 or earlier, that's when double tracking there ended. Looking northeast on the C&EI crossing the Illinois Central double track mainline and single track Baltimore & Ohio at TY tower in Tuscola, Illinois. Dennis DeBruler: And the tower had windows and there were a bunch of signaling pipelines along the tracks. CEIRHS posted Many years ago when the C&EI was double track through Tuscola. The C&EI depot is at the upper middle of the photo. |
A map that shows the double tracking.
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| Carter B Morris Sr. commented on his post |
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| Randy James posted llinois central northbound city of Miami for Chicago at tuscola Illinois, with central of Georgia e8 on the point, where the ic crossed the b&o(csx) and c&ei(mopac- up) at grade, Mike condren collection, the city of Miami was the finest Chicago to Miami passenger train, sadly politics doomed the train & eventually all Chicago to Florida passenger service in September 1979, when Amtrak discontinued the last remaining Chicago to Florida passenger train, the Floridian which was picked by Amtrak over the city of Miami, we will never see the likes of the city of Miami ever again. |
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| Rober Daly posted Tower at Tuscola looking west, Oct 25 69. The IC main line crossed the B&O, left foreground, and C&EI, right foreground while the B&O and C&EI crossed each other just east of the IC crossings. |
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| Richard Koenig posted
TY Tower
This image documents an interesting triple railroad crossing at Tuscola, Illinois. Lines of the Illinois Central, the Chicago & Eastern Illinois, and the Baltimore & Ohio, all met and crossed there.
The oldest line here, the Illinois Central, ran the tower, named TY. Their mainline was double-tracked, so that made the interlocking all the more complicated. (The arrangement was changed to a more simplified scheme a year or two later.)
The photographer is looking westward; it appears that an eastbound B&O train has been given permission to cross the other two roads.
One image by Richard Koenig; taken around 1990 (I believe).
Paul Jones The levers from this tower now help fill out the lever bed at Monticello Railroad Museum whose lever bed came from Gibson City also an I C control point.David Nisbet My grandfather and my dad both worked there and I ran locomotives past there over 10,000 times, always a 25 MPH diamond with the biggest grade on the district north of that, Hays hill. Mark Egebrecht The diamonds were consolidated in 1993 and the tower was closed at the same time. It was razed in 1994. Edward Bridges This is one of only two working interlocking towers I got to throw levers in as a kid...the other was Neilson Junction. Was in the right place at the right time. The fellow who was the tower operator was a fellow who was an amputee and the bell rang while he had his peg leg off. He figured since there were a couple of young guys up there, he told us which levers to throw. I remember it well. Sadly, both towers are gone today (Neilson came down in early 1989) Dick Bidwell shared |
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| Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Historical Society posted The C&EI Historical Society met in Tuscola, IL on April 27, 1991. I'm standing on the C&EI-B&O diamond looking west down the B&O toward Decatur. Both railroads crossed the Illinois Central here at TY Tower. Today the tower is gone, the I.C. is single track, and the diamonds have been reconfigured. Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Historical Society posted This was the crossing arrangement at Tuscola, IL when I took this photo on April 27, 1991. Were looking west on the B&O with the C&EI line angling off to the southwest. Both lines are crossing the Illinois Central at TY Tower. Jeffrey Blair: Does this crossing in Tuscola still exist? Zach Walters: Jeffrey Blair sure does and looks nothing like the today. Union Pacific, Canadian National, and Decatur And Eastern Illinois DREI are the three railroads now. I live a few minutes away. CN is the busiest , UP is much lower on traffic and DREI runs up to a handful a day. |
Robert Daly posted three photos with the comment: "B&O equipment at Tuscola, Oct 18 69. This line ran to Decatur, Springfield and Beardstown." This line did run between Decatur and Indianapolis, IN. The "abanBaOSW" route ran between Springfield and Beardstown. But I have found no evidence for trackage rights on the Wabash between Springfield and Decature.
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| Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Historical Society posted Bruce Meyer took this photo at Tuscola, IL on May 23, 1958. You can see J. Parker Lamb standing on the B&O track near the bridge shortly after he took his photo [Below] of the engines. |
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| Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Historical Society posted J. Parker Lamb took this photo at Tuscola, IL on May 23, 1958. |
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| Jeff Heinie posted Northbound Illinois Central at Tuscola, IL. March 1994. The junction tower is right behind the lead locomotive. |
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| C&EI posted Bruce Meyer took this photo of a C&EI freight train in Tuscola on May 23, 1958, Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Historical SocietyThat's J. Parker Lamb standing over on the B&O by the bridge. |
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| Steven J. Brown posted Missouri Pacific GP15-1 1694 and GP38-2 2310 on a local at Tuscola, Illinois - August 11, 1987. C&EI shared By now this former C&EI line was part of the Union Pacific system. Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Historical Society posted A U.P. train on the old C&EI is about to enter Tuscola, IL in this 1987 photo by Steven Brown. |
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| Steven J. Brown posted Union Pacific SD40-2 3913 (built 1976 as MP 3229) @ Tuscola, Illinois - August 11, 1987. Bob Ralph Was a 90 MPH restricted speed over the diamonds at TY. C&EI depot was just behind you. Better days. |
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| Steven J. Brown posted Chesapeake & Ohio GP40-2 6557 (built 1971 as C&O GP40 3782, became CSX 6557) westbound crossing the IC and MoPac at Tuscola, Illinois - August 11, 1987. Jon Roma: Tuscola's "TY" Tower was the Mae West of towers. “When I'm good, I'm very good, but when I'm bad, I'm better.” It was a sh*thole. Little maintenance, peeling paint, loose stairway, no running water, building leaked air like a sieve (you could feel the building shake and feel the winter breeze inside), the furnace sounded like it was going to blow us all to kingdom come, probably plenty of asbestos, ad infinitum ... but oh, the memories. Lots of interesting conversations about railroading and other things took place between those four dilapidated walls – including pot luck dinners and slide shows. The building was part of the story, but the building did not deserve to be kept. My love for this tower came due to the people and experiences that took place there, and THAT will never leave me. The pieces of the interlocking machine that were saved went to the Monticello Railway Museum. Steven J. Brown shared |
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| Jon Roma commented on Steven's post [Of the three copies, this is the highest resolution (2048x1287).] |
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| Comments on Steven's post |
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| Comments on Steven's share |
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| Jon Gordillo commented on Steven's share Kendel Robinson: Jon Gordillo the old tower with an operator those were the best days. Would love to see a picture when the C&EI had double track going across there, think they had two at one time didn’t they? |
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| Jon Gordillo commented on Kendel's comment Kendel Robinson: Jon Gordillo oh wow that’s really cool. I wonder if that connection track to the west B&O to the IC was actually ever there? |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on Kendel's connection track comment It looks like they at least graded the ground for the connector. But there are no cars setting on it like there are for the north-IC to east-B&O and the north-IC to west-C&EI connectors. 1940 aerial https://clearinghouse.isgs.illinois.edu/webdocs/ilhap/county/data/douglas/flight3/00ao4a082.jpg |
Richard Koenig posted two photos with the comment:
Tuscola, IllinoisThe triple crossing of Illinois Central, B&O, and C&EI, as seen from the highway overpass nearby. The old track arrangement is still in play here, but preparations are being made for the simplified layout to soon come. The second image was taken from track level, standing on the B&O. I did very little shooting during the Death Star years, most of my stuff coming earlier.Two images by
; taken January 1991.
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| 1 Image by Tuscola, Illinois January 1991 |
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| 2 Image by Tuscola, Illinois January 1991
Ok took a minute to figure out the Death Star, until looking at the logo on the IC caboose.
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C&EI posted two photos with the comment: "Here is an older photo at Tuscola, IL when the C&EI was double track. The photos may have been taken from the highway overpass shown in the photo looking to the southwest. Photo dates and photographers unknown."
Dennis DeBruler For the first photo, a comment by Eric Berg in the posting https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2315865738441159&id=100000532667674 specifies: "John W Barriger shot from the 1930's....."
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| Jim Arvites posted Northbound Illinois Central passenger train crossing the B&O/C&EI diamonds at Tuscola Tower in Tuscola, Illinois. (J Parker Lamb Collection) Mark Niceley Look at all of the Head End cars!! Any money earned, past the Baggage Car, was Gravy!! Dave Huffman You got that right Mark, when they lost the mail it killed the passenger trains. |
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| Steven J. Brown posted Amtrak Saluki #391 hits the diamonds at Tuscola, Illinois - November 15, 2018. Rick Harris Ty tower gone [A nice overview that puts the bridge and grain elevator in context.] |
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| Steven J. Brown posted
NOW AND THEN - TUSCOLA, ILLINOIS!
Thirty-one years apart, northbound Amtrak trains. Top: Amtrak Saluki on November 15, 2018. Bottom: Amtrak Illini on August 11, 1987.
Jon Roma The old tower was a much-beloved shithole. I was a regular visitor and unofficial leverman, and I miss it a great deal. Ken Morrison Interesting how they simplified the diamond by briefly joining the B&O with the C&EI before and after the IC.Jon Roma Crossing diamonds are among the least favorite pieces of railroad infrastructure because they cause wheel wear; conversely, the wheels batter the diamonds as well. They are expensive and maintenance-heavy even under the best of circumstances. However, Tuscola's old track layout was even more painful, what with the two adjoining diamonds forming a single casting. https://www.flickr.com/photos/jonroma/1033996999/ By routing trains on the former B&O route over the former C&EI route for a few hundred feet, they were able to reduce from five to two diamonds at this crossing. At $100,000 a pop for the simplest diamond, this is a significant cost saving without even considering the maintenance angle. Mark Egebrecht I believe the tower was closed in 1992, diamonds consolidated in 1993, and tower razed in 1994.J Jon Roma Mark Egebrecht, not quite correct. The diamonds were reconfigured at the time the tower was closed at the end of October 1992. Mark Egebrecht Jon Roma So the diamonds were consolidated only a few days after that 10/18/92 photo? Jon Roma Mark Egebrecht, see my picture at https://www.flickr.com/photos/jonroma/1034851314/, which was also taken on Sunday, October 18, 1992 – just a few hours before the night shot of the diamonds. As you can see, the new diamonds were previously cut into the IC tracks ahead of the big transition. Also already in place are the switches to allow CSX trains to enter UP tracks for the short journey over the IC crossings. Additional track panels lie astride the crossing, waiting to be swung into place when the time came. The next morning, Monday, October 19, 1992, IC's signal department cut power to the old interlocking circuitry on the ground floor of the tower. IC and UP signal forces then began making connections to the new circuitry in the aluminum bungalows on the far side of the tracks. Simultaneously, the track departments torched the connections to the old diamonds, and lifted them out of place; IC's track department subsequently field-welded straight rail into the gap where the troublesome diamonds had laid. The other two railroads' track department torched off the now-retired segments of tracks, removing them for salvage, and then swung over the new track panels in alignment for the new route. Surfacing and tamping of the new track was done in order to ready it for service. Once the new track was in place, the signal departments could make the final track connections, and run through their testing. By the end of the afternoon, they were running trains again, albeit not on signal indication (because the testing wasn't complete). By the middle of the week, the work was done, and "TY" Tower fell silent. I believe it was at 7:01 a.m. on Saturday, October 24, 1992, that the third trick operator marked off duty, and closed and locked the door with no first trick operator to relieve him. It was sad to see the end of one of my favorite towers, but I'm glad I was able to be up close to see the work get done. Jon Roma "TY" Tower was torn down June 1, 1994. Officially, it closed October 23, 1992, reflecting the time the new interlocking went into service by bulletin. Mark Egebrecht Jon Roma There was talk of the diamonds being consolidated as early as 1989. Jon Roma Long before that, in fact. It (and the concurrent closing of the tower) was talked about the first time I was in the tower around 1986. By 1989, the new UP bridge may already have been in place. The project may have been delayed by multiple factors, but one certainty is that the IC's single-tracking set it back by several years. Jon Roma And we can go back in time even farther, though this can't be considered a then-and-now shot since it doesn't involve trains on the IC. https://www.flickr.com/photos/jonroma/874950358/ Barry Stone What is the track that goes off to the lower left?Jon Roma That is the Baltimore & Ohio's line from Indianapolis to Decatur and Springfield, IL. Prior to being acquired by B&O's Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton subsidiary, it was known as the Indianapolis, Decatur & Western. |
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| Jon Roma commented on Steven's posting Here's what the interlocking plant at Tuscola looked like in 1916. This is from a C&EI interlocking book held in an area museum's collection. |
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| Jon Roma commented on Steven's posting And this is the diagram like the one that made up the tower's model board in final years. [A higher resolution copy is above.] |
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| Jim Arvites posted View looking north up the Illinois Central Mainline at the Diamond Crossing with the C&EI and B&O Railroads by the Tuscola Tower on the left and the IC depot on the distant right at Tuscola, Illinois circa 1940. (John W. Barriger III Photo)Jim Fleming Very different today. Tower gone. Wooden elevator gone. Depot gone. Predecessor railroads gone. Today, UP and CSX merge and cross the CN together.Bill Edrington Jim Fleming - Even CSX has left town now. The old B&O line through Tuscola is now part of the Decatur & Eastern Illinois, a Watco Companies shortline. Jim Arvites posted [same comment]Kendel Robinson Don’t see the switch to the right for the connection to the B&O. Must not have been in yet or it was farther south then. Don’t see any signals either but you can see the pipes on the left that went to something.Kendel Robinson Looks like old semaphores in the distance.Jack L Huddleston Jr Hard to believe most of those tracks to the left & right are gone. Looks like they were loading box cars at the grain elevator.Paul Jevert Mileage Marker C- Chicago 150Skip Luke What looks like a square "sign" protruding from the upper floor of the tower was the order board. Similar in some ways to the B&O order boards, it was green when no orders. |
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| Christian Goepel commented on Jim's post Capture from a 1939 IC condensed profile showing detail at Tuscola. |
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| Richard Koenig posted
Southbound Shawnee
Here we see train number 391 hurtling down the track at Tuscola, Illinois. Once again, this tower (TY) guards a three-way crossing with the Illinois Central, B&O, and C&EI. I thought Christian Goepel might enjoy all the track-side structures and details in this one.
The speed limit at the time was 90 MPH, and this train was doing every bit of that as I recall; I have the feeling I was perched on a signal for this shot. Image by Richard Koenig, taken on November 20th 1976.
Glen Olbermann Didn't know they can do 90mph over the diamonds.Stephen Karlson Why not, that was The Milwaukee Road's timetable speed limit at Rondout. Something about not jostling the armatures too much. Harold J. Krewer Glen Olbermann, in those days the ICG still had the ATC in place between Champaign and Centralia. Max authorized speed was still 100 MPH but the track was starting to degrade and not many places you could still hit the century mark. David Nisbet This diamond was a 60 MPH restriction for passenger, 25 for freight, we seldom took it faster than that ( on passenger)... very rough. Harold J. Krewer In the days of SDP40Fs the Carbondale train was the Shawnee and the Illini only ran to Champaign. Randy James The Shawnee was formerly the Seminole that ran to Jacksonville FL, my grandfather used to unload mail off the Seminole at Jackson TN back in the early 60's. Fred Heilich IC Station was still there. Richard Koenig Yes, love that little depot visible. Stephen M. McMullen The Bloody Nose livery... Jim Fleming The IC was a proud line through here back in the day. Taking up the double track changed everything. Steve Drassler Jim Fleming I think Bill Moyers was responsible for that stupid idea, single-tracking the railroad. Jim Fleming It made the IC show excess cash so that the CN would overpay and provide healthy returns for investors. Dennis Mogan They recently removed the connection track between CN and CSX. Lots of traffic on the CN and UP. |
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| Christian Goepel commented on Richard's post Splendid view of the facilities on the IC at TY in Tuscola (and AMTK 391) at that time, sir! All are a little worse for wear, but at least are still standing. Here’s a capture of Tuscola from a 1945 IC Illinois Division condensed profile for historical context. Richard Koenig Wow, I was not aware the C&EI was double track through the interlocking! Did the IC have many center sidings on the main line? Christian Goepel Richard Koenig, yes, once upon a time IC had several center sidings on select double track segments of the Chicago-New Orleans main line. I’ve been told it was a Harriman Era capacity improvement. Other properties with a Harriman connection (UP, SP, etc.) also had center sidings. Ryan Schultz I'm a track side structure guy too |
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| Marty Benard shared 5. Illinois Central 1234 (SW9) crossing B&O - C&EI crossing at Tuscola, IL on switching run. Tower is a C&EI tower. May 7, 1966. [I always thought this was an IC tower. So did some of the other comments. But Richard set us straight.] Richard Schroeder: Built C&EI 1900, rebuilt 1913. Maintained by IC, operated by IC, maintain expense IC 40.07%, CEI 45.45 %, CH& D 14.48%. Operating expenses CH&D 1/3, C&EI 2/3. |
Mark Hinsdale posted four photos with the comment:
Mark Hinsdale shared
Steven J. Brown posted two photos with the comment: "Illinois Central Gulf SD20-SD28-SD20 lashup reaches for a Union Pacific (ex-MoPac) interchange as a UP freight passes. Tuscola, Illinois - August 11, 1987."
Sunday Night @ the OldiesMark Hinsdale shared
"Tuscola IL"
Tuscola IL is a small community in east central Illinois, that also is the location of one of the busier railroad junctions south of Greater Chicagoland. Three railroads historically crossed here, and still do today. During the 1970's, the involved players at Tuscola were Illinois Central Gulf, Missouri Pacific's Chicago & Eastern Illinois, and Chessie System's Baltimore & Ohio. Today, the tower is gone, and the track layout has been simplified, but Canadian National, Union Pacific, and the Decatur & Eastern Illinois, a Watco property recently created by the sale of CSX's former B&O line, still intersect here. Tuscola remains a lively spot for varied rail action in 2020.
Mark Hinsdale shared
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| 2 Dale V Rockwell I see why they simplified that track plan. |
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| 4 Don Parker A wood frame building like that probably wouldn't take that much to stabilize (no sag in the roof line shows it's solid), but it's on RR property and at best they would want it moved. |
Steven J. Brown posted two photos with the comment: "Illinois Central Gulf SD20-SD28-SD20 lashup reaches for a Union Pacific (ex-MoPac) interchange as a UP freight passes. Tuscola, Illinois - August 11, 1987."
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| Steven J. Brown posted Illinois Central Gulf wide-vision caboose 199353 (built 1972 as IC 9353, became Illinois Railnet 9353 to Iowa Traction 9353) trails a northbound unit coal train (Wisconsin Electric?) over the diamonds and by the tower at Tuscola, Illinois - August 11, 1987. Steven J. Brown shared Steven J. Brown shared |
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| Jack D. Kuiphoff posted (SEE & HEAR)---Illinois Central, IC SD40-2 6122, BN SD40-2 6763, leads a southbound over the CSX and UP diamond at Tuscola, Illinois. June 12, 1993. Jack D Kuiphoff photo © video See this live in my Youtube link. IC 6122, built 2/1976 as BN 6731. BN 6763, built 11/1976. Became IC 6153>IC 6260 |
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| Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Historical Society posted Richard Koenig took this photo at Tuscola, IL on September 25, 1976. The C&EI line curves into town and parallels the B&O through town before heading northeast toward Villa Grove. In the distance a B&O train waits for the Illinois Central freight to clear the crossing at TY tower. Randy James: Ex gm&o caboose Dennis DeBruler: Thanks for pointing out the B&O train. I would have missed that. It never occurred to me that signals for a junction would be so far away from the junction. But it makes sense that they would want to stop a train before it blocks the crossings in town. |
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| Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Historical Society posted The crossing arrangement was simplified at Tuscola and the tower was torn down in the early 90s. Bill Foster: Part of the tower survives at the Monticello Railway Museum. Erik Coleman: Bill Foster Which part? The structure itself was not saved. Stair Tower was built from scratch as a replica from standard IC tower plans, more closely-matching Gibson City. Jon Roma Erik Coleman, Bill Foster is correct. Before "TY" Tower bit the dust, the historical society in Tuscola saved the model board, levers, and additional hardware, originally intending to reconstruct a machine. As MRM was building Stair Tower, the folks in Tuscola realized that the pieces of "TY" that they had could serve a more noble purpose than sitting in a storage unit. They offered it to MRM, and one Saturday afternoon, a bunch of us went to Tuscola to load the pieces into a couple of trucks to take to Monticello. Both Gibson City and TY used the same type of interlocking machine – a Style "A" machine with vertical locking. The lever circuit controllers came in particularly handy when designing the interlocking at Stair Tower for the track layout. The levers, tappets, locking bars, etc. came in quite handy as well. At this stage, it's impossible to identify which pieces are from TY and which are from Gibson City since they're interchangeable. |
Charlie Whipp shared his 1989 Flickr Photo of a southbound IC train with the comment "Illinois Central 8119, a rebuild from the Paducah shops is pounding the UP and B&O diamonds at Tuscola tower in Tuscola, IL in June, 1989. Tuscola didn't have long to live as work was starting to redesign the interlocking to remove at least some of the complexity of having three routes cross in a tight area at one location."
Charlie Whipp Flickr Photo showing three diamonds made a small triangle and two bridges were needed to cross Scattering Fork. Now UP and CSX merge before they cross CN and then separate about 100 feet later so that only one diamond and bridge needs to be maintained.
Starting with this 1990 photo in David Wilson's photo stream are 16 photos of and around the Tuscola Tower including a closeup of one of the ironmen.
Starting with this 1990 photo in David Wilson's photo stream are 16 photos of and around the Tuscola Tower including a closeup of one of the ironmen.
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| Greg Borgwald posted The rear of a Chessie local passes the tower at Tuscola, IL, 8-11-82. |
What year was the C&EI reverted to single track through Tuscola to Villa Grove?
ReplyDeleteLast run of the "Meadowlark" as a train, not the RDC?