Jacksonville, IL: (JA) Tower: Wabash vs. CB&Q and Alton

(Satellite image is below)

Gary Sams posted

Gary's comment:

Jacksonville, Illinois Wabash, GM&O and CB&Q Tower Jack Keefe photo 3-13-1978

(Update: roundhouse has a topo map.) From the comments we learn this is looking east towards Springfield and Decatur. So we must be looking down the Wabash track and the tower is on the south side. Note the semaphores for signalling train orders and the "iron man" for holding the hoops.

Jacob Hortenstine the levers and some other items from that tower are now in the tower at Ramsey

Jacob Hortenstine shared the posting and got the comment: John LaRochelle Tower was manned by Decatur Division Wabash/Norfolk and Western/Norfolk Southern operators. Looks like the Wabash train order signal indicates train orders in both directions.

1941 Aerial Photo
from ILHAP

If you look at the bottom of the 1941 aerial photo on the right, you will see the CB&Q and Alton crossed each other on the College Avenue overpass! So Alton passed the tower on the east side and CB&Q passed it on the west side. Thanks to Jacob providing the direction of the view, the close diamond would be CB&Q and the far diamond would be Alton.

Alton went straight north through town until it curved off after Lafayette Avenue. It has a tree line for a couple of blocks before a farmer's field claims the RoW. But it was this diagonal tree line that first caught my eye of where the abandoned Alton was north of town. KCS now owns the Alton south of town. CB&Q is easy to trace because it still exists as BNSF. Likewise, the Wabash is now NS.

Satellite

There used to be a seventh "spoke" leaving Jackson to the north going to Havana, IL. The tree line below Baldwin Road and the change in tillage lines above Baldwin Road are indicators of where it entered the town.

1941

The 1941 photo indicates it went south until it joined the CB&Q at its curve to the west. So that would be just above Independence Avenue.

In my 1928 RR Atlas, this seventh spoke was labeled J&H. In the 2005 SPV Map it is a dashed line labelled JH(CPStL). The Appendix indicates JH was the Jacksonville & Havana and the CPStL was Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis, later CCStL, CIM, ITS and JH. The CPStL went north of Havana to East Peoria and it is now the IMRR (Illinois & Midland).

Stephen N. Brannon posted
Anybody here ever worked JA Tower, Jacksonville, Illinois copying and delivering train orders for Wabash, CB&Q, GM&O? Pictured here southbound GM&O "Jack Line" local about to cross the Wabash Detroit-Kansas City main. CB&Q southern Illinois coal fields line at bottom of photo.
Richard Fiedler shared

Craig Cloud: Wabash tower, correct?

Robert Fiedler: Craig Cloud Originally a joint tower of the Wabash, Chicago & Alton and Jacksonville & Havana RR’s.

Mark Lehn: I worked there but we didn't deliver msgs. to anyone other than nw.