Sand Patch, PA: B&O Sand Patch (SA) Tower

(Satellite, it was east of Deal Road and south of the tracks up against the hill. According to the topo map, it might have been about a third of the way between Deal Road and the West Portal of the Sand Patch Tunnel. But I could not find the notch in the hill.)

Because the Sand Patch Tunnel went under the ridge of the Allegheny Mountain, this tower was the summit of the B&O route from Baltimore to Pittsburgh.

 

Bill Rettberg Jr. posted
Eastbound cresting the summit of Sand Patch.
[It will soon enter the tunnel.]

Joseph Mrozek: The first time I ever visited this location I was lucky enough to catch the tower still standing. I believe that was 1999. The next time I visited a couple of years later it was gone. I ran into some nice railroad employees here a few times. They were very happy to talk with you about the railroad and they seemed to enjoy their work. It would have been great to have been here during B&O days especially during the steam era!

Darren Reynolds shared

Bob Weston posted
Photo of former CSX, Chessie, B&O SA tower at Sand Patch, Pa. The tower controlled train and helper movements on Sand Patch grade. CSX transferred the tower's function to Jacksonville, Fl. and closed the tower on 7 November 2001 and tore it down on 12 Dec 2001.

Darren Reynold posted four photos with the comment: "B&O    'SA' tower    Sand Patch, Pa."

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Ralph Hough: You would Hollar at the operator and give him your EOT number and he would dial it in his htd as you entered the tunnel and he would keep an eye on the air pressure on the rear of the train for ya till you got communication back on the other side .

 

Bill Rettberg Jr. posted
Local heading toward Berlin Branch is approaching a stop at SA tower at the summit of Sand Patch. before continuing west.
Dennis DeBruler shared
[Note the tower on the left side and the B&O colored position signal.]

Cathy Ludy posted six photos with the comment: "Frank E Rohrs at Sandpatch tower. Passing messages to the train; I believe at Foley !"

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[Good shutter work to catch these two train order pickups.]

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Darren Reynold posted five photos with the comment: "B&Os "SA tower    Sand Patch,Pa."

David Andrew Wieting: SA survived a bit longer because the mountain blocked the radio signals so they needed it to make sure that trains were not breaking in two, as the EOT devices could potentially lose communication with the head end.

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Looking West

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Interlocking machines

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Model board

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Old "SA" tower

BullSheet, Photo October 8, 1973, by Jim Bradley
A Morse circuit was used until the last tower it could "talk" to was demolished by a derailing freight train in May 1987. This was the last tower to use Morse. The tower was closed on Nov 7, 2001.

Robby Geck posted
B&O operator control panel at Sand Patch, Pa
Daniel Adair: It had a interior “spiral” staircase too.
John Murphy: Awesome! What was shown in the glass panels below the map?
John Rompala: John Murphy Relays.

Michael McKenzie commented on the fourth photo and Robby's post
The switch board is in the Western Maryland depot/museum in Meyersdale.

Digitally Zoomed
Michael McKenzie also commented that if you zoom in you can see a photo of the staircase. So I did zoom in.

 

James Anders posted
Since we were on a kick with towers recently I thought some folks would like to see how they look on the track charts from the late 50's for Sand Patch and Hyndman.

1967 Wittenberg Quad @ 24,000

Darren Reynolds posted six photos, all of which are redundant except for this one.

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Hear is a westbound ready to pass old "SA" tower. 1905. With the operator hanging out the window..
Photo by: unknown
David Andrew Wieting" The old tunnel was projected to be double track but the old P&C and B&O could just never manage to do it. B&O also had a grand solution, a completely new summit with a multimile long tunnel. It is so lost to history that even CSX guys didn't know about it. "Sand Patch: Clash of Titans" should be required reading of all B&O fans.
David Andrew Wieting: That was before the current tunnel was finished around 1914. The original tunnel was a single track bottleneck higher and to the south of the current alignment. It has been safely buried to keep people out of it. It was a menace to everyone and itself. It suffered from what the "Sand Patch" author called "rotten rock syndrome". The west end of the current tunnel is much further east than planned for the same reason. It collapsed and they simply daylighted it. There are also ship stack like vents atop the mountain for the tunnel.

Hemi Patton commented on David's second comment
Last I knew..... the old Tunnel West Portal is NOT buried! I KNOW where it is and got pics of it just a couple years ago!

Moses Zacharewicz posted
The original Sandpatch model board is preserved in the Meyersdale Station / Historical Society.
Rod Davis shared
Model train board from sa tower sand patch.

David Paul: Above is the map showing both tunnels in use at Sandpatch. Has anyone seen a diagram of the other side with both tunnels, at Manila?