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| Gary Sams -> Illinois Central Charter Line |
NorthAmericanInterlockings: 1968 NYC 8 geeps NYC cab 1966 caboose hooping steam
Gary's comment: "Pana, Illinois IC and Big 4 Tower"
The Big 4, IC, B&O, and C&EI went through Pana in my 1928 Railroad Atlas. Now just the UP/MoPac/C&EI exists. So there is no need for a tower now. Looking at a 1938 aerial photo, it looks like the B&O to the southeast had already been abandoned. (Update: looking at a CPV Map, the B&O met the Big4 east of town and paralleled it on the south side into town. Although someplace the B&O crossed to the north side of the Big4.)
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| Gary Sams -> Illinois Central Charter Line |
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| 1938 Aerial Photo from ILHAP |
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| Jeff Geisler posted I was going through some old files from a Y! Group and found this track plan of Pana. Bill Edrington: Thanks for sharing this. It’s a New York Central “DICCS” map for Pana and Tower Hill. “DICCS” stood for “Demurrage and Industrial Car Control System.” It assigned a specific code to every customer track, interchange track, etc. on the NYC system to assist in keeping better control of freight cars. In the Conrail years “DICCS” became “ZTS”, which stood for “Zone/Track/Spot”. The goal was the same: the ability to easily and precisely identify where every freight car on the railroad was. Paul Brewer: Is the date 1955? Thanks for sharing this! Bill Edrington: Paul Brewer - I don’t recall exactly when the NYC implemented the DICCS system, but I think 1965 is a more likely date. |
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| Jeff Geisler posted, rotated Here's another Pana item from the former CIHRA Y! group files. |
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| Mike Breski posted NYC U25B 2551 Date: 11/9/1965 Location: Pana, IL, Collection Of: Jim Gavin Locomotives: NYC 2551(U25B) Author: Jim Gavin IC ran N-S. NYC ran E-SW. C&EI ran NE-SW, shared track with NYC to St. Louis. B&O ran E-NW, running parallel to NYC E of Pana. NYC crossed the IC S of the tower. C&EI and B&O crossed the IC and each other N of the tower. B&O crossed the NYC a few miles E, at Tower Hill, as it moved SE towards Shawneetown while the NYC continued E. |
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| Street View, Jun 2013 |
Roger Kujawa posted four pictures with the comment: "Early 2016 Pana, Il. This is the IC NYC, B&O and C&EI tower. Not sure how much of the trackage the tower controlled."
Bill Edrington: Pana Tower stood right at the crossing of the NYC and IC. To the best of my recollection, it was an open train order office on both of those roads, and of course it was located at the junction of the NYC and C&EI, which had trackage rights on the NYC west of Pana. The NYC line from Avon, IN to Lenox, IL was TCS (NYC's term for CTC) territory remotely controlled by the dispatcher, originally in Mattoon but later in Indianapolis. (The line was also equipped with Automatic Train Stop, a reflection of its one time importance as a fast passenger main line.) I can't recall for sure whether the operators at Pana Tower controlled the B&O's crossings of the IC and C&EI, which were nearby.
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| Bill Edrington posted Undated photo by Stephen N. Brannon of Pana Tower at Pana, Illinois, looking north on the Illinois Central’s Clinton District. The Big Four’s Indianapolis-St. Louis main line crosses the IC from east to west alongside the tower. Note the NYC-style train order signals mounted on the south side of the tower at the bottom of the window. Just this side of the white building in the distance is the C&EI’s line to Findlay, Villa Grove and Chicago, which connected to the Big Four just west of the tower. Just beyond the IC-C&EI crossing is the B&O line from Beardstown to Shawneetown, which paralleled the Big Four between Pana and Tower Hill. Part of the foundation of the former Big Four-IC joint passenger depot can be seen in the lower right corner. My best guess is that this was taken sometime during the Penn Central or early Conrail years. Nowadays the only railroad left in Pana is the Union Pacific, successor to the Missouri Pacific (which had previously taken over the C&EI), which acquired the Big Four main between Pana and Lenox Tower (Mitchell, Illinois) from CR in 1982. The C&EI/MP was previously a tenant on the Big Four, using trackage rights to reach the St. Louis/East St. Louis area since 1904. |
Jacob Hortenstine posted a couple of photos with the comment: "NYC Pana Illinois [Jim Gavin]." Unfortunately, after I included them I saw they were RRPictureArchives.net photos so I deleted them. But the comments on these photos confirmed that Gary Sams' comment was a simplification. The tower used to handle the crossing of IC, Big Four, B&O, and C&EI. Now the only track left is UP/MoPac/C&EI. The Big Four had trackage rights on the C&EI from here to the St. Louis area. (Update: the C&EI had trackage rights on the Big Four from here to St. Louis. Obviously UP/MoPac/C&EI bought the route when Conrail abandoned the Big Four route between Terre Haute and St. Louis.)
Update: Patrick Cooney posted two photos with the comment: "Two for one, Pana IL tower and what I'm guessing is either the B&O or NYC Depot."
Dennis Faircloth CEI got onto the NYC at Pana and operated trackage rights to East St Louis.
Jacob Hortenstine Part of the old Illinois Central depot. Was told that it is the baggage room.
Edward J. Williamson The tower was the B&Os and once had a third floor before a fire and rebuild...
Roger's topo map shows the B&O was north of the Big Four on the east side of town. This is another error in the 2005 SPV Map because it shows the B&O is south of the Big Four between Tower Hill and Pana. I traced the routes east to Tower Hill, IL, on old aerial photos and they clearly show that the B&O crossed the Big Four in Tower Hill. I could have saved myself some time by simply reading my Tower Hill post.
Phillip Prior posted two photos with the comment: "Still standing in Pana. What railroad(s) did these serve?"
Jacob Hortenstine NYC ICRR C&EI B&O
Tom Latonis That's correct on the railroads. I am the owner of the tower now. Planning on putting a model train layout in the bottom portion in the not too distant future. The other building the Railway Express warehouse, is owned by the same people who own the vacant Walmart property. People have tried to purchase and save it, but only get a deaf ear from the Walmart folks.
Christian Goepel Small brick building in your second photo is the baggage / express room from the former IC depot.
Charlie DeWeese I was the operator at Pana a few times in the 1959-1963 era, on second and third trick. Neat place; the operator controlled the crossing flashers and picked up the sack of mail that the RPO tried to hit the operator with.
Mark Egebrecht Ic Charter line crossed Big Four here. B&O Beardstown Branch crossed on the other side. MP came in from the northeast and merged up with the Big Four just west of here.
Back when it had all three floors.
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| Jacob Hortenstine posted Southbound Illinois Central at Pana Illinois [Joe Collias photo] [I posted yet another tower picture because this posting has a lot of interesting comments concerning the four railroads that used to cross here.] Raymond Storey also posted Paul Jevert shared |
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| Jacob Hortenstine posted Pana Illinois tower and depot looking to the southeast |
Dennis Faircloth CEI got onto the NYC at Pana and operated trackage rights to East St Louis.
Jacob Hortenstine Part of the old Illinois Central depot. Was told that it is the baggage room.
Edward J. Williamson The tower was the B&Os and once had a third floor before a fire and rebuild...
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| Bill Molony posted The interlocking tower at Pana, Illinois controlled the crossing of the Illinois Central and New York Central railroads. Bill Edrington It also controlled the junction of the Big Four (NYC) and the C&EI. Beginning in 1904, C&EI operated over the Big Four from Pana to Granite City and East St. Louis. In the distance is the eastbound home signal for the C&EI junction and the IC crossing. The C&EI diverged from the Big Four just east of that signal and had its own crossing of the IC (and B&O) just north of the tower.Bill Edrington The tower still stands and is in good condition. Conrail sold the Big Four line from Pana to Lenox to the MP (successor to the C&EI) in 1982 and abandoned its line from Pana to Midland (Paris) via Mattoon. Today the only railroad left in town is the UP (former C&EI east/north of Pana; former Big Four west/south of Pana). [Follow the "posted" link. There are a lot more pictures and comments.] |
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| The first of four photos posted by Bill Edrington Taken from atop the old coal mine slack pile, shows the joint Big Four-Illinois Central depot and tower, with a westbound Big Four train approaching the crossing of the two railroads. |
Roger's topo map shows the B&O was north of the Big Four on the east side of town. This is another error in the 2005 SPV Map because it shows the B&O is south of the Big Four between Tower Hill and Pana. I traced the routes east to Tower Hill, IL, on old aerial photos and they clearly show that the B&O crossed the Big Four in Tower Hill. I could have saved myself some time by simply reading my Tower Hill post.
Phillip Prior posted two photos with the comment: "Still standing in Pana. What railroad(s) did these serve?"
Jacob Hortenstine NYC ICRR C&EI B&O
Tom Latonis That's correct on the railroads. I am the owner of the tower now. Planning on putting a model train layout in the bottom portion in the not too distant future. The other building the Railway Express warehouse, is owned by the same people who own the vacant Walmart property. People have tried to purchase and save it, but only get a deaf ear from the Walmart folks.
Christian Goepel Small brick building in your second photo is the baggage / express room from the former IC depot.
Charlie DeWeese I was the operator at Pana a few times in the 1959-1963 era, on second and third trick. Neat place; the operator controlled the crossing flashers and picked up the sack of mail that the RPO tried to hit the operator with.
Mark Egebrecht Ic Charter line crossed Big Four here. B&O Beardstown Branch crossed on the other side. MP came in from the northeast and merged up with the Big Four just west of here.
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| Edward Bridges commented on Philip's post Looking west on the NYC I believe...crossing the IC. I believe 1970s... Tom Latonis It is on Oak Street at the intersection with Main. Just west of the Pana school district office. |
Back when it had all three floors.
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| Dave Cantrell posted Shane Petit There was a derailment in the mid to late 70's at the grain elevator. Someone threw the switch and a northbound went onto a siding and hit some parked grain cars. |
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| Edward J. Williamson posted |
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| John W. Meachum posted The train is westbound on the Big 4 westbound track at Pana, Il. The IC runs from perpendicular to the Big 4. The switching tower was three stories tall, but was cut down to two after, I believe, a fire. The Union Station that then served the Big 4 and IC is across the tracks from the tower. The small white building across the tracks from the tower is the original IC Freight building, The station and the freight building are gone, the tower is now two stories. It is no longer in use and is privately owned. |
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| John W. Meachum posted South bound IC freight crossing the Big Four/NYC tracks at Pana, Illinois Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Historical Society shared The C&EI had trackage rights on the NYC from Pana to Mitchell Yard. This tower will hopefully be a stop during our auto tour during our October 17th Annual Meeting. |
Keith Cearlock posted three photos with the comment: "We are just starting to restore our caboose and need to find a chimney for the stove in the caboose."
[Some comments indicate that this caboose used to be in Fortville, IN.]
Jon Martin shared
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I grew up in Pana and remember when the tower was active. One of the things I vividly remember as a child is watching trains on the NYC (I think it was at that time) picking up orders "on the fly."
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