Sunday, January 31, 2016

Ashland, WI: C&NW Coaling Tower & Roundhouse and SOO+NP+C&NW Depot

C&NW: (Satellite, The Ashland Public Works Department has reused the roundhouse land.)
Depot: (Satellite)

This town had other concrete relics: ore loading docks.

Jerry Krug posted
Chicago & North Western coaling tower in Ashland, WI. This photo was taken on September 6, 2009. This tower was still standing in October 2015. The track was abandoned in 1981.

Satellite

Chicago & North Western Historical Society posted
Someone wanted to see a photo of the C&NW roundhouse in Ashland, Wisconsin. Here is one from September 1948. Another notation on the reverse of the photo says that the train on the left is led by #2903 and is Train #116. It is a Don Steffen photo.

Dennis DeBruler commented on the above post
Not only is the roundhouse gone, everything else is also gone.
1947 Ashland Quad @ 48,000

Dennis DeBruler commented on the above post
Except for the coaling tower.
 https://www.google.com/maps/@46.59719,-90.8526979,171m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu

Depot


Only a street view from 2008 is available. Views from that year make one appreciate how much the technology has improved since then.
Street View, Sep 2008

They have preserved a steam locomotive across the street from the depot.
Street View, Sep 2008

Rob Kitchen posted
Ashland, Wisconsin, 1981
Jordan Grunow: I brewed the last batch of beer in that building the night before it burned in 1999.
I felt horrible.
What if it was me?
Deep frier failed
Old school rot protection?
Coat roof rafters in creosote…
Not possible to put out
Sandra Lowndes: It burned April 1 2000
Craig A Tator: It was rebuilt, probably better and safer than when new.
Dave Martens shared
Jim Kelling shared
Ashland Wisconsin

Mike Patrick posted three photos with the comment: "Ashland Soo/NP depot 4-64, think the NP sign was taken down soon after this, I never saw it again, sorry for the quality on the shot of the south side of the depot, my scanner seems to pick and choose how it copies negs."
Allan Erickson: Had a real bad fire in the restaurant there about 15? yrs ago and I figured the place was toast but they fixed it up. This was a 3 way depot for NP, Soo and CNW. Remember riding the CNW train there from IWD with my grandma and little brother once just for yucks.
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Renovo, PA: PRR's Coaling Tower

(Satellite)

Robert Wanner posted
Pennsylvania Railroad at Renova, Pa in the late 1950's. Lots of motive power including duel tenders is unusual to me. Never got to see that in actual practice. Thought it may one of a kind, but I can see a double tender on the locomotive ahead looking towards the coal dock. Photo by Al Keller.
Richard D. Zink: They were to extend the range of operation as the PRR wasn't repairing stand pipes when they failed by this time. so places to get water were extremely limited. I believe that some were actively being removed. It also allowed them to close pump houses which cost money to operate.... and water tanks, too.
As you might guess ... the end was very near.
Bill Funk: Richard D. Zink It wasn't just the incidental costs to maintain the water facilities, it was also taxes. States and localities base property taxes on the improvements on the land; since railroads are very bottom-line oriented, it pays to remove anything that costs money as soon as possible.
Richard D. Zink: Exactly. It was the same reason that so many small stations and buildings mysterously burned down when they were taken out of service. Like clockwork.
Robert Wanner posted
Will M Colson: This was primarily for operations over the Low Grade Line from Driftwood to RedBank as most of the water servicing facilities had been removed. A surge in traffic as well as the delayed arrival of new diesel orders forced the railroad to add auxiliary tenders on locomotives dispatched out of Renovo on territories without ample facilities in the last years of steam.
I believe it was specifically an anomaly for power operating over the Low Grade for a brief period in time. I don't know of any other locations that put this into practice.
Gerard Geisler: The second tender was to extend the water supply.
Vincent Tarantella: ...to add a little background to this discussion, Renovo Yards was additionally a storage facility for hundreds of excess steam locomotives that were awaiting the cutting torch in anticipation of the early diesels. Renovo Round House and rebuild Shop forces did not have to look very far to find the tenders to add to the remaining operating steam engines that needed the extra water. Renovo pipe fitters and mechanics had to plumb new pipework and coupling system to add the tender to the running tender and bring the water forward for locomotive use enroute. Renovo built over 80 early locomotives from scratch from 1868 to 1889 until locomotive construction was consolidated to Altoona.

Rick Denton posted
Photo by BRAD ERICKSON    RENOVO PA.

Alfred Colomier posted a similar photo

Debbie Newsom Hampton posted
I came across this pic and as is the case all too often, no photographer was credited. The photo was taken at Renova, PA and the consensus seems to be that it is a a fake PRR caboose. I wonder if it's still there.
Richard Hafer: It is a nice looking paint job. The caboose is a New Haven style caboose. The New Haven was merged into Penn Central after 1968, so this style of caboose would have been painted in PC green, not PRR red.
Dennis DeBruler commented on Debbie's post
Evidently, it is a rather recent addition because it was not there in this Aug 2008 street view.
I fired up Global Earth, and it is not in the Aug 2012 image, but it is in the Oct 2015 image. It is also in a Jan 2022 image.

Michael Guida posted
Google Photos: 12. and 3. It looks like it used a skip-bucket loader. It and the cars are evidently preserved as part of their Greater Renovo Area Heritage Park. Renovo was on a Pennsy route that went north from Harrisburg to Williamsport and then turned West and meandered its way as it followed river valleys to Eria, PA. It appears Norfolk Southern got this route when Conrail was split between NS and CSX because I found it on their interactive map. And then I found a comment that said it was on the NS Buffalo line.

Norfolk Southern Map


Greg Obst posted
Pennsylvania Railroad coaling tower and maintenance shops at the Renovo Yards know known at the Renovo Heritage spark in Renovo PA. Photo from this afternoon [June 26, 2021].
Terry Capozza: Took train axle's to a car shop there in the late 70's.
Mark Mldr: Sadly, city leadership 25 years ago thought it was progress to remove many of the historic buildings to make way for new industry, which never came. I wandered the maintenance shops before the demolitions when scores (one hundred-ish?) of cabooses were stored in the yard after retirement.

Satellite
Pete's comment: "Old PRR Coaling tower and shops in Renovo Pa. Jan 30, 2016."

Another comment indicated the caboose is not genuine PRR. It is a rather rough looking heritage park. If it is a park, it seems he could have gotten closer for the shots. I wonder if NS or CSX got this part of the PRR when Conrail was split up. But I don't wonder enough to research something in the state of Pennsylvania.

Pete Bloom posted
Pete Bloom posted
Pete Bloom posted
Tim Heckman posted
the old coaling tower at Renovo PA
Update: AltoonaWorks has posted a photo of the tower. This time I noticed the scars of the roundhouse. It looks like they built one of the new shop buildings over part of the former roundhouse.  It looks like there used to be five old shop buildings, only one of which still stands. And the shadow in the middle shows that they still have a tall smokestack.
Satellite
Patrick Wilson posted two photos with the comment: "Renovo, PA 6-20-19...looks like it's in decent shape."
Ken Hough The ironwork is still on the coal tower. That’s unusual.
Mike Salvatore so sad the town could not find a outfit to move in the full shops..
Peter Kurt This was very active as a rebuilder a few years ago.
Troy Baney Supposedly, the power plant that will be located where the shops are now is still in the works, albeit moving slowly.
[I wonder what kind of power plant. I'm used to see power plants being shut down, not built.]
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Thomas Tarantella posted

Steven Monteiro commented on Thomas' post

Raymond Storey posted eight images with the comment: "The PRR...Renovo PA. The tipple was converted to sand when diesels replaced steam engines."
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1 of 38 photos posted by Jack Witthaus
Chuck Yost inspired me to visit and explore Renovo, PA and what remains of a Pennsylvania RR shop town. Halfway between Philadelphia and Erie but in the middle of nowhere, a once thriving town built to serve the railroad is now a relic. Scant remains of a 25 track yard and huge shop buildings dating to the 19th century lie in tall grass. The footprint of a roundhouse can be seen from the air. A single mainline track faces the quiet town where lines once encircled the complex. The coaling tower stands alone. 3/25/23
Leland Dean Fultz shared

Leland commented on his share
What's left of the turntable.
John Blotnick: And at least one transfer table. May have been three total.

John's comment about transfer tables motivated me to find an historic aerial photo.
EarthExplorer: Mar 2, 1944 @ 27,200; AR1AY0000010090

The comments on Gerry Dombroski's post has more photos and 1938, 1959 and 1968 aerials.
Andrew Andrade Gold Too bad it’s getting torn down for a power plant.

Sterling, OH: RU Tower: Erie vs. B&O vs. B&O and Engineer Catching Train Orders

(Satellite, the tower is gone)

The CSX/B&O branch goes north to Cleveland.

Daniel C Carroll Jr. posted
B&O-RU tower at Sterling OH 10-1988 photos description. Mr Leininger.

Mark Hinsdale posted
We've had two days of dark fog and drizzle in Chicagoland, with at least two more forecast to be on tap. In thinking about a vintage view that conjures up the exact state of the "pea soup" weather around here lately, this one immediately came to mind. Appearing out of the gloom, an Erie Lackawanna (EL) eastbound manifest train passes "RU" Tower in Sterling, Ohio during February, 1975. The engineer's arm can be seen stretched out of the window, preparing to grab orders out of the delivery staff. At Sterling, EL's east-west main line crossed Baltimore & Ohio's (B&O) own, parallel east-west route, on four shallow angle, movable point diamonds. Additionally, B&O's branch northward to Lester, Lorain and Cleveland broke off the main here, providing plenty of train action in a decidedly rural setting. Sterling was also the scene of a horrific derailment and fire ten years earlier, in January, 1965, after a westbound B&O train slammed head on into an eastbound EL freight at the crossing, killing all five railroaders on the locomotives of the two trains involved. February, 1975 photo by Mark Hinsdale
Mark Hinsdale shared

Doug Hefty shared DigitalDurf's photo
On of my favorite hang outs in my "formative years" was Sterling, Ohio. The EL and B&O mains crossed each other and traffic was always plentiful. The tower had friendly operators that were willing to explain railroad operations to a novice including what the "iron man" was. In this 1975 photo of 2ndNY100 the engineer is leaning out of the window to grab his "19's" on the fly. The 19 orders were how such things as slow orders and meets were relayed to a train and were typed out on a thin onion skin type paper. The rear end crew would also pick up a copy the same way. The iron man was the tall pole that the op could string the orders on in lieu of standing next to the train and "hooping" them up. This was everyday railroading back then, but it's basically a lost art these days.

Satellite
The three spokes that leave town today are all CSX/Chessie/B&O. The Erie used to parallel the east/west B&O. But it was on the north side of the east turnout of the wye, and on the south side west of that. That is, it crossed the B&O in the vicinity of the trunout on the right. You can see the RoW on the east side along the backyards of the houses. Then it becomes the County Line Trail to the east. The Erie RoW is also a trail west of town.
ICC Photo from Accident Report
[This photo shows how the Erie went from 70' to the south to 70' to the north. (The B&O engineer ran a red stop signal and a "pick up train order signals.")]
Rick Shilling posted
Aftermath of 11 Jan 1965 head on crash of
Baltimore and Ohio and Erie Lackawanna 
trains at Sterling, Ohio crossover that cost the lives of 5 crew members.
ICC Track Diagram from Accident Report

Trainbook posted
Erie Lackawanna Railway-Baltimore and Ohio Railroad crossing at RU Tower in Sterling, Ohio, on October 11, 1975.
 Photograph by John F. Bjorklund, © 2016, Center for Railroad Photography and Art. Bjorklund-55-13-19 Here it is: https://railphoto-art.org/.../erie-lackawanna-railway/...


Mark Llanuza posted two photos by Don Ellison that were marked Ohio City. Someone pointed out B&O's CPL (Color Position Lights).
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Logan Detwiler posted
CSX train R136 blasts eastward past Sterling tower at mp BG155.5 on the morning of June 3rd 1989 with a trio of ex-SBD B36s and 1 Chessie GP40-2. This junction is where the Erie and the B&O once crossed, and where the CL&W subdivision still branches northward for Lorain and Cleveland. The tower, which was staffed by the Erie and then Conrail, has since been torn down and the Erie rails have been pulled up. Roger Durfee photo

1961 Rittman Quad @ 24,000

Dennis DeBruler commented on Logan's post
Apr 4, 1960 @ 19,000
https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/scene/metadata/full/5e83d8e4870f4473/AR1VZJ000020089/

Logan Detwiler posted
Free For All Friday-It is Summer 1985 in Sterling and the operator from Sterling Tower is about to hand something, probably train orders, to a crewman on Western Maryland 4317. Credit to Robert Farkas.
J.B. Rail Photog shared
 
Roger Durfee posted
Another one from the vault......Western Maryland SD35 #7436 wears a pretty fresh coat of Chessie in August, 1976. The location is Sterling, Ohio where the B&O and Erie Lackawanna (far side of the tower) crossed and the CL&W headed north for Cleveland and Lorain (track in the foreground).

Logan Detwiler posted
A Westbound Baltimore and Ohio Railroad freight train heads west through Sterling, Ohio, on May 21, 1977 with EMD GP40 4053 and EMD GP40-2 4192 running elephant style on Main 1 passing RU Tower in the backdrop. This line at one point was the former B&O mainline from Washington to Chicago. This line is now the CSX New Castle Subdivision.   RU tower is now gone. Photograph by John F. Bjorklund, © 2015, Center for Railroad Photography and Art. Bjorklund
Curtis Tate: Someone should know this: When there was a serious discussion about Chessie taking over much of the eastern end of the EL, isn’t Sterling where they planned to cut it over?
Michael Schwiebert: Curtis Tate yes. Chessie didn’t need the EL west of there.

Roger Durfee posted
A bit of a rare bird got to lead a SeaLand doublestack train. GP39 4280, the former C&O 3900, is seen at Sterling, Ohio, 09-04-1988. The tower was former Erie Lackawanna, then Conrail for a while before CSX took it over in it's final years.
Russell Wiggins: Being that there were only 23 GP39's built (and 2 of those had DC generators), the C&O's 20 units make this model almost unique to the railroad.