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).

1

2

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.

Bill Rettberg Jr. posted
Different view of grabbing orders. Eastbound on CL&W, coming onto B&O main at Sterling Ohio. Crossing over the EL mainline as well at this point