Towns and Nature: Trenton, MI: Rodney Tower (FN): DTI vs. NYC(MC) vs. NYC(LS&MS) vs. B&O vs. DTS

Charles Geletzke Jr. posted
Northbound on the former Shore Line on December 10, 1999 at FN tower in Trenton, Michigan.

DTI was the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton, later the GTW. DTS was the Detroit and Toledo Shore Line. Its successor was GTW+NKP joint, later GTW. Both of these routes are now CN since it no longer maintains the GTW as separate subsidiary.

Mark Hinsdale posted
In honor of having just spent the last week or so house and cat sitting in Downriver Detroit, here is an image of a southbound Detroit, Toledo & Ironton local crew, bringing a few cars past "FN" Tower located in Trenton MI. Always an interesting place, "FN"was an interlocking shared by three railroads, Penn Central (New York Central), Detroit & Toledo Shore Line, and Detroit, Toledo & Ironton. The intriguing track layout called for both D&TSL and DT&I to flip from one side of the parallel Penn Central double tracked Toledo Branch, to the opposite side, crossing it and each other in the process. The junction is still busy today, and involves Conrail Shared Assets, Canadian National and Norfolk Southern. February, 1979 photo by Mark Hinsdale
Mark Hinsdale shared
Kenton Siers: One thing you don't see enough of on model railroad layouts, semephores.

Satellite

FN Tower controlled this mess of crossovers pictured on the right. Before we dig into this junction, let's understand the lay of the routes south of this junction.

Satellite

The DTI is the route that came in from the west parallel to Van Horn Road and curved north to parallel the LS&MS/B&O route coming from the south. On the east side of the engine plant we have MC/B&O on the west and DTS on the east. The three routes going south effectively were a corridor of railroads going to Toledo, OH. After the NYC gained control of the MC and the LS&MS, those two routes became redundant. Evidently the NYC and B&O agreed to run them unidirectionally with the west route handling southbound traffic and the east route handling northbound traffic. Today these two routes are owned by CRSA --- Conrail Shared Assests. That means they are jointly owned by NS and CSX. But south of Gibraltar, MI, they are owned by just NS. I guess CSX was interested in just the engine plant business and gave up its B&O rights south of Gibraltar. To summarize, west to east the four railroads are CN/GTW/DTI, CRSA/NYC/LS&MS+B&O, CRSA/NYC/MC+B&O, and CN/GTW/DTS. North of the junction DTS is on the west side and DTI is on the east side. Thus the maze of crossovers allows DTS and DTI to switch sides and allows all of the railroads to interchange traffic with each other.

For once, we do not have to look at historical aerial photos to see all of the routes. They still exist. But of course the tower is gone. Looking at a 1964 photo, the tower was just south of the middle X. Also, some tracks have been added. This is unusual because junctions tend to be simplified rather than enhanced. In particular, the straight track along the west side that connects CN/DTI to CN/DTS did not exist in 1964. It was added between 1973 and 1999.

Update: Mark Hinsdale posted three photos of action at this junction with the comment:

Trenton ("FN") Michigan Memories...
Various views of GTW (with BN Power), Conrail and DT&I trains negotiating the unusual and symmetrical interlocking layout at "FN" Tower in Trenton MI. Michael Kisser and Jack Watts may find these particular views of interest. 2-91, 2-79 and 7-73 photos by Mark Hinsdale

2
Craig Hensley Photography posted
A southbound Conrail manifest train passes "FN" Tower in Trenton, Michigan, heading for Toledo after crossing the Detroit & Toledo Shore Line and before intersecting the Detroit Toledo & Ironton. March 1979, Mark Hinsdale Photo.
Tim Shanahn posted

Mark Hinsdale photograph

TBT

Since my cat care duties are coming to an end tomorrow, I will pay homage to my interesting stay here in Downriver Detroit with a blast from the past, taken just a mile down the street some 45 years ago, back in March, 1979. A southbound early Conrail manifest train is heading for Toledo as it passes "FN" Tower in Trenton, Michigan. The train has just crossed the Detroit & Toledo Shore Line (D&TSL) and is about to bang across the Detroit Toledo & Ironton (DT&I) at this intriguing junction south of Detroit. The layout of the interlocking at "FN" was quite unique, with both the D&TSL and DT&I exchanging places on each side of the rail corridor they occupied, and crossing each other in the process, along with the two tracked Detroit-Toledo Conrail route. Although traffic through Trenton is not as robust as it was during the years of peak auto production within the Detroit area, it still sees plenty of movements to provide some "enter-train-ment" in-between chasing and feeding two fuzzy balls of fur. March, 1979 photo by Mark Hinsdale

George Coulthard: old photo.. before autohaulers were protected with sides.