Port Huron, MI: Tappan Tower: GTW vs. GTW vs. PM

(Satellite)
There used to be five routes radiating west of this tower. Now there are two, CN+CP+CSXT+Amtrak has the GTW route to the west and CN has the GTW route to the southwest.

Mark Hinsdale posted three photos with the comment:

"OS" Tappan...
Located at the far west end of Grand Trunk Western's Tunnel Yard in Port Huron MI, Tappan Tower controlled the junction of GTW's two primary routes to/from Chicago and Detroit, as well as the crossing of Chesapeake & Ohio's Port Huron to Saginaw line. When I worked third trick at Tunnel Yard in the mid 70's, I would often stop by Tappan after sunrise, on my way home, to catch inbound #390 on the main line from Flint, or perhaps #400 from Toledo coming up from Detroit. The overhead view from I-94 clearly shows the ballast preferences between the C&O (white limestone) and GTW (brown/beige peastone). Three photos by Mark Hinsdale

1
David Dell the C&O line is long gone. going "north-ish" on the other side of Griswold Road is part of a Rails to Trails,trail...

2

3
David Cenci An angle I have rarely seen..nice!Mark Hinsdale Thank you, David. It was somewhat more difficult than it appears on the surface. The sun is only around to the north-northeast during the longer summer days, and then only early in the am. Usually the only inbound at that hour was 390, and it's reliability could vary widely. I knew the train was running early this particular day, and made it a point to catch it after work. The three matched GP38's were a nice bonus.David Cenci I am all too familiar with the lighting in the Port Huron area. My best shots, from this angle, were on overcast days. I just noticed the matched set of GP38AC's!

I found the 2011 picture David put in a comment. His index has the comment: "CN 5539 leads M394 EB at Tappan, passing the L501. 30 Years ago..this shot would host a maze of track."

Charlie Whipp posted
Grand Trunk Western operator George Gall hands "down" orders to the GTW Extra 5829 West on the Mount Clemens Sub. at Tappan tower in Port Huron on Feb. 2, 1985, three weeks before Tappan was closed. The tail end received their orders in a like manner. The line that the front trucks of the 5829 is on is that of the C&O's Port Huron Sub., now gone from the rail scene in Michigan. Interesting tidbit: Years after this photo was made, the CN changed the operating directions for this Subdivision to North-South to more logically reflect the actual map.
[This is the first time I have seen train orders "hooped down" instead of "hooped up."]

Charlie Whipp posted
A westbound Chessie System train powered by B&O GP40 4064 for Saginaw is slipping past Tappan tower at Port Huron, MI crossing the Grand Trunk Western's Mount Clemens Sub. The C&O trains received their running orders at the yard office along the riverfront in Port Huron so there was no order board at Tappan. All GTW trains received clearance and orders at Tappan so there was no need for an order board for the GTW. This made Tappan one of the few train order stations I can recall seeing that had no order boards. The train will turn Northwest and cross the GTW's Flint Sub. in about a quarter mile and head across Michigan's thumb to the Saginaw terminal. The ex-PM route to Saginaw was eventually partially abandoned when trackage rights were secured over the GTW's Flint Sub. from Flint to handle Port Huron and Canadian traffic that crossed the Saint Clair River via car float. A portion of it East of Brown City survives as part of the Genesee and Wyoming short line conglomerate. The boy with the red hat near the diamond was the C&O maintainers son. Knowing that the tower was on short time, the C&O maintainer had stopped by for a visit with the 1st trick operator, GT Gall.  The yard to the right background of the 4064 west was the PH&D (Port Huron and Detroit RR) interchange yard for the GTW and C&O. 2-2-1985 KR64 slide
Charlie Whipp shared
Dennis DeBruler shared

Robert Michalka posted
GTW operator George Gall at Tappan Tower, Port Huron, Michigan. May 31, 1981.

Charles Geletzke Jr. posted
View looking east from the I-94 bridge at Tappan and the west end of Tunnel Yard in Port Huron, Michigan on April 23, 1988. (C. H. Geletzke, Jr. photo)