See hub for a map.
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| Kenny Wilkerson posted
BS Tower, originally known as "High Tower", then later "CP-141" in downtown Bellefontaine, Ohio as it looked last weekend [Dec 2017]. The telegraph call sign "BS" stood for "Bellefontaine South". A BN, (Bellefontaine North) operator was once located in the yard office in the yard on the north side of town. BS controlled the diamond and connections between the CCC&StL(Big 4)/NYC/PC/CR Sandusky to Springfield route, part of the Ohio Division, and the Cleveland to St. Louis route, part of the Cleveland Division which crossed at grade at BS Tower. The St. Mary's Branch also diverged near the tower. The St. Mary's and Sandusky lines are long gone and the Springfield route is part of the Indiana & Ohio Rwy., a Genesee & Wyoming property, although it doesn't quite reach the tower. The Cleveland to St. Louis route is now CSX.
BS/High Tower has gone through some colorful changes in its life, starting out as a wooden 3rd and 4th floor-only tower on stilts. At some point years later the 1st and 2nd floor areas were filled in with red brick. Again years later the top 3rd and 4th wooden floors were removed and the two brick floors remained. In the Conrail era the tower was painted in the customary light gray with dark gray trim which it retains to this day.
Cory Behrendt After about 1962 or so, BN actually controlled BS. Amazing it has stood nearly six decades after its closure. I have always wondered how much CSX would want for the property. Although they would likely want it moved, I always thought it would be a cool spot for a viewing platform.
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Here is one of the forerunner tower buildings.
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| Brian Rasmussen posted Si Herring Collection Big Four Tower at Bellfontaine OH 1910 Thomas Wentzel shared |
Darren Reynolds posted three photos with the comment: "BS tower (Bellefontaine,OH.) Went through some changes??? Any information would be appreciated..."
Jim Kelling: It’s now mostly hidden by trees and vines, but still there
Craig Harris: Comparing the pictures, it looks like the upper portion of the tower was removed above the brick line. I have seen this done on some NYC brick towers where the lower portion housed a lot of electrical equipment that replaced the mechanical apparatus in later years!
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Darren Reynolds posted five images with the comment: "Bellefontaine(BS) tower , Ohio
And all of it's changes."
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| 1 "BS" tower in 1910 Photo from: Si Herring collection |
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| 2 "BS" tower in 1952 Photo by: Si Herring |
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| 3 "BS" tower in 2001 Photo by: Dan Maners |
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| 4 A Penn Central freight passes "BS" tower on May 26.1974 Photo by: David P. Oroszi |
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| 5 Track diagram for "BS" tower All images from North American interlockings States A to Z and Canada .. |
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| Tanner Wical posted NYC Sharks in Bellefontaine, Ohio (Old YMCA is on the left) American-Rails.com posted An A-B-A set of New York Central RF16's, along with what appears to be a GP7 and two F7A's, lead their freight past BN Tower in Bellefontaine, Ohio during the 1960's. Jim Hawk photo. B Tupper Upham: BS Tower, not BN Bob Hillard: I’m pretty sure it was B N tower Butch Stone: BS ? [No wonder I'm confused. So are the experts.] |
Stu Nicholson posted two photos with the comment: "Former Big Four Tower at Bellefontaine, Ohio fades into the brush. This controlled the junction between the Big Four and the PRR's 'Bradford Line'. Today, it's just a bystander to the traffic that CSX generates."
[I should have read the comments before I spent time looking for PRR on various maps. Also, I don't think it is a bystander anymore. Someone has labelled "Former Site of Conrail CP 141".]
Cory Behrendt: The PRR definitely did not go through Bellefontaine.
BS tower ("Bellefontaine South") was the junction between the Big 4 Cleveland to Indianapolis Line and Springfield to Sandusky Lines, with at one time a branch from Peoria to St. Marys meandering through.
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| Larry Candilas commented on Stu's post July 11 1995 |
The topic of BS vs. BN requires more research and some serious editing. I need to start with:
"Way back, there was another tower out at the north end of Bellefontaine Yard, called BN Tower. The signal set north (east) of that was a full set of crossovers known as Turner. I'm not sure when CR got rid of the crossovers but I remember them at the U.S. 68 crossing I think."
"Don't quote me on the date of closure, but BS (previously called High Tower because it was 4 stories way back when) Tower closed in the 60s and the plant was remoted to BN yard office on the east side of town (I know that much, just not the exact date). BN yard and the crew dorm closed in 1983 and CP 141 was remoted to Ridgeway which was shortly thereafter remoted to Marion when Ridgeway closed."
And note that this interlocking diagram (source) shows that BS was controlled from BN.
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