Youngstown, OH: Center Junction: eight railroad routes; Hazelton (CH) Tower?

(Satellite)

Another reminder that a junction "tower" is sometimes just one story tall. (Update: see 'CH' Tower below for what may have been the tower. I'm still very confused by this junction.)

Bob Morley posted
I used to work in that little box shanty. It was for the Train Director at Center St. in Youngstown, OH. Back in the day, five different railroads converged on that one point. I don't know how true it is, but they say more tonnage crossed underneath the Center Street Bridge than any other points in the world. There was the B&O, P&LE, ERIE RAILROAD, PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD and NEW YORK CENTRAL all on the east side and the PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD, LE&E and the Y&S on the west side of the bridge.
Again it was claimed, Center Street was the only place in the country that you could receive a Red Highball. If memory serves correct, the Pennsylvania RR received its permission to move with a Red signal, the Baltimore and Ohio moved on Green, the Erie moved on White and the New York Central and the P & L E both use the same tracks and they would move on yellow.

Michael Tidrick shared
East Side Civics post
Ed Chaffee i had the pleasure of interacting with this switch shanty many times...either by waiting in a locomotive for a hi-ball signal to cross the B&O, or by walking in to the shanty to request permission to cross...pretty neat little place...
Karl Hartzell posted
Dakota Papsun shared

Jon Moody posted two photos with the comment:

Center Street Junction, Youngstown OH, then and now.

Until the 1970s, this was a place unique in the world of American railroads.  Five railroads merged and/or crossed.  Pennsylvania, B&O, Erie, New York Central, P&LE.  Railroad men of the day, like my dad, called it “Ulcer Gulch”.

The bottom photo shows the same location today.  (Seen from the opposite direction.)

A simple crossing of the CSX and NS

Gregory Lund: I believe the pics are in opposite directions. Original pic is looking south toward Haselton Yard (train in distance to center-right) which was PRR to Conway, NYC/PLE (Gateway yard) was to center left in distance, B&O crossed directly in front of "tower"/switchtender cabin, photog standing on B&O, left to New Castle, behind photog to Akron/Willard/Chicago. In the newer pic, train is on B&O headed toward New Castle, new connection is above 2nd unit (for trains coming south on Y'town line from Ashtabula to go east on B&O to New Castle). Y'town Line to Ashtabula is straight ahead, Haselton Yard behind Photographer.

Jon Moody: Gregory Lund I agree. Same location; camera pointed the other way.

Dan Carter: Wouldn't Griffith, IN in the old days be equal with the Erie, C&O, MC(NYC), EJ&E. and GTW all xing?

Vaughn Brothers: Outlawed there a few times.

Chuck McAbee: Worked the B&O Train Order Operator's position at Haselton in 1967-68 off the Extra List. All railroads had a Statutory Stop for the Center Street Crossings. The Train Director (a trainman) would flag each carriers trains over the crossing by use of colored hand signals - flags by day and lights by night. Each carrier had a different color to respond to. The wild card to the entire operation was the EIRE and their hot bottle trains. The ERIE bottle runs originated from a mill behind Haselton Tower and through a sets of hand throw crossovers moved to the tracks farthest from the tower which was the ERIE line to Warren and Cleveland. The ERIE did not have to ask for permission to cross - they just started throwing the crossovers.

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Jon Moody commented on his post

After I left the railroad I became an engineering draftsman and graphic artist. A few years ago I drew, from memory, this diagram (not to scale) of the 5 major railroads going thru Youngstown in the 1960s.

Can anyone verify its accuracy?

[Some comments verify it as accurate.]

Vinny Badagliacca commented on Jon's post, cropped, at Facebook resolution
Here is a signal blueprint for the Los Angeles River corridor from 1991- when the metrolink project began. 5 different railroads there. Railroading at its complicated best. If you could believe Santa Fe Mission tower, upstairs were the operators with the Armstrong levers, and downstairs were a gazillion old wabco and Westinghouse relays clicking picking up and dropping heels and fronts away at a million mph. Only a signalman would know what I'm talking about. The forgotten part of old railroading. Today it's all computerized.

Or was this the tower for Center Junction?

Darren Reynolds posted three photos with the comment: "B&Os 'CH' tower (Haselton) Youngstown, Ohio."

Ronald Slivka: CDid it actually control the switches? I remember some of the old heads talking about the Erie stealing switches.

Michael Morley: Ronald Slivka I think it was just a train order station; the Center Street diamonds weren't interlocked and the switches there were hand-throws.

Chuck McAbee: Haselton was not an interlocking. All crossovers were hand throw - within an area of Statutory Stops for all carriers. ERIE was the prior rights carrier at the location - as such, they could open up the crossovers for their movements whenever the track was clear of moving trains.

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"CH" tower had no interlocking..it had a train Director but I'm not sure how it works?

Photo by: David P.Oroszi May 30,1976

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You just see "CH" tower but big Eng-6204 is right in Front. 

May19,1936

Photo by: RCL

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Nature's taking it back. "CH" tower now closed.

Photo by: Bob Allen ( no date)

All images from North American interlockings States A to Z and Canada..

Photo by: Unknown & no date

1953 Campbell and Youngstown Quads @ 24,000