Saturday, November 10, 2018

Fort Wayne, IN: Adams Tower: Penn (PFW&C) vs Penn (GR&I)

(Satellite)  Actually, this tower is out in the boonies, but it is inside the I-469 belt-line.
PFW&C = Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago
GR&I = Grand Rapids & Indiana


Dave Arganbright posted
Does anyone have a photo of Adams tower in Fort Wayne from the Pennsy years? I can't find one on the web or in any of the popular books that featured this line...TIA!
Dave commented on his posting
From the North American Interlockings website.


Dave commented on his posting
Update:
Mark Llanuza posted
Its Sept 1976 I'm at Adams Tower just east of Fort Wayne on the former PRR with the tower man giving out train order's to this eastbound.

Mark Llanuza posted with a second photo when the train was closer
[The line to Decatur is behind Mark. The turnout in the foreground is the connector.]
Mark Egebrecht Where the Gr& I branches off. When was the tower closed?
Christopher Allen Howe I want to say early 1987. I know that they tried to tear the tower down and found a giant hornets nest and instead they let the Adams Twp. Volunteer Fire Dept. do a practice fire on it, then it was torn down. I know this took place around August 1987.
Christopher Allen Howe That story was verified by retired CR employee Bob Sykulski who was the foreman in charge of the gang that was single tracking the line and removing the towers.
Mark Egebrecht 1987 would make sense, since the line had been single-track ed 3 years earlier.

Mark Llanuza posted
Christopher Allen Howe This is where the branch down to Decatur and Richmond, IN split off from the Pennsy main. This line remains active today as the CFE uses it to reach Decatur and the former Central Soya(now Bunge) facility.
Mark Egebrecht That was the GR&I, which ran from Grand Rapids to Richmond. It fed into the Fort Wayne Line at Junction (Jct.)and ran down the Fort Wayne Line to Adams, where it split off.
Christopher Allen Howe In Pennsy days, that route was called the Ft. Wayne Branch in timetables and by PC and Conrail days it was the Ft. Wayne Secondary from Adams to Decatur, the rest was the Ridgeville Secondary.
Christopher Allen Howe Another tidbit, Adams got it's name for the township it's located in which was about two miles as the crow flies from where I grew up as a kid.
Mark Egebrecht When did the tower close?
Christopher Allen Howe 1986, was torn down in 1987.
Elmer J Hershey The far left rail in the picture is the turn off to the Old G R and I south towards Richmond IN. Cut up south of Decatur IN when Conrail took over.
Eric Zerkle By the time Conrail took over the GR&I was already severed south of Portland.

Mark Llanuza posted his second photo of the tower
Its Sept 1976 I'm at Adams Tower just east of Fort Wayne on the former PRR with this eastbound big Alco's .Its unreal how times have changed .Even back in 1976 there were at least 20 Frt's a day on this line plus two Amtrak's
Mark Egebrecht Was the GR&I still intact to Richmond at this time?
Eric Zerkle It was but oos south of Portland. Removed around 1977 78 from Portland to Richmond.
Mark Egebrecht When was the tower closed and razed?
Eric Zerkle Probably the same time all the others closed. Mid 80s
Leif Erikson Saw a lot of freight and Amtrak on the PFW & C...50/60 freight, 60/70 passenger...line was set up for speeds up to 100+ mph. What a great line it was.





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