Towns and Nature: Fort Worth, TX: Tower 55

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Fort Worth, TX: Tower 55

(3D Satellite, the building still stands)

The east/west Texas & Pacific crossed the north/south Katy + Santa Fe + Southern Pacific. [txrrhistory]

Steven J. Brown posted from Union Pacific Tower 55

Twenty-six years ago today:

An unusual consist at Tower 55! Is is a Union Pacific train? Is it Santa Fe? I dunno? I am pretty sure its not a Great Canadian Railtours train! Fort Worth, Texas - January 13, 1993.
Dennis DeBruler This place is now surrounded by expressway piers: https://www.google.com/.../data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4...

Mark Hinsdale posted

"Deep in the Heart of Texas..."

Thirty years ago today, an eastbound Union Pacific intermodal train passes the imposing, three story Tower 55 structure in Fort Worth, on the former Texas & Pacific main line. Tower 55 was always one of the busiest rail junctions in Texas, and was keeping up with its reputation on this day, as there was non stop action the entire morning I visited.  Today, the whole area is in the shadow of a maze of numerous freeway interchange ramps and bridges.  April 27, 1991 photo by Mark Hinsdale

Mark Hinsdale shared
Dennis DeBruler: One of the few towers in this country that is still standing. Is it still staffed?
https://www.google.com/.../data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4...

Nov 17, 2022: Mark Hinsdale posted
"R.I.P. Tower 55"
With the recent demolition of the three story brick interlocking tower at Fort Worth TX known as "Tower 55," I thought I would offer this view of an eastbound Union Pacific intermodal train passing the edifice during May, 1991. The tower, which was the largest such installation in Texas, became surrounded within a maze of expressway overpasses and ramps in its later years, but operators continued to preside over train movements until 1995, when a computerized system was put into place by UP to control the busy junction. Critical electronics housed within the tower itself meant the structure would remain in place well into the 21st Century, until further advances in technology finally hastened its demise over the past week. May, 1991 photo by Mark Hinsdale
Mark Hinsdale shared

Mark Hinsdale posted four photos with the comment: "Referencing a photo I posted last week taken at freshly demolished Tower 55 in Fort Worth TX, a couple fellows asked if I might have any other views. I dug out these 4 from a visit in February, 2000 of the three primary railroads involved in the junction, Union Pacific, BNSF and Amtrak. If I'm not mistaken Trinity Rail's TEXrail Dallas-Fort Worth commuter trains may also be seen here today as well. February, 2000 photos by Mark Hinsdale"

Mark Hinsdale shared

William Brown posted
An Auto Train is waiting at Benny Keith in Fort Worth, Texas for Traffic at Tower 55 to clear this afternoon.
Mark Nicholson Loved sitting at Tower 55. Just doesn’t get the rail traffic of the old days.

William A. Shaffer posted
Tower 55 - Fort Worth, TX. (10.20.19)
(Photo by William A. Shaffer)
Tower 55 is probably the most important and well-known railroad address in Fort Worth, TX. Almost all rail traffic passing through Fort Worth goes through Tower 55. This is the actual Tower 55 Building; however, the tower is no longer occupied by Operators. That is all handled through the joint BNSF-UP Facility.

In 2014, the $104m project to increase capacity through the crossing was completed. I've read about this project before, but I can't find any notes about it. I hope this is not a redundant post. They added a third north/south (BNSF) track and staging sidings. That way, when BNSF gets a green light for the junction, they can run more freights (and Amtrak) through during their access window. "Also, several pedestrian and car crossings near downtown were revamped, including crossings near Nash Elementary School. Just a few years ago, children on their way to class had to climb between rail cars blocking their neighborhood streets." [StarTelegram] The junction handles about 100 trains a day. Junction congestion is one of the problems caused by management running longer trains to improve their operating ratio. CSX has also forced school children to climb through trains on the south side of Chicagoland in order to get to their school.

UP
[This site was accessed in 2019. It shows how corporations allow their web sites to get out of date because it talks about the project just getting funded. So it has not been updated since before 2014. Note that there are only two north/south tracks in the diagram.]

Randy Ahrens shared three photos with the comment: "Tower 55 Ft Worth Tx Recently torn down."

Howard Johnson posted on Nov 8, 2022
Tower 55. They are getting ready to tear it down. They say now Monday November 14th. I ran trains through that interlocker for 33 years. Some friends ask me what I think about it coming down. The last day I worked in Tower 55 was May 14,1995[, when they shut the door]. To me that's when they tore it down. When I left that day I turned and looked at that old building and said goodbye Tower 55 I'll never see you again. I have never been back to that building since that day. They moved us to JA telegraph office at Lancaster Yard pushing buttons to run trains at the tower. I had to do that for five years before I retired. No more, poping levers or waving at the hog heads as they passed. It was not the same. It was a long five years. Much longer than the years at the Tower. I have more memories of that Tower than there are bricks in that building. I hate to see it come down but the memories I have will always be there.
Jeff Cornelius shared
Dale Conway: Why does everything old and cool need to be torn down?
Dennis DeBruler: Dale Conway Attractive nuisance lawsuits, vandalism, bad apple railfans, etc.