Milwaukee is abandoned and ICE now owns the Rock Island route.
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| Dave Crook posted Culver Tower in Muscatine, Iowa, guarded the junction of Milwaukee Road and Rock Island main lines on the southwest side of town. From there trains operated on joint Milwaukee-Rock Island trackage to the Quad Cities. The tower, shown in 1950, closed in November 1977. ~ Robert Lawler photo. Gw Apuffin: The rails is the foreground were the Milw tracks and the pole between the rails held the hoop that made it possible for the engineer to receive his orders on the move. The RI orders were handed up buy hand from the platform on the left, they were also suspended in a hoop. Leavers in the tower moved the switches with a mechanical connection that would rout the trains. He also used morse code to receive the orders. Raymond Storey shared |
John Harker posted four photos with the comment: "Charles Franzen took the first three slides or images on July 15, 1973 and Bill Lindsay took the fourth in September 1979 of Rock Island’s Culver Tower in Muscatine, Iowa. The first two show some action with Ed Brunner handing up orders to an east bound Rock Island freight. Looks like the train with F9Am 4161 and maybe a couple 4200 series ex D&RGW GP7s was crossing over as it received orders. Note the Trailer Train flat in front of the caboose in image two. It was carrying a Rock Island Lines 40’ trailer. After the train passed, Charles stepped over a little and captured a view of the tower looking to the southwest. I believe the tower closed in 1977, but Bill Lindsay must have been able to get inside and take this shot of the interlocker levers. I scanned and edited these images from original slides. John Harker collection."
Glen Thede: Note the Southern Pacific caboose in the second pic, thanks for sharing John.
Steve Ryan: I worked there as a relief train order clerk. Those hernia levers were connected to miles of pipe that actually moved the switches.
Dan Tracy: That crossover the train is on was the start of the Eastbound main to West Davenport.
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| 1 [Note the two signaling pipelines. Standing that close to a train to hoop up train orders must have been a little nerve racking. At least this train is probably going slower than track speed because it is crossing over.] |
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| Ron Scharer posted My photo, Culver tower on the west side of Muscatine, IA when it was still an operating tower. Rock Island tracks going west off to the left, a Rock Island switcher is the distant headlight and the Milwaukee Road line curving away on the right. Love the semaphore signals on the Milwaukee line. J Pete Hedgpeth: Doug Weiltzman was Division Supt once when Culver Tower caught on fire. I have known Doug for many many years. Doug replaced me when I "escaped" George Voss at Blue Island to take a position in the Claims Department. In a many years later conversation with Doug I asked him about the fire. His reply "if I ever find the SOB who called the fire department I'm gonna "fire his .........." Raymond Storey shared |
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| Dave Crook posted Oscar Grossheim ~ Muscatine, Iowa ~ 1940 ~ A photograph of a railroad switch yard. On the left is a train with coal cars and a caboose. A grain or coal silo sits high above the tracks. A coal hopper car is sitting under a shed cover. A building sits on the right of the tracks. (Upper Mississippi Valley Digital Image) Jeff McCulley: Coaling station. The coal is winched up inside the framework structure to be dumped into the hopper. Note both the coal chute and the water spigot at the lower tracks to the left for refilling tenders. Raymond Storey shared |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on Raymond's share The tower was in the lower-left corner of this excerpt. 1953 Muscatine Quadrangle @ 1:24,000 |
I'm disappointed that the cartographer did not record the location of this tower. I guess the railroad had too many small buildings between the tracks to record.
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| 1953 Muscatine Quadrangle @ 1:24,000 |
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