Walkerton, IN: (KN) Tower: CSX/B&O vs. NS/NKP vs. Aban/NYC

 (Satellite)  

20140904,07 4350, looking Northeast

While driving east on US-6, in Walkerton, IN, I spotted a building to the North that looked like a railroad junction tower. (To the right is a picture I took later.) So I turned left toward some tracks at the next side street I encountered. I pulled into a parking lot and took a picture near the Michigan Street crossing to note that the crossing signal in this town doesn't have any lights, the condition of the track, and the building of interest in the background.

I saved a satellite image in case CSX ever removes this tower.

Satellite

Since the track is jointed, I include this "down the track" photo to demonstrated that jointed track can be kept straight with proper maintenance. You can see the tower in the background. The ties look old, but the ballast is clean and the weeds have been sprayed. There are some loose spikes.

When I got back to the tower and parked, I noted that there were four high-rail trucks. Some were marked as CSX. So is the tower now a sectional maintenance office or is CSX just doing some work in the area? I found a photo caption that indicates the building is no longer used.

The two tracks in the foreground are the CSX/B&O mainline to Chicago. The track behind the tower is the Elkhart & Western (E&W)/ NS/N&W/Nickel Plate/Lake Erie & Western. Forming a triangle, the Abandoned/Conrail?/Penn Central/NYC/Chicago, Indiana & Southern (Kankakee Belt)/Indiana, Illinois & Iowa (3I) used to pass the tower on the left (west) side.

Looking Southeast

Looking East

Hoosier Valley, looking Northwest

A caption for this photo is how I learned the location of the now abandoned NYC route:

On March 22, 1958, B&O 4-8-2 720 is eastbound with a passenger train at Walkerton, Indiana. The train is crossing the New York Central and is about to cross the Nickel Plate. The tower and freight house stand in a triangle between the three railroads. The freight house is gone but, the tower is still standing. The top floor burned in the 1960s and the tower was rebuilt with only two floors. Photo by Sandy Goodrick.

Peter Zimmermann posted

Walkerton Indiana:

"KN" tower controlled the crossing of the B&O main line to Chicago with the NKP[old Lake Erie & Western] line to Michigan City IN with the New York Central's "3I" line from South Bend Indiana to Zearing Illinois. 

The tower's top floor sometime after this photo was taken was struck by lightning and the 2nd floor had to be rebuilt into the operators floor. The B&O is now CSX's Garrett sub main line, the NKP is now a satellite operation of the Elkhart & Western Railway, while the NYC line was abandoned through here by Conrail in 1982.

The tower is now closed [but still stands in 2018],though I haven't seen exactly when that was done, but some years ago. Today the interlocking is controlled by CSX's "RM" train dispatcher in Jacksonville Florida.

Hoosier Valley, looking Northeast
"June 20th, 1957 finds a southbound Nickel Plate freight is crossing the B&O at KN tower in Walkerton, Indiana. Nickel Plate GP7s numbers 401 and 404 were built in 1951 and are from the first group of road Nickel Plate purchased. The crossing near the camera is the NYC’s Kankakee Belt. The tower is still standing (not in use) and the Elkhart & Western now crosses the CSX here. The NYC is gone, as is the freight house at the extreme left. Photo is from Bob Albert collection."
Darren Reynolds posted
B&Os "KN" tower  Walkerton, Indiana

Comments on Darren's post

A photo of the B&O and NYC depots that was here has been moved to the depot notes.

Satellite

Around US-6, buildings have been built on the old NYC RoW. But north and south of the junction, you can still see some tree lines where the tracks ran. I added some red lines to a satellite image to highlight where the RoW used to be.

I took some pictures to record the condition of the tracks. Note that the E&W is evidently storing cars on its mainline to the Northwest because you can see a tank car in the distance. This is a common source of income for shortlines.

Looking Northwest down E&W

Looking East down CSX/B&O

Looking Southeast down E&W

The B&O track is the first stretch of track I have seen that has NO loose spikes. I've seen loose spikes even in UP and BNSF tracks. This changes my opinion of how well CSX maintains its tracks.

I noticed the hump down by the diamond in the middle picture, so I zoomed in to confirm that it is an OWLS crossing. Someone was willing to leave the public crossing to get a better view of the diamonds.

Some pictures of the abandoned Kankakee Belt route in Indiana includes some pictures of Walkerton. Tim Ashley (historynut11) has a picture of the east side (looking West).

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Update:

Ken Durkel posted
Elkhart & Western R203 North holds south of the diamond in Walkerton, Indiana as a westbound passes over the E&W and past the long closed KN Tower on the Garrett Sub and the one time B&O - NKP crossing.
October 25, 2017.

Ken Durkel posted
Elkhart & Western R203 North accepts the signal and heads over the CSX Garrett Sub and past KN Tower in Walkerton, Indiana on the ex Nickel Plate Road I-MC Line.
October 25, 2017.

Raymond Breyer posted
Mike Snow That is mp 131 on the IMC The crossing is with the B&O at Walkerton. The pole for the poleline with the 2 crossarms above the boxcar still stands today. 3rd floor of the tower was removed. Here is my veiw from the same spot but im'standing on the right side of the track.
https://www.flickr.com/.../photolist-iBg6ty-26fMddV...
George Greene Look closely I think this is a "Wreck Train". I see a Big Hook behind the locomotive and there appears to be trucks in the car ahead of the caboose.

Seth Lakin commented on Raymond's post
Here's a 1969 Interlocking diagram for Walkerton, The B&O had already been single tracked. Since Peru was C&O's division point as well as the IMC's, A phone call to the C&O for their wreck train instead of getting the one from Frankfort to clean up a mess between Walkerton and Michigan City sounds like what's going on.

John Eagan Flickr 2014 Photo

CSX 916 heads west through Walkerton, IN on 7/24/14, and passes the former interlocking tower (minus the windowed third story) that once controlled this crossing of the NKP and NYC lines that crossed here. The NYC line, also known as the fabled Streator Connection, has been gone for decades (yet the s/b home signal still remains north of the tower!) and the NKP line hardly matters to the CSX, since it is now a One Way Low Speed crossing, and the NS has leased it to shortline Elkhart & Western.

Arturo Gross Flickr 2018 Photo (source)
Craig Cloud Walkerton tower had a 3rd story, when 🔥 damaged top floor became 2 story after that.

Nelson, IL: UP/C&NW Coaling Towers

(Satellite)

Update: several of Michael Matalis' photos in a Flickr Album include the coaling tower. A Flickr side view.

This is a view of the west side of the coaling tower in Nelson, IL, taken from the railroad crossing with a 200mm focal length.

20150913,16 4804

HS House Camping posted
January 1943. "Nelson, Illinois. Chicago and North Western Railroad freight en route from Clinton, Iowa, to Chicago. Stopping for coal and water to give passenger trains the right of way." Acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information
Candice Marie Lynn shared
DogmaDismantled posted
January 1943. "Nelson, Illinois. Chicago and North Western Railroad freight en route from Clinton, Iowa, to Chicago. Stopping for coal and water to give passenger trains the right of way." Acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information
Joseph Obrien shared
HassaN WorlD StatuS posted
January 1943. "Nelson, Illinois. Chicago and North Western Railroad freight en route from Clinton, Iowa, to Chicago. Stopping for coal and water to give passenger trains the right of way." Acetate negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information.
Daniel C Carroll Jr. shared

Greg Mross posted
CNW caboose 11043 trails an eastbound freight under the old coaling tower at Nelson, IL. on frigid day in January of 1985.

Robert Ball commented on Greg's post
I spent a lot of time at Nelson when we visited my wife's family in Dixon. There was a lot of action. I saw 6 trains in about 2 hours once. Great high speed trains.

Robert Ball commented on Greg's post
Great tower there too.

Steven J. Brown posted
Union Pacific SD70M 4082 (built 2000) westbound at the CNW coaling tower in Nelson, Illinois - January 4, 2008.
Steven J. Brown shared

The coaling tower in the background of this photo at Clyman Junction still exists. It shows that Nelson is probably missing a tower that was on top.

Joe Holman posted, Joe Holman photo.

This is the first shot I took when I arrived. I used a relatively wide angle, 23mm, to catch the signal bridge because these old signals are supposed to be replaced by equipment that supports Positive Train Control. Also note the BNSF truck parked on the right. I was careful to stay in the pedestrian part of the railroad crossing.

Because disk storage is cheap, I took a shot along the north side as well. I'm glad I did because I can see that Main 1 uses concrete ties whereas Main 2 still has wood ties. So this provides some insight into the question I raised when studying the tracks by the depot in Dekalb, IL. I assume that Main 1 carries traffic in both directions and that Main 2 is used as a very long siding so that trains don't have to stop for meets or passing. Or maybe it just takes a long time to replace wood with concrete ties across Illinois. I'll have to check out the ties again in a year or so.

Because I learned with the DeKalb tower that the east side is more interesting than the west side, I struggled to get shots of the east side. One reason it was a struggle was that there was a rather dense treeline between Railroad Street and the tracks on the east side of the tower. Another bummer was that it was backlit. Finally, the road had no shoulders and I missed the one spot I now see in a satellite image where I might have been able to pull off. While driving back to town, I was able to grab a shot through a gap I saw in the trees. I tried compensating for the backlighting by adjusting the contrast and brightness, but it is still hard to see that the ladder up the side still exists.

But a satellite image does show the ladder.

Satellite

I'm assuming that no urban scrappers bother to read this blog so I note that UP uses the old Nelson yard to store signalling equipment for crossings.

For completeness, when I was on the north side of the railroad crossing, I turned around and took a picture in the opposite direction. You can see the tracks on the left curve south. This is the beginning of the branch that C&NW built to southern Illinois to tap the coal fields around Benld, IL. In fact, C&NW owned the Superior Coal Co. in that area. This branch to Benld was completed in 1914. (cnwhs1) In 1926 C&NW obtained trackage rights over the Litchfield & Madison to gain access to the St. Louis market. It bought the L&M in 1958. (cnwhs2) According to a 1909 C&NW map, this branch extended just to Peoria in 1909.

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Michael Wayne Sitter -> Chicagoland Railfan

Michael's comments:
CNW, 6817 leads a UP/CSX loaded coal train onto the Southern Illinois Branch at Nelson, IL off the former CNW's east/west mainline in the fall of 1996.- Michael W. Sitter

From his other pictures, the engines were C&NW 6817, CSXT 7994, and CSXT 7585.

Tom Horvath -> Chicago & North Western Railroad Fans

Tom's comments: "C&NW #6844 west roars past NY Tower at Nelson, IL. Tom Horvath image."

I'm glad Tom took the picture before the train obscured the NY Tower. Note the coaling tower and the complexity of the signals. Remember, the turn off for the branch to southern Illinois is just behind the Tom.

Michael Wayne Sitter posted a 1993 train with a C&NW C40-8 and SD60 pulling a westbound CSX coal train onto the south branch. A reminder that the purpose of this branch was to access the coal in Southern Illinois.

Lance Wales posted

Lance's comment:

Nelson, IL on July 1, 1985. Got word that there was a funeral train heading toward East St. Louis coming out of Oelwein, IA. Between SD40-2s 6861 and 6865 on the headend and 6840 on the rear, there were 70 small Geeps and ex-CGW F3As and F3Bs heading for scrap. They had been traded in 2 for 1 on the coming order of 35 SD50s. Bound for St. Louis Auto Shredding, they would be reduced to scrap over the coming months. I never got a chance to see most of these locos in operation, so it was with mixed emotions that I watched them parade past.

If you have access to the C&NW group, he posted additional pictures of particularly noteworthy locomotives with comments. It they were  being shredded, then what was the 2-for-1 trade-in value?

Steve OConner posted
A shipment of Whitcomb locomotives built in Rochelle photographed in Dekalb, 1949. Waite Embree collection, NIU. The Dekalb coal tower in the background.
Arthur Shale Looks like some of CN's 75-ton 75-DE-12c types being delivered. All eighteen were returned to Whitcomb in 1950 and 17 were sold to Rock Island.

Steven J. Brown posted
Frisco 1522 (SLSF 4-8-2), fresh from rebuild, is being ferried from St Louis to Chicago for break-in runs and excursions on the Wisconsin Central. At Nelson, Illinois with CNW SD40-2 assist on July 22, 1988.

Steven J. Brown posted
Strangely, that steam era coal tower will outlive these Chicago and North Western searchlight signals. The signals will likely be replaced very soon.
Union Pacific coal drag westbound at Nelson, Illinois - February 26, 2017. Thanks to Jon Roma for suggesting we get here for a last look!

John Purvis posted three photos with the comment: "Here's some photo's I snapped of an abandoned coaling tower outside Nelson, IL."

1

2

3

Frank Smitty Schmidt posted
Taking on coal and water at Nelson, IL.
Dennis DeBruler OWI (Office of War Information) means this photo was taken during WWII. It is interesting that C&NW would make such a significant investment as a concrete tower when the use of steam power was dying.
Comment from another posting:
This is a classic well known Jack Delano photo taken under the coaling tower at Nelson in January 1943. The wooden structure was replaced by a famous concrete coaling tower which can be seen in the photo published just "below" this one. The original photo is held at the Library of Congress.
[LC-USW3-014097-D, part of lot 227]

A different exposure:

Kristopher Isaac Barrington posted
Chicago and Northwestern freight train in Nelson, IL. Photo credit: Jack Delano

Greg Wiatr: What year was this?

Dennis DeBruler: Greg Wiatr Jan 1943, https://www.loc.gov/item/2017842483/

Fredrico Von Furstenberger III: Is this the exact same location the present cement coaling tower stands?

 

Dennis DeBruler answered Fredrico's question
Judging from the farm field boundaries, the concrete tower was built a little east of the wood tower. 1939 aerial photo

Chicago & North Western Historical Society posted
Someone wanted to see photos of Nelson, Illinois. Nelson was a pure railroad purposed town located about half way between Dixon and Sterling, Illinois. It was a main line coaling station. A line branched off here to the south on the way to Peoria, Illinois which would connect with the Litchfield and Madison Railroad (which the C&NW eventually purchased) allowing for entry into the St. Louis market. One can see at the far right of this "real photo" postcard the station site and tower which guarded the connection to the Peoria line.
[The tower in Jack Delano's photo replaced this coaling dock.]

Chicago & North Western Historical Society posted
The concrete coaling tower which spans the old C&NW main line from Chicago to Clinton, Iowa just east of DeKalb is not the first coaling station on that site. This is what that concrete coaling tower replaced. The date of the photo is 1912.
[I think this doc was replaced by the wood tower that Jack Delano photographed. And it was the wood tower that was replaced by the concrete tower. That means they built the concrete tower just before it would no longer be needed.]

Mike Ironman posted
7/30/19: Abandoned Coaling Tower has a Rare Steam Engine( The Biggest in the World) Roll under it at 12:01 in Nelson, Illinois. My Day started at 4am to Catch This, but it was well worth It!!

Mike Ironman posted
7/30/19: Nelson, Illinois.

Andrew Elges posted
Coaling tower in Nelson, Illinois

Mike Ironman posted five photos around Nelson.