Kalamazoo, MI: Lost/(BO) Tower: NYC/MC vs. NYC/LS&MS

(Satellite, the tower is now gone.)

(Update: 1914 Tower could be torn down (The video has more photos and info than does the article. The tower was used until 2016.).   Save BO Tower Facebook page)

Street View, Oct 2016

Peter Dudley shared Mark Hinsdale's photo
Amtrak's Detroit / Chicago TURBOLINER passes BO Tower in Kalamazoo, July 1976
Harold J. Krewer Who'd have thought then forty years later the turbos would be long gone but BO Tower would still be open!

3D Satellite

The east/west route was the NYC/Michigan Central and the north/south route was a branch of the NYC/Lake Shore & Michigan Southern. This is another reminder of how competitive these two Michigan railroads were before NYC aquired both that LS&MS would build a branch into MC's territory. (Our first indication of the intensity of the competition was the crossing war in Chicago.) Another reminder of the competition between railroads during the horse&buggy days is that NYC/LS&MS paralleled PRR/GR&I north of Kalamazoo. Penn Central abandoned the NYC route and kept the GR&I route. As of 2005, NS still uses this stretch of the GR&I.

The tower has a similar design as the one that used to be at Porter Junction.

John Peters posted
An overcast day in April of 1955, H5 class Mikado #1414 chugs through Kalamazoo. NYC’s steam time is short in Michigan, as the last steam facilities on the NYC in the state will close by year end . (Gene Van Dusen photo)
Nate Hatton Great find! Hard to find steam photos of Kzoo!

Three photos and a comment posted by David Daruszka with the text "BO Tower, Kalamazoo, MI. April, 2010."

David Daruszka shared with the comment: "The tower is now dust. My late friend Frank Szopo got me in for the tour."

Jon Roma: That tower was a few months shy of a century of service when it closed on October 25, 2016.

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Comment: "Exterior"

A couple of pictures posted by Jeff Williams with the comment:

This part of Kalamazoo, MI, where BO tower sits, used to be a railfan mecca. Now, it has become a beer lovers mecca as well. A brew pub has opened up across the street, and now there are cars and people everywhere. BO sits on the former MC-LSMS diamond.

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Update:

Charles Geletzzke Jr. posted
What you see here was not a normal move; but rather a rare occurrence! Due to previous Conrail track damage GTW's KSR (Kalamazoo Switch Run, Train #521/520) was required to take a different route to reach Checker Motors on the north side of Kalamazoo. Here we see the KSR with the GTW 7014 (the normal assigned unit) running against the current of traffic on the Conrail/Amtrak Westward Main Track at BO tower in Kalamazoo on July 25, 1978. In the train are empty frame flats and an empty GTW 60-foot boxcar all to be loaded at Checker.

Peter Dudley posted
Old BO Tower in Kalamazoo MI is scheduled to close October 20, 2016. It's one of the last interlocking towers in Michigan, still equipped with actual human operators.
CSX Delray Tower (built 1945), located in southwest Detroit (within sight of southbound Fisher Freeway motorists), lives on, for the time being.
The attached Super-8 home movie still was shot from the cab of the westbound Amtrak WOLVERINE at Kalamazoo, 1988 (the tower is on the right):

Google has some photos and Streetviews of the tower. But you have to experiment with different zoom and cursor locations to get a good selection of views.

Mark Hinsdale posted three of his favorite photos to mark the closing of the tower with the comment: "Some favorite "BO" (BOtsford) Tower images, in recognition of the now retired Kalamazoo MI facility's long years of service..."

Howie Castellucio One is left......Delray.
Harold J. Krewer BO = BOtsford. Not sure what the significance of "Botsford" is (can't find a street or body of water by that name on Google Maps) but the yard east of the tower across the river was known as "East Botsford Yard." As always, your mileage may vary.
Howie Castellucio PRR, GTW, and NYC all shared a common interchange yard named Botsford. 
Maybe at one time there was a town of Botsford Mi.

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Mark Hinsdale posted three photos with the comment:

"Niles Turn"
During the years when one or both of my daughters were attending Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo MI, there were plenty of trips back and forth to this city on the old Michigan Central main line. I wanted to capture what little freight activity remained west of Kalamazoo, but the Conrail job that served the line operated only on Tuesdays and Thursdays in that era. A Monday evening holiday recital that my daughter was performing in provided the "excuse" to hang around long enough to catch the westbound Niles Turn the following day, departing town with the usual pair of Conrail GP38's.. December, 1996 photo by Mark Hinsdale

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David Daruszka commented on Mark's posting
Taken not long before the tower was shut down.

David Daruszka commented on Mark's posting
Inside

Curt Danielewicz shared interior and exterior photos. There are more photos in the comments on this posting.
Peter Dudley The original late-1800s vintage wood-frame tower was replaced by the current brick tower in 1945.
Howie Castellucio The very last manned interlocking tower in Michigan. 
Hallett is the very last manned one in Ohio.
Ken Borg No Howie. NS Bridge, CR-DSAA Bridge and DCRR Bridge are al maned interlocking towers in Detroit except DCRR, that is in River Rouge.
James Price Was inside 2 years ago. All levers still in place and fully operational, they work switches below on the first level to control switches and signals

Greg Bunce posted
BO Tower Penn Central/New York Central/Michigan Central Kalamazoo, Michigan July 3, 1973.

Richard Koenig posted

BO Tower, Kalamazoo, Michigan

This was the site of a fairly interesting interlocking at one time. Looking at a USGS map from the 1940s shows several railroads in town, though I’m not sure they all were involved in the interlocking.

By my reckoning, the New York Central (Michigan Central), the Pennsylvania (Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad), the Grand Trunk Western (now part and parcel of the Canadian National) and a road called the Chicago, Kalamazoo, and Saginaw all crossed very close to this point. A site I just visited also said that there are possibly two more roads involved: Michigan United Railways and the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern.

The tower was built by the Michigan Central in 1915 and was just taken out of service a year or two ago.

One image by Richard Koenig; taken August 5th 2011.

Tom Carter posted two photos with the comment:

Ex-NYC Conrail SW7 8903 leads a very short train past the infamous BO Tower in Kalamazoo on a late summer day in 1982, as the friendly crewman on the caboose waves at yours truly. Click to see both photos entirely.

Ray Peacock Nice. This was after CR reconfigured BO. This train is headed to International Paper. GDLK goes by this spot these days. Original trackage LSMS Kalamazoo Branch. Also, note BO still has its windows, for the most. Even then it was ripe for automation but it lasted another 30+ years as active. Back then we just joked that Philadelphia just didn't see it on their radar.

Ben Higdon Not aware of International Paper ever owning one of the mills up there-in Parchment was KVP-Sutherland and on Patterson was i think Brown, later Sutherland. Guessing this was an extra move with a hot car, as that job always had a decent number of cars on it

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Greg Bunce posted
BO Tower, Kalamazoo, Michigan July 3, 1973.
Greg Bunce shared
Crossing of the PRR, GTW and the MC.
Ben Higdon Great picture Greg! Have any more of the trackage around BO from that day? PRR was/is a block behind the photographer, the single track in the picture was the LSMS, the GTW was between the LSMS and the road and removed at/by the time the new south wye to the LSMS was put in around 1969. The CK&S crossing was a block east and removed around 1980, the north wye connection to the CK&S is present in the photo directly in front of the tower.

Greg Bunce commented on his posting
From 1910 Atlas of Kalamazoo county

Greg Bunce posted
Looking west at BO Tower in Kalamazoo, Michigan on the Michigan Central in March 1973.

Mark Hinsdale posted
Via F40PH #6428 leads Amtrak Train #364, the eastbound "International," past "BO" Tower in Kalamazoo MI on a February, 1997 morning. The Chicago Toronto train left both endpoints in the morning, bisecting Michigan's Lower Peninsula during daylight hours in both directions. Amtrak and Via Rail Canada shared equipment on the route. Photo by Mark Hinsdale
Ray Peacock Interesting windows are simply covered in plywood when they became bad ordered yet the Tower itself was operating for another twenty years.
Mark Hinsdale Yes. The abandoned looking, un-abandoned tower...

Mark Hinsdale shared

Charles Geletzke Jr. posted
On July 25, 1978 we find GTW Train 521, the KSR (Kalamazoo Switch Run) in route with the empties to Checker Motors in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Due to on-going track work, this was an unusual move. The KSR had to pull onto the Conrail's (former MC-NYC-PC) Eastward Main Track, shove west, then BO tower lined them onto the Westward Main Track, and then north on the former CK&S. They had the regularly assigned unit, the GTW 7014. (C. H. Geletzke, Jr. photo)
Jonathon Leese: I wonder if there was any actual reason 7014 worked the KSR for as long as it did, or if it just worked out that way.
Charles Geletzke Jr.: Jonathon Leese: It was a good dependable engine, required little maintenance, and was not required to have a toilet. It was able to handle all of the chores we asked of it. A good engine at that time!
Oren J. Londo: 7014 still alive on the coopersville & marne

Charles Geletzke Jr. shared

Charles Geletzke Jr. posted
Amtrak Train 351 with AMT 226 was seen passing BO tower in Kalamazoo, Michigan on May 1, 1977. (C. H. Geletzke, Jr. photo)
Charles Geletzke Jr. shared

Dennis DeBruler commented on Charles' share
When I zoomed in to verity that the operator was hooping up orders, I noticed that you caught a crew member leaning out to catch the orders.

Darren Reynolds posted four images with the comment: "BO tower (Kalamazoo, Mich.)."

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Darren Reynolds posted seven photos, the first four are the same as the above.

Bruce Muehlberger posted
My Home for 12 years. 3rd Trick.

They removed the tower Dec 28, 2021 so some railfans have posted some of their photos of the tower.

Mark Hinsdale: 4 photos (source)

Richard Koenig: 2 photos "RIP: BO Tower, Kalamazoo, Michigan. The tower was built by the Michigan Central in 1915 and was taken out of service around 2016 or so. It was torn down today (December 28th 2021)."

Thomas Bowers: 1 photo

Steve Marshall: What did BO refer to?

Ray Peacock: Steve Marshall BOtsford (the name of the yard nearby)

Richard Koenig: 3 more photos

Todd Dillon: 4 photos

David Daruszka posted five photos with the comment: "Many years ago my late friend Frank Szopo managed to finagle a tour for me of Tower BO in Kalamazoo, MI. I read today that the tower was demolished despite preservation efforts. Time marches on, leaving dust and debris in its wake."

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Joshua Dudinetz posted
Siemens Charger 4611, trailing on the test train at BO Tower today.
Peter Dudley shared

Boarded-up railroad towers usually don't last long.

The last I heard, BO Tower in Kalamazoo is going to be preserved at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, eventually. Any news?

Tim Shanahan shared

 

Charles Geletzke Jr. posted
GTW 714 on Train 520 "The Kalamazoo Switch Run "KSR" was seen at Conrail's BO tower in Kalamazoo, Michigan on March 12, 1979. (C. H. Geletzke, Jr. photo)

Kalamazoo must have more than one tower. I wonder where this one was. 3 photos of the demolition

Grand Haven, MI: Pere Marquette Depot and GTW Coaling Tower

(Satellite)

Raymond Storey posted

 

Greg Bunce posted
Grand Haven depot, Winter 1985.
Jim Kelling shared

Dennis DeBruler commented on Jim's share
Sep 2021: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Xszmo5eXDzgNrj3w9

Stan Sienicki posted
GTW Coaling Tower at Grand Haven, MI.

Because of the tree line and the North Bank Trail, it is easy to following the GTW right-of-way west of where it ends in Coopersville. Sometimes a town will move a depot away from the RoW to a park to preserve it. But I doubt if they moved a coaling tower. I searched the RoW on various satellite images several times, but I could not find this tower. With the preserved freight cars and the green park, it should have stuck out like a sore thumb.

Update: I did come across another posting concerning the tower. I found a Train Depot Museum, but I still can't find where in Grand Haven this tower is located. I guess I'm going to have to drive to the museum and ask. The town does have a swing bridge that would also be worth checking out.

Jack Westfall posted

Grand Trunk Western coaling tower.

Grand Haven Michigan

Pere Marquette and GTW cabooses

Rae Zenz posted four photos.

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Brian Caswell posted
Shot of the Pere Marquette 1223 in Grand Haven Michigan / 7-17-21
Roger Riblett shared

J.R.Valderas commented on Brian's post
Back in August 2006, the preservation group in charge of PM 1223 and the train display had an ice cream social and the local fire department brought their ladder truck (the tall one) for everyone to see. One of the firefighters came up to me, asking if I was interested in getting a shot of the train from the top of the ladder and I said "are you going to bring the bucket down so I can get up there?" (ladder was fully extended at that time). He said for me to climb up the ladder and I was like "for real?". So that's what I did, getting this view.
I don't remember how tall the ladder was but I never thought I would get this view of Grand Haven on camera back then. I made it up and down the ladder safe (never got in the bucket) but you would think they would have brought the bucket down first to attempt something like this but they looked at me like "you're a newspaper photographer, you'll do what ever it takes to get an angle of view that no one else has" and that's what I did by taking this level of photography to the "Extreme" (without a safety climbing up and down the ladder).

Stephen Hayes posted
What is this building? It’s all made of concrete, even the roof. It’s In A Grand Haven park. The train is just parked there.
[As expected, several comments indicate it was a coaling tower.]
Tim Shanahan shared
[Some in this group, which should know better, called it a sand tower. Some old coaling towers also dispensed sand, but they primarily stored coal.]

13:56 video @ 12:24
Superpower Steam Locomotive Close-Up: Pere Marquette 1223

Sheff, IN: NYC's F Tower: NYC (Egyptian Line) vs. Big Four

Bill Sturgeon posted

If Sheff was a town, it no longer is. The route to the north was put out-of-service by Conrail. The other three are now operated by KB&S.

Bill's comment:

Good afternoon all. I wanted to post this pic. Apologies for not being directly Milwaukee Road material, but there is some relevance. This is the NYC built/PC/Conrail Interlocking tower at Sheff. Located at the crossing of the Big Four and the NYC Egyptian Line (aka, the Danville secondary). Of note in this pic, it still bears the towers call sign designation of "F", as well as its NYC style sign board and lettering style. This pic has no exact date, however I can confirm it maintained this look long after PC start up. If I were to guess, I would say mid to late 70's. Picture used with permission.

Satellite

The Google satellite image shows the route to the north is still intact to the county road south of Kentland. I discovered that track because cars are being stored on the track. I would assume KB&S gets this storage income.

Update: Chad Quick posted two photos with the comment:

From April 05, 1973 we are eastbound on the James Whitcomb Riley on the Chicago West subdivision and are approaching the crossing of the “Egyptian” line at Sheff tower. Both photos by Jim Latimer and from my collection.

Chad Quick Phil do you happen to know when Sheff Tower was closed? I’m assuming it made it into Conrail but don’t know for sure.
Phil Boldman Can't remember for sure. It did not close it was arson by headhunting officials. Eric Burg knows the date.
Eric Berg I was thinking somewhere between 1976-1978. I know it was burned to the ground by officials.
Phil Boldman 78 sounds about right. All I know is they set a go rail on at Templeton and went west. And I seen the smoke 5 miles away by the tome I got there there was no way to save anything it had collapsed.

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Eric Berg posted
NYC's "F" tower at Sheff, Indiana, ca. 1920's. Three interchange tracks are in the foreground connecting the NYC's Egyptian line with the Big 4, followed by the crossing of the Big 4's single main running from Kankakee, Illinois to Lafayette, Indiana and beyond with the NYC's Egyptian line running from Indiana Harbor, Indiana to Cairo, Illinois. Photo looking southwest from most likely the roof of the roundhouse.

Eric Berg posted
Sheff interlocking as of April 27th, 1947, showing the crossing of the Big 4. From my Egyptian line track chart collection. Unfortunately, I was only able to obtain charts from Belshaw to just south of Tab...

Eric Berg posted
NYC "F" tower at Sheff, Indiana at the crossing of NYC's Egyptian line and the Big 4 line. View looks N/N/W from the Egyptian lines trailing point crossover on the south side of the plant. No date or photographer known.

Darren Reynolds posted seven images with the comment: "Indiana Harbor Railroads    'Sheff' tower   
heff, Indiana."

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Indiana Harbor Railroads "Sheff" tower, Indiana

Photo by: Carl Wallenmeyer ( No Date)

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The interlocking machine (with there foot push things on them?)At "Sheff" tower

Photo by: Carl Wallenmeyer ( No Date)

Ken Miller: Put your foot on them and pulled the adjacent lever, extra leverage.

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The model board at "Sheff" tower

Photo by: Carl Wallenmeyer ( No Date)

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The pipeline at "Sheff" tower.

Photo by: Carl Wallenmeyer ( No Date)

John Ruth: Good photo of a feature which is rarely depicted.

Think about maintaining that assembly in an icy & snowy Indiana winter. At night. In a sleet storm.

[I always appreciate it when a photographer catches the signaling pipelines as well as the interior and exterior of the tower.]

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The pipeline going to a machanical Signals at "Sheff"

Tower..

Photo by: Carl Wallenmeyer ( No Date)

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A machanical Dwarf signal at "Sheff" tower

Photo by: Carl Wallenmeyer ( No Date)

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The interlocking diagram for "Sheff" tower

All images from North American interlockings States A to Z and Canada... 12/25/2024

Stroh, IN: Wabash Depot and Branch Line

James Holzmeier posted
Postcard view of a classic small-town Wabash RR
combination depot, in Stroh, Indiana on the Wabash
Helmer to Stroh branchline (photographer unknown)

Stroh, IN, is of interest to me because it is the closest town to my Grandfather's farm, because my Great-grandmother used to live there, and because a relative used to own the farm on the south side of town.

Wabash had a branch line that headed north of their mainline just west of Helmer and that terminated just north of this depot at the cement plant. 

1942 Stroh Quadrangle @ 1:24,000

The tracks went east of town, but I have not been able to determine the exact location of the depot. The topo map taught me that there was a narrow gage line that accessed the mine pits. It was this railroad that used to cross the main road on the north side. When I was a kid, I wondered why there were tracks in the road but not on either side. That is when I learned about the cement operations. But they had long since become obsolete.

1942 Stroh Quadrangle @ 1:24,000

Rural American History Captured posted

At the last family reunion I learned that they used to ship the baby lambs they bought to the Stroh depot. Then the neighbors along the road north of Stroh and west on County Road 100 S would help herd them along the road to their barn. Up until past the 1960s, farmers maintained fences along the edge of their fields. So I guess the biggest problem would be the big lawns in front of people's homestead. And people probably drove down the road a lot slower than 60mph back then.

Update: Another rendition of the postcard:

Great Memories and History of Fort Wayne, Indiana posted
A little known, five-mile long branch of the Wabash ran between Helmer and Stroh, Indiana. The branch was built in 1899 to serve a cement plant and was out of service by 1945. The town of Stroh must have been bustling with the cement business as a 1901 Stroh newspaper reported the freight agent took in $4800 in freight charges. Stroh also had a limber yard and a combined flouring mill and grain elevator. Of note is the caboose in the photo; it appears to be set up for passengers and LCL freight.
Loralee Taylor Dennis DeBruler, your mom helped drive sheep from this depot to the farm.
Tom Robison That's called a Drover's caboose. For trains transporting livestock, the drover's caboose was where the stockmen rode. The caboose would have seats/bunks for them. The stockmen took care of the animals during the trip at rest stops. Later on small railroads used them to transport a small number of passengers from stop to stop, which was less expensive than buying a dedicated passenger car.
Michael Teders Turkey Lake was actually divided in 2 by that railroad to the cement plant. After the railroad was abandoned, two areas of where the tracks ran were dredged out allowing pleasure boats to pass thru to both sides and creating a long narrow island in the middle of the lake.
Terry Strock My grandpa used to work at the power plant that supplied electricity to the town of Stroh & Elmira. Elmira was named after the power plants owners wife. If they got into a fight the owner had my grandfather kill the power to Elmira for a time.
Steve Healey My grandfather Charlie Sutton is standing there in front of depot. He was the telegrapher there.

http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/el/loco/el7274age.jpg Erie Lackawanna ALCO FA-1 7274 crosses the Pennsylvania at North Judson, Indiana in April 1967. Photo by George Elwood

In addition to shipping and receiving animals and shipping cement, this station agent also handled the shipping of pickles.

Muncie, IN: Vance Tower: CSX/Big Four vs. CSX/C&O and maybe PRR

Mark Earl posted three pictures with the comment:

I know that I posted the first 2 pictures earlier. But I found another .This Is Vance interlocking in Muncie, IN 1990"s The third picture shows where the crossover was on the east side of Muncie.

Vance was where the now abandoned C&O crossed the east/west Big Four. A PRR route also crossed the Big Four a little west of here.

The third photo is the first time I have seen a photo away from the tower that shows how the signalling rods use fixtures to turn their action 90-degrees so that they can activate turnouts, etc. along the track.

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Muncie Railroad Preservation Society posted four photos with the comment:

C.C.C. & St. L. Railway / New York Central / Conrail former Vance Tower in Muncie, Indiana 17 Sept 1983, Vance Signal Diagram from 1954, and inside photos of Vance Tower.

Source of Diagram and there are more photos: https://northamericaninterlockings.com/indiana_10.html See Vane (MU) Muncie 

Source of Interior Photos: https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,1707511 PC: santafedan

Tim Shanahan shared

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