Bob Olson of the Signal Department reports:
IRM received the
generous donation of the CTC panel from the METRA tower at Rondout, IL on Monday, March 9, 2015. The panel, which was installed in 1963, controlled the crossing
of the EJ&E and the junction to the line to Fox Lake and Madison. One of the
last manned towers in the Chicago area, the tower was cut over to remote control by the CP dispatcher in Minneapolis last Friday night.
This picture shows
the panel loaded on the IRM pickup truck. Pictured left to right are the district signal
tech, the local signal maintainer, and Metra
Trainmaster Robert Conway.
3 comments:
Metra still has manned towers at the A2 Interlocker (the busiest on Metra which requires two operators during the AM & PM rush), the A5 Interlocker (which is in the process of becoming remotely operated by Metra's Dispatch Center), the B17 Interlocker, the 16th Street Interlocker (equipment dates back to the early 1900s), and the Joliet UD Interlocker (which is the process of becoming remotely operated by the BNSF Dispatcher).
This brought back memories of the North Shore stop perched up on the high embankment there and across the street, there was a small lunch counter store front.The Roundout station and the tower were also markers of a identifiable place, and to think the lunch counter, the tower, the Roundout station, the North Shore stop..even the remaining road names have changed while all the rest has or will vanish as if they never existed. It seems Roundout went from "someplace" to nearly nowhere in the blink of an eye.
Any plans for the use of this panel other than as an exhibit?
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