In a somewhat surprising bit of bad news, EAST BRIDGE JUNCTION interlocking tower closed a week or two ago. Operated by the
New Orleans Public Belt at the
east end of the Huey P. Long bridge in New Orleans, EAST BRIDGE JCT contained a GRS Model 5 pistol grip style interlocking machine and had been mirrored by
WEST BRIDGE JCT up until a few years ago when that tower was also closed. The loss of these two towers, combined with the recent
closure of LENOX near St. Louis is a major blow to main line electro-mechanical interlocking.
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East Bridge Jct at Night in 2015 |
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And in daylight. |
Although in this day and age no classic tower closure should be a surprise, the demise of the two BRIDGE JCT towers has surprised me. Both were operated by a publicly owned railroad and not only are public railways typically strapped for capital improvements, the NOPB lacked any sort of main line or need for a dispatching center, making tower control less of a waste. The towers were also located in the American capitol of corruption and their staffing and maintenance requirements provided a good number of patronage jobs. As you can see the towers were well appointed with external stairways, roofs and lighting. If Hurricane Katrina couldn't kill them I figured that nothing could, however I Union Pacific did some wheeling and dealing to get the towers closed and placed under the control of their own dispatchers :-(
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West Bridge Jct in 2015 |
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