The Trials and Tribulations of Los Angeles' Closed Towers

This post fits neatly into the "old news" category as the events I am noting took place something like 4+ years ago, but it will provide some closure for anyone else who has not been paying attention. The West in general is known for its general lack of towers compared to the East and Midwest.  Certain area of California had more towers than most of the west, but the number was still rather low and from that level there was been a high level of attrition as those, largely wooden, towers were closed and demolished. Most of So Cal's surviving towers were in the general vicinity of Union Station with TERMINAL TOWER and MISSION Tower being the most well known. 

However a bit to the south were two attitudinal towers on the former ATSF Chief route, HOBART and REDONDO.  Each governed a single track diamond crossing of the busy AFST main line.

Built in 1906, REDONDO was located at the ATSF crossing of the Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad, that became Union Pacific's primary route into the Port of Los Angeles. The redwood frame tower was ultimately equipped with a GRS Model 2 pistol grip interlocking machine and the junction controlled the southern end of the LA passenger rain engine and car facilities. The tower was closed in 2001 when a passenger flyover was built over what would become the Alameda Rail Corridor route to the port of Long Beach that converted the sleepy UP main into a 3-track intermodal superway.

Located in a fairly isolated area the tower was generally left along for the next 15 years until some time after December 2016 the tower either caught fire or was tagged for demolition. By June 2017 the tower was a husk and by Octover 2017 it was gone. In 2001 the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority was nice enough to commission an historical pamphlet with a selection of interior photos.

HOBART interlocking is located about a mile east of REDONDO at the west end of Hobart Yard where the UP San Pedro Branch crossed the former ATSF main line. Also equipped with a GRS Model 2 pistol grip power frame, the tower was a bit more modern than REDONDO being made of concrete. Closed in 2002, its location at a major yard and non-flammable construction gave HOBART a fighting chance of survival.

 

Unfortunately between May and December 2017, a fire started by homeless persons gutted the tower.  Although the concrete structure was still generally sound, the tower was now on the glidepath to demolition, a fate that was ultimately carried out in May of 2019.

Of course the fates can occasionally smile on old interlocking tower.  DAYTON AVE tower, located at the southern end of the Southern Pacific Taylor Yards north of Union Station, was saved by relocation not once, but TWICE.  

When Metrolink was building a new maintenance facility in the 1990's, DAYTON AVE tower was relocated from its initial site on the LA River to a site adjacent to the Metrolink Facility entrance on San Fernando Rd.

Later in ~2013 when this site was tagged for a new development, DAYTON AVE tower was moved again to a new location 3 blocks to the southwest on part of Metrolink's rail storage lot.

At the start of this article I mentioned TERMINAL TOWER and MISSION tower.  TERMINAL TOWER is currently used as some sort of MoW or signaling support base part of the greater LAUPT complex.  The long closed MISSION tower is less critical to operations, but is likely owned by a government entity and has been generally protected by local preservation groups and general governmental paralysis.  I recently found a 1980 vintage film on Youtube documenting ATSF operations at MISSION tower with its GRS Model 2 pistol grip type interlocking machine.

Enjoy.

Presenting PRR Main Line Towers in the 21st Century

Well, once again I put my hand up to do a program for an NRHS Chapter meeting and since it was for Philly Chapter instead of West Jersey I was able to partly re-cycle my 2008 presentation on Pennsylvania Railroad Interlocking towers on Amtrak's Harrisburg Line.  Of course back in 2008 ZOO, OVERBROOK, PAOLI, THORN, PARK, LEAMAN, CORK and STATE was not only open, but relatively intact.  Fast forward 14 years and only THORN, PAOLI, OVERBROOK and ZOO remain with the first two clearly on their way out. 

 My plan was to refresh the presentation with the updates and refreshed photographic content (including from my 2019 THORN visit).  The reality was that the quality of my 2008-edited photos was woefully inadequate and it took me a good 5 hours to get everything up to snuff. To avoid any awkward dead air I preformed a two hour practice session on my live stream and that is what I am now able to present to you.  There are a few hiccups here and there, but overall I am happy with the result.

Ironically the live chapter presentation had to be split into two parts because a number of Philly chapter members take SEPTA to the meetings which limits the duration to an hour. 🙄

CSX Talahassee Sub- A New Signaling Museum

CSX's habit of spinning off less profitable subdivisions to short line operators has created another signaling museum, this time in the state of Florida. Similar as to how the Lake State railroad has preserved about 130 miles of C&O era signaling and 1950's vintage code line CTC, the Florida Gulf & Atlantic Railroad has preserved about 250 miles of Seaboard signaling on the former CSX Tallahassee Sub between Baldwin, FL and Tallahassee, FL, where the line becomes DCS controlled. The lease took effect in 2019 and after three years of operation there is so far no indication that the new tenant has any plans to upgrade the signaling.  Not only would it not benefit them financially, but as a Class III operator they are exempt from the PTC requirement. 

The Tallahassee sub signaling museum is important because of CSX's effectiveness in eradicating the seaboard signaling on its S and A lines running between Richmond and Miami/Tampa as well as secondary routes such as the Abbeville Sub.  Despite using Seaboard Style (duh) Color Lights and in some cases 1980's vintage US&S elephant ear signals, CSX was relentless in its modernization efforts.  In the above street view at SE LIVE OAK we can see a US&S TR type target signal with a large type backing that was preferred by the seaboard.  The signal is in a poor man's siding exit bracket with a dwarf adjacent to the mast with a doll arm. All in all the subdivision hosts 29 controlled sidings with 32 interlockings and a large number of intermediate signals between them.  Definitely worth checking out if one happens to be on the I-10 corridor in northern Florida.

Union Pacific Automatic Cab Signal Training Videos

 With the fate of UP's Automatic Cab Signal system unclear, I found what appear to be 1980's ACS training videos on Youtube.  The first discusses basic use of the system and the second inadvertent activation in non-cab signal territory. Interesting takeaways is the use of heavy cast iron control and display boxes on board the locomotive as I assume Union Switch and Signal had no capacity to work in plastics or sheet metal 😏

The cab signal "hits" video is interesting as since UP uses a 60hz code carrier, mains current that enters the rails could trigger such an event on any equipped locomotive, anywhere on the system and if the crew isn't on the ball the activation could result in a penalty brake application.

One additional point of note is the similarity of the US&S ACS display with a standard Soviet pattern ALSN cab signal display of the type that appears in this video at about the 14 second mark. about the 14 second mark.