Harrisburg Power Office Is Now Mostly Up and Running

When we last checked in on the Harrisburg Power Director's office about a year ago in 2024, the Big Board had been fully illuminated and most of the Westinghouse "Visicode" SCADA equipment had been reactivated with the help of modern technology simulating the presence of the field equipment like substations and such. However, because the 1930's PRR electrification projects had been funded with depression era WPA loans, the PRR had to spread the wealth and about half the office used GE "Code Selector" hardware that was more complex in operation and not as well documented. 

Well between March and September 2024, members of the Harrisburg Chapter NRHS managed to locate the documentation for the GE gear (it was sitting on a storage shelf) and were then able to restore most of the GE panels to operation, which is especially useful that represents the bulk of what was still operational on the old PRR Main Line up through 2013. The GE gear brings the added fun of step switches being used to store digits instead of all-relay registers for the Westinghouse part of the office.

As if step-switches weren't enough, between September 2024 and March 2025, the team also reconnected the alarm lamps and bell which further adds to the effect.

Still to be addressed are the metering circuits along with programmed simulation elements that would allow visitors to participate in directing flows of 25hz power to virtual train movements. Still, the Harrisburg power office  is mostly complete in terms of being "a thing that functions as it once did" so watch out for planned opening dates as the chapter is still trying to figure out how to manage regular hours.

PHOTOS: Amtrak CORK Tower

 A while ago I posted the first part of my coverage of the Pennsylvania Railroad's 1929 CORK interlocking tower in Lancaster, PA which covered the tower's history and the layout of the interlocking on the PRR's Main Line. Today we cover the tower itself, heading inside to see how it functioned in both its pre and post re-signaling phases. The exterior photos date from 2005 when the interlocking complex was in the process of being resignaled. 

To recap, CORK interlocking and tower were constructed as part of the 1929 Lancaster station project which moved Lancaster's busy passenger depot away from a downtown alignment with slow speeds, lots of grade crossings and partial street running. The resulting interlocking plant spanned approximately 3.3 miles of main line track, which was an outlier for early 20th century direct wire controlled interlockings in North America. Like the contemporary Lancaster station. CORK was built of a dark brick and featured a prominent bay window sheathed in copper cladding. 

 

 

The tower had one auxiliary building that housed the primary compressed air plant and was situated on the south side of the tracks in line with the extreme west ends of the high level station platforms. The tower had an internal staircase with the shelf type relay room on the first floor. With its brick construction and slate roof, the tower was in excellent physical shape as it entered the 21st century. 

 

Heading inside the tower we find a typical layout with the operator's desk sitting in front of the US&S Model 14 interlocking machine. A defect detector readout and overhead catenary section breaker control panel are to the operator's right with the lockers, clock and old telecom plugboard sitting to the left. One interesting feature is that the room has retained its original 1929 vintage overhead lamp fixtures. 

The operator's space is feels like a more cramped version of HARRIS tower with less space around the interlocking machine on all four sides. The gap between the scoreboard style model board and the rear aligned internal staircase is particularly small. As with other PRR Main Line towers, lever blocking devices are stored on top of the interlocking machine and the bathroom is in the left rear corner. Also note the location of the refrigerator, notice board and train order hoops. 

The sprawling CORK interlocking plant was controlled by a relatively modest 67 lever interlocking machine with 49 active levers in its 1960's configuration consisting of 23 levers for switches, 23 levers for signals, 2 levers for electric switch locks and 1 crossing lever for the Reading's Lancaster Branch diamond crossing. The plant was divided into three timer zones, A, B and C with the A timer handling the Conestoga section, the B timer the central Cork plant and the C timer the Reading crossing. The short run was 1 minute with the long run being about 5 minutes and 30 seconds. The tower also had 4 horns for Conestoga, the tower itself, Lancaster West, Dillersville yard and the Reading crossing (Longs Park).

One interesting feature was the presence of Rusty Rail tabs instead of the more usual placard. Besides that the levers were of the standard US&S crank type.

Although CORK's model board was a standard PRR illuminated type, it had several interesting features features. Grade crossing status lights were located at either end of the board to indicate the activation status of the Irishtown Road (east) or Eby Chiques (west) crossings. There were three low air alarms for East and West Conestoga in addition to the Cork main plant. In the post-1960 era two block indication lamps were added for tracks 1 and 4 eastbound. These had some interaction with PARK tower to the east as well as the intervening temporary block station at LEAMAN with track #1 being lit by the regular 2 lever and track #4 by a button on the operator's desk console. Best I can tell this was some technical method to prevent conflicting movements beyond what would be afforded by train orders and the dispatcher. Finally the most endearing model board feature was a framed photo of CORK tower itself that is also present in photos from c. 1992.

 

Inside WINSLOW Tower: Then and Now

If there was a moment where I got into railroad signaling, it would be in the fall of 1998 when I quite literally got "into" railroad signaling. While being dropped off at South Jersey's Winslow Jct for the purpose of completing a 20 mile hike for a Boy Scout merit badge requirement, I noticed that one of the omnipresent plywood panels securing the lower level of WINSLOW tower had been removed. Scrambling inside I was presented with a trove of wonders that forever whet my appetite for the age of relay technology. I luckily had a 35mm film camera with me and was able to take a few photographs, but with my plan for the day already set, I only had about 10 minutes to get my fill. Although I had the motivation and opportunity to return, I as busy with school and kid stuff and by whatever time I did go back the tower had been re-secured. 

For the next two decades I would periodically check up on the tower, waiting for locals to break back in so I could follow up with more photos. It was only in 2023 that I was provided with a do over and lets just say, things were quite different. While I've covered South Jersey's WINSLOW tower and the ghostly remains of the interlocking plant on this blog before, today we will explore the interior with two groups of my own photos photos taken 25 years apart, with some additional insights provided from a 2003 urbex visit and photos from when the tower was still in service. 

If you are not familiar with WINSLOW (aka WINSLOW JCT), please check out my previous coverage to get a better idea of its history and layout. to summarize, WINSLOW was built in 1934 as part of the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines merger to PRR specifications with a brick tower, bay window and a US&S Model 14 electro-pneumatic interlocking plant. The tower was in service until 1983 when the NJDoT seashore services, run under contract by Conrail, were discontinued due to lower ridership and rapidly declining track conditions. The final service level consisted of 3 peak direction round trips to Atlantic City and 1-2 round trips to Ocean City and Cape May. When the tower closed the signals were turned and remained in place until Amtrak showed up to rebuild the line about 5 years later. 

When I first got into WINSLOW it was about a decade into its second act as a radio repeater base for NJT operations on the line. A small lattice radio mast had been build against the north side of the tower and the upper story windows were still intact and letting in light. Towers serving in useful capacities as relay huts or crew bases is one of the more common factors behind their not getting demolished. 

 
On the ground floor, the relay racks and associated relays had been removed, however the cabling that fed the US&S Model 14 interlocking machine on the operator's floor was largely still in place. From the look of it, one can see why so many old tower had their own regular maintainer that under the old system of inefficient railroad employment, could be in the position for many years.

When I visited in 1998 I don't remember much of anything in the ground floor, but in the 2003 urbex photo we can see that it was being used for general storage. I recall being informed by a Southern Railway of NJ employee mentioned that they had access to the tower, but I can't confirm if the items being stored were theirs or not.

There is a single flight of stairs along the rear wall connecting the relay room to the operator's floor. I could not tell if the relays were caged off or not as this was the typical practice to prevent operators from being tempted to tamper with the interlocking equipment to "fix" certain problems. In the 2003 photos we can see shelf style relays on the stairs, but I did not recall seeing any in 1998.

Heading up the single flight of stairs to the operator's level revealed something unexpected, a false wall built lengthwise across the room with a door in it. 

The false wall had the unfortunate effect of blocking the view of the original PRR pattern model board, expect for a small bit at the top. I also managed to get a tight angle photo in from the side that came out pretty well all things considered. 

The model board matches its final appearance from the mid-1960's through to 1983 where the main lines to Atlantic and Ocean cities were both single track manual block. 

What really blew my mind back in the day was the presence of WINSLOW's 27 lever US&S Model 14 interlocking machine. Until this point I had never physically seen one or even known what one was. While some of my railroad books had contained pictures of specifically PRSL Model 14's, the fact that they didn't look like the classic armstrong type lever frame made it hard to intuit what that strange box thing in the photo was until I literally stumbled upon one and it all clicked, despite the lever cranks had all been removed.

Here is the WINSLOW machine as it appeared in service. 

The Final Months at AC Tower

Looks like the Railroad Media Archive has done it again with a video covering the last few months of operation at the former Erie AC tower in Marion, Ohio from November 1994 to just before its closing on January 18, 1995. AC tower was located at the crossing of the compass east-west Erie and Big Four (NYC) with the compass north-south N&W and C&O.The Erie and Big Four alignments would be merged into Conrail and eventually became the Indianapolis Line on a largely Big Four routing with the Erie RR main being largely abandoned. By the mid-90's it was finally time to retire the old Taylor Model 2 machine.

In the video the things of note are the various communications duties of a tower operator and the lever manipulation sequences, specifically the use of crossing lock levers to set the direction of travel through a diamond. 

AC Tower model board and manipulation charts as preserved.

Although the tower was closed in 1995, it was moved to the nearby station grounds and preserved as a semi-restored museum. Hopefully they will get the expertise to restore it in a similar fashion to HARRIS. Because of the "lateness" of the conversion, the N&W and C&O signals were retained on the two non-Conrail routes until about 2012.

1992 Video of A (Tower) and ZOO Operations

 I caught a tweet showing off some on Pentrex videos that had been uploaded to Archive.org documenting Amtrak's 1992 vintage Northeast Corridor.  I've seen a number of these before and they are a pretty by the numbers affair with a mix of cab and trackside VHS grade video shots with occasional narration explaining things I already know.   Well this time, on a hunch, I scanned through the runtime and discovered some rather lengthy segments filmed inside A and ZOO interlocking towers when they were open and handling NEC operations. A would be taken over by the new Penn Station Control Center in 1994 and ZOO would have its NEC functions transferred to CTEC in 1999.

The A tower segment begins at 6:10 and the ZOO tower segment begins at 1:06:45.  Some interesting things to note is that A was staffed by a train director, two levermen and three assistants to the train director, although one or more may have actually been telegraphers.  In 1992 most of the northern NEC would have been tower controlled with HUDSON closing in 2003, DOCK in 2017 and UNION in 2009. ZOO is staffed by a daytime crew of 4, a train director, leverman and two assistants to the train director, although I was informed that one of these assistants would be responsible for the NEC portion of the interlocking machine under supervision of CTEC. In 1992 ZOO was still hangling Conrail moves over the High Line.

 Anyway enjoy.  Hopefully this video will continue to fly under the radar and stay online.

PHOTOS: Inside GLENWOOD JCT

GLENNWOOD JCT, aka WJ, is located in Pittsburgh's Glenwood neighborhood on the banks of the Monongahela River. Built in 1908 by the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, the tower remained in service for almost a century at the eastern end of Glenwood yard before closing in 2003. Like many towers, GLENWOOD JCT was first protected by the massive changes in the industrial economy in the 1980's and 90's before being ultimately ultimately done in by them. Shortly before its closure, one of my foreign correspondents asked for my assistance in visiting the tower while on a North American trip and they sent me the resulting photos after successfully charming their way inside. Twenty years later I was able to visit GLENWOOD JCT myself and combined with the interior photos I hope to cover the tower and its history before its increasingly likely demise.

GLENWOOD JCT In Service in 2003

 

GLENWOOD JCT out of service in 2021

GLENNWOOD JCT is frequently photographed due to its proximity to Pittsburgh's Glenwood Bridge that provides an overhead view of Glenwood Yard. The tower is located on what was known as the CSX P&W Subdivision, a line running to the north and west of Pittsburgh that was incorporated into the B&O in 1884, forming part of their westward main line to Chicago via Youngstown and Akron. The P&W is a slow, curvy route with access to downtown Pittsburgh via a several mile long stub end track that terminated at the Grant Street Station. In 1934 the B&O negotiated trackage rights on the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie between Braddock and New Castle, PA with the vast majority of B&O traffic eventually shifting to that route. This shift is what likely kept GLENWOOD JCT active into the 21st century as both the P&W route and passenger services into Pittsburgh became subject to disinvestment. This combined with CSX's general use of manned interlocking towers on its Main Line between Washington and Pittsburgh up into the early 2000's (with 2, WB in Brunswick and VI in Connelsville, lasting into the 2010's) to keep the tower open since there was a sufficient pool of operators.

GLENWOOD JCT closure came at the hands of the 1999 Conrail merger that shook up CSX's operations between the Northeast and Chicago. Renewed investment in the corridor closed many of aforementioned B&O main line towers and 20 years of Pittsburgh area deindustrialization rendered both the P&W Sub and the once prominent Glenwood Yard that it served, largely obsolete. A wholesale P&W abandonment north of the city was averted by a lease to the Allegheny Valley Railroad. The one hiccup was the use of the P&W between Braddock and downtown Pittsburgh by Amtrak's Capitol Limited which pretty much required signaling on this part of the route. The solution was a complete removal of the interlocking plant and reduction of the line to a single CTC track, which showed exactly how little value GLENWOOD JCT had been providing to rail operations in the area. The AVR lease likely played a role in the tower's survival beyond its closure. AVR didn't own it so they couldn't demolish it, but it wasn't CSX's problem so no need to spend money to remove an asbestos trap. In 2019 AVR purchased the P&W sub outright so we will see if they find a use for the structure at Glenwood yard, demolish it or allow it to burn down "on its own".

GLENWOOD JCT is a 2.5 story wooden interlocking tower built in the B&O style with a variety of updates over its life. The tower consists of an upper operator's floor, a lower floor relay room and a concrete basement level that is only dug about halfway into the ground. This extra half story gives GLENWOOD JCT a noticeable bit of extra height. As the lower floors show no evidence of any mechanical lever frame or pipelines, it is likely that the tower was built was a state of the art power interlocking machine, most likely one from Union Switch and Signal as GLENWOOD JCT was located only a couple miles from US&S's manufacturing plane in Swissvale, PA.

At some point the original interlocking machine was replaced by a familiar US&S Model 14. The tower is also the quintessential example of Tower Window Syndrome as it was built with a fully windowed upper level that by 1983 had seen most of those covered over by solid walls and siding. By the 1990s the remaining full height drop-sash windows were replaced by half height replacement windows. This coincided with the tower being clad in CSX standard beige vinyl siding and the slate roof being replaced by asphalt shingles.

   

Original windows

Many full height windows boarded up

Cheap replacement windows fitted.

Despite all of the modifications, the neglect of the past 20 years is allowing some of the original wooden features to shine through.

GLENWOOD JCT was built on a double track main line that was converted to bi-directional operation around 1980's, likely in conjunction with the expanded PATrain commuter rail service. (See my article on LAUGHLIN JCT for more information about the notable interlocking two miles to the west.) On the main line (P&W Sub) GLENWOOD JCT had both an east and west end, each covering a crossover and a yard access track. The west end was surrounded by a pair of B&O CPL bracket masts while the east end had a single signal bridge with the westbound home signals and eastbound exit signals that supported the bi-directional operation to the P&LE junction BRADDOCK. The inner and outer controlled signals at GLENWOOD JCT created the short signal block in turn motivated the 6 orbital complete B&O CPL at LAUGHLIN JCT as trains approaching GLENWOOD JCT from the west could get a Slow Approach at the 36L or 40L signals for a stop at the 44L or 42L signals which necessitated the use of Approach Slow and Medium Approach Slow (the 11 and 7 o'clock orbitals) at LAUGHLIN JCT.

 

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. 🙄

German Stellwerke Blog and Its English Mirror

Although they have been prominent in my sidebar for many years, I wanted to give another shoutout to the German equivalent of this blog, Von Stellwerken und anderen Maschinen, because the author has been trying their best to provide English translations of some of the key articles in a paralell blog, Of Interlockings and Other Machines. 

 

While the former has hundreds of posts from over the last 10 years and the latter only about a hundred, the effort to provide some translations is particularly important in this niche subject because niche subjects have a habit of confounding automated translation tools like Google Translate.  While the Germany version of the site is still pretty readable if you stare at it enough, the large sample of English translation pages now on the mirror site allows one to really get a handle on how Central European interlocking machines and signaling systems work.  If you are looking for something to do on a cold winter weekend I highly recommend both of these websites as the author has a seeming endless supply of behind the scenes photos, both of in service equipment and preserved.

PHOTOS: NORTH PHILADELPHIA Tower

In my previous post, I covered the history of NORTH PHILADELPHIA Interlocking and Tower that were constructed as part of a 1915 improvement project to build a brand new main line passenger station at what had been known as Germantown Junction on the PRR's Connecting Railway. In this follow-up article I will cover the tower itself and its interior as they stood on the eve of closure in 2005 after 90 years of service.


Although the adjacent North Philadelphia station itself is described as being designed in the Châteauesque style, NORTH PHILADELPHIA tower itself is more in line with UNION JCT and B&P JCT towers that were built as part of the Beaux-Arts Baltimore Penn Station project of 1911. From the outside NORTH PHILADELPHIA appeared to be an identical twin of FAIR tower located 30 miles to the north in in Trenton. However despite having been built at the same time, FAIR utilized an electro-mechanical US&S Style P interlocking machine, an example of railroads in this period hedging their bets in regards to purely power operated interlocking plants. Although both FAIR and NORTH PHILADELPHOIA interlockings served stations with high level platforms, station tracks and a double slip ladder, NORTH PHILADELPGIA would stay in service a decade longer, despite FAIR having its Style P machine replaced by a spiffy Model 14 in the 1930's. It would also avoid FAIR's severe case of "tower window syndrome".

As documented in a period article in the journal Railway Signaling, NORTH PHILADELPHIA was state of the art with an all electric Union Switch and Signal Model F interlocking machine, illuminated model board and glass encased route locking cancellation timers.



As I detailed in the previous post, NORTH PHILADELPHIA's interlocking plant would see many changes over the years, including a change from electric to pneumatic switch operation, but despite all this the tower retained its original 47-lever Model F interlocking machine. The photo below has captured the NORTH PHILADELPHIA machine in its late 90's configuration with former 0 Track at the top separated as the Conrail Trenton Line, but the other freight and station tracks still present.  Also note the east end's trailing point ladder and the Chestnut Hill Branch crossover.  That crossover was a later addition and we can see how it necessitated re-drawing the Chestnut Hill Branch horizontally along the bottom of the model board when comparing with the 1915 photo above.  We can see the Rule 251 between here and SHORE via the 835 and 844 single direction automatic signals.  Makes you wonder if an operator was ever able to arrange a movement from #1 track to #1 track via #5 track through the station. 🤣

Skipping ahead to 2005 we can really see just how much was removed before the tower was closed. Compared with the 90's photo many of the upwards pointing switch levers on the left of the machine are out of service with their numbers missing. Although similar to the more refined Model 14 in operation, NORTH PHILADELPHIA's Model F featured a glass top, to ensure the full employment of signal maintainers, and a row of cast lever indication lamps instead of the later Model 14's use of stamped sheet metal. Other changes from the 1915 depiction include the removal of the electric switch amp meter and additional rundown timers to prevent delays at peak times if routes needed to be changed. In fact the provision of a clockwork rundown timer for practically each signal lever was almost unheard of luxury in the industry, which speaks to the financial resources of the PRR.  In the 2005 photo red tape with updated rundown times have been placed on the timer globes, perhaps indicating that the various signal changes on either side of the legacy plant required the times to be updated.

On the right side of the main machine we see the train announcement bell and higher numbered levers.

On the left side of the main machine we find the lower numbered levers along with the 4-lever table interlocking machine for the Chestnut Hill branch crossover supporting levers 50 through 53. Note the amount of space in this tower on either side of the lever frame which explains how FAIR tower was able to support a 75-lever Model 14 in the same physical space.

On the right side of the model board we can get a somewhat closer view of the changes that took place between 1999 and 2003. The gold stenciled labels on the board are original with the hand painted white and yellow indicating modifications. Removed portions have blacked out with paint, however most of the previous layout along with some labeling can still be seen. All four tracks to the west were bi-directional Rule 261 starting in the PRR era, but dedicated traffic levers were not provided at either NORTH PHILADELPHIA or ZOO. The red lamps at the bottom indicate which signals were currently displayed for train movements (in this case the 28R for one on track #3 west). There is also the west end low air warnings with lamps to 45psi and 20psi and a dragging equipment detector (DED) reset panel for DED's on eastbound tracks #1 and #2.

As of mid-2003 the entire east end of the plant was remoted to CTEC Section 6 as CLEARFIELD interlocking and was literally wiped off the model board despite physically occupying the same space. Because the east end no longer exists, displayed signal lamps have had the labels painted over and track indication lamps have been largely removed except approach lamps on tracks #3 and #4, which likely still give some reasonable degree of warning that a train is heading west from SHORE. Mirroring the west end we see an east end low air alarm as well as DED resets for westbound movements on tracks #3 and #4. Also missing is the 53 trailing crossover on the Chestnut Hill Branch.

The 10, 12, 14 and 16 signal levers previously controlled all main line signals through the east end and were repurposed as traffic levers as the simplest way to integrate the old 1915 mechanical interlocking logic on the west side with the modern interlocking on the east end. Observing the #14 lever lit for a westbound movement on track 3, appears that these levers must be operated for each movement, just like they had as signals, otherwise no direction of traffic is set.

PHOTOS: Inside LEBANON VALLEY JCT Tower

The Reading Railroad was small in size, but rich in revenue due to its dominant positions in the anthracite coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania. As such it was able to punch far above its weight in the area of technical investment be it electrification, locomotive manufacture or signaling technology. A very early adopter of automatic signaling in the late 19th century with the Hall disc signal, when the Reading was confronted with plummeting demand for their premium coal product, their response was technical innovation to cut costs and increase competitiveness. 

Once again the Reading turned to signaling and was an early adopter of the area interlocking concept that allowed for the closure of many manned interlocking stations, even in areas of high traffic density. Covered previously in my piece on North American Panel Towers, VALLEY JCT (officially LEBANON VALLEY JCT) tower was part of this technical overhaul that still stand to this day. Since I managed to come into possession of some interior photos I figured I might as well cover it in its own article. 

The VALLEY JCT we all know today appears in the form of a squat, 1 story brick cabin adjacent to the Lebanon Valley bridge over the Schuylkill River that today carries part of the NS Harrisburg Line between Philadelphia and Harrisburg. However if you look at it from another angle, it is actually a multi-story tower facing the Reading Belt Line that passes under the Lebanon Valley Branch at that point. In fact there is no interlocking on the Lebanon Valley Branch at Valley Junction. The interlocking is actually on the Belt Line, hence the name Lebanon Valley Jct (as the Lebanon Valley Branch doesn't junction with itself). The reason for this misconception is that the operator's floor is more accessible to rail photographers.

VALLEY JCT was built in 1951, towards the end of the standalone interlocking tower era in North America. It had direct wire control of the aforementioned VALLEY JCT on the Reading Belt Line as well as the nearby Wyomissing Jct and less nearby Klapperthal Jct (CP-TITUS) , Cumru, Tuplehocken Bridge (CP-TULP) and Belt Line Jct (CP-BELT). As CTC projects went this was not exactly pioneering, but was still a good 5-10 years ahead of the curve.



It's local interlocking under direct wire control consists of a simple crossover that allows Belt Line trains to choose a ramp to the Valley Branch at Wyomissing Jct or continue on to coal country and/or Allentown via Belt Jct.



VALLEY JCT was built with a General Railway Signal Style K unit lever machine with sequential numbering starting at CP-TITUS and increasing to CP-BELT. It eventually gained an independent panel to control WALL interlocking in Lebanon, PA in 1968.





VALLEY JCT's CTC territory was in service up until the late 90's/early 2000's when a combined Conrail/Norfolk Southern re-signaling project updated CP-BELT, CP-TULP, CP-WALL and CP-WYOMISSING JCT. CP-CUMRU would be re-signaled around 2010 with CP-TITUS surviving until 2018 as it was targeted for removal and replacement instead of reconstruction. The original 1951 relay hut is still in place at CP-WYOMISSING JCT, complete with its Reading Company herald.