(Satellite, it looks like some of the footings may still be visible)
July, 2017: this is a complete rewrite. It is basically the same content but, hopefully, it has a better organization.
(Update: a Dec 30, 2019, comment by Ed Brunner on the UD Tower notes explains:
Rock Island Tower (on the EJ&E) was staffed by EJ&E employees. MC Tower (in between UD and RI) was staffed by Rock Island employees.)
MC seems to have been originally a tower designed to direct the Michigan Central trains across the Rock Island tracks, using crossovers (rather than a crossing) that Rock Island trains could use to shift from eastbound to west bound tracks or vice versa.
In 1944-45, when CTC was installed from the RI double track Blue Island to Morris, the CTC board was installed at MC in two separate segments: Morris to Joliet and Joliet to Blue Island. When I worked in the tower briefly in 1978, the third shift was covered by an employee from the dispatcher's roster, the other shifts covered by train order clerks. The DS employee covered the job sequentially for several weeks with no down time, then was off for ten sequential rest days (I think it was ten but it could have been eight), and the job was then protected by a DS from the Des Moines office, which is how I showed up there, covering the regular guy's down time.
The EJ&E is the north/south rail line along the right side of the map. It is worth noting that this map shows the Chicago, Milwaukee & Gary joining the EJ&E at Washington Street. (The CM&G used the EJ&E between Joliet and Aurora. It is now abandoned.) As labeled, the east/west line is the Rock Island. The other rail line that goes east from the middle of the Rock Island,
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| Satellite |
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| Sanborn Map, 1924, Vol. 1, Sheet c |
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| 1939 Aerial Photo from ILHAP |
JC Tower
This tower is also known as the EJ&E Rock Island Tower.
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| John Garf posted Rock Island train at "JC" Tower in Joliet, IL - 1928 Chris Lajcin also posted with the comment "looking north towards the yard." |
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| Digitally zoomed in on John's photo |
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| Digitally zoomed in on John's photo |
William Shapotkin Great pic -- believe this was the predecessor of the structure we know today?
Brian Skrabutenas Nope, original structure and brick was laid around it. I saw some brick falling off at one of the corners and the original wood structure was intact.
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| There was a controversy about credit, so it was deleted while I was reading it. I grabbed this screenshot because it shows a center cab, good ballast on the Rock, and the signalling pipelines. An eastbound EJ&E train comes by Rock Island tower with EJ&E 914 on November 6th, 1965 |
Chris Lajcin posted two photos of the "Rock Island Tower."
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| 1 William O'Neal Stringer Minus the pipes to throw switches for the people who are wondering. |
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| 2 |
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| Zachary C. Gillihan commented on Chris' post http://rrsignalpix.com/tower_ri.php Rock Island Tower was maintained and operated by the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway. Rock Island Tower housed a electro-mechanical interlocking which consisted of a 68 lever Saxby and Farmer Machine and a 12 lever Union Switch and Signal Model S-8 machine. The Saxby and Farm Machine had 26 active levers and 42 spare levers, the US&S S-8 Machine had 9 active levers and 3 spares. The S-8 Machine was used to control the signals for the Rock Island Lines. It is unknown to what happened to both machines after the tower closed, a local claimed to have scrapped it. The tower was tore down on March 23rd, 2010 at 0900 hrs by CNRR. [P.C.RR. must mean Penn Central. This track was Michigan Central then NYC before it was PC. The link has a lot of photos after it was abandoned but before it was torn down.] |
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| Chris Lajcin posted Rock Island tower circa 1991 Bill Grenchik And that was a wood siding at one time they added the brick later. |
This view along the EJ&E is looking south. The tracks on the other side of the bridge is the NYC/Michigan Central/Joliet and Northern Illinois. I can understand why there would be a lot of signalling pipelines coming out of the tower. But I don't understand why so many of them are going south of Hickory Creek. Brian's comment for this picture is: "EJ&E Extra West bound on main 2 crossing the MCRR approaching the middle set of the three crossings." (That comment is from my original version. I can't find that comment now.)
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| John Garf posted EJ&E train at "JC" Tower in Joliet, IL - 1928 Chris Lajcin also posted with the comment "looking south to Washington Street." Ray Peacock Check out our the “ties” over the rods in that crossing track. Also white flags on engine, small pot signal of some type on the right.. so much to study. |
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| At photo resolution |
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| Mark Llanuza posted Its the year 2009 southbound leaving Joliet IL Dennis DeBruler This photo was taken from south of Hickory Creek with a rather long telephoto lens judging form the distance compression. You can see the Metra/Rock Island tracks north of the fence that protects the signalling control boxes. The turnout is for a crossover. Michael Steffen The Tower was manned by a J Operator/Telegrapher until it was remote controlled from the Dispatcher’s Office. In addition to the Rock Island the interlocking controlled the J/Michigan Central crossing which was located about 150 yards south (J timetable East) of the Rock Island tracks. In addition this interlocking allowed Milwaukee Road trains to leave J trackage and enter their own, also south of this photo. Mark posted again |
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| Steven Brown posted [The other side from the cab of an IAIS train.] Perter Zimmerman posted
Joliet Illinois:
The EJ&E Railway tower that guarded the crossing with the Rock Island also controlled the crossing of the Michigan Central Joliet branch. Also just south of the tower, and maybe also in its area of control was the switch of the Milwaukee Road's line from Joliet to Delmar[near Momence], as well as at one time a C&A branch that ran from South Joliet yard to the J.
Today the tower is gone, the Michigan Central line was abandoned by Conrail in 1977, the Milwaukee Road line was abandoned in July 1978 and the C&A/GM&O line was abandoned sometime in the 1960's apparently.
The Rock Island is today the Metra Rock Island district and the EJ&E Railway is the CN Railway and the interlocking is handled remotely by the Metra "Rock Island Road" dispatcher in Chicago.
Photo by Steven J. Brown
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| Stan Sienicki posted EJ&E E/B at the ROCK in Joliet, IL. with SD38-2 657 and SD38 654 April 1988 |
MC Tower
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| Brian Skrabutenas posted Joel J. Sieracki Michigan Central's Joliet Cut-Off crossed the Rock here on a series of x-overs to get to their yard. |
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| John Sickel III posted EJ&E's big Baldwin DT66-2000/#914 passes interlocking at Rock Island Tower. The train has passed over the Rock Island and is about to cross the New York Central at the Joliet Illinois branch. 6 Nov 1965. Courtesy of EJ&E archives. Dale Vincentovich Martin Signals were electric, the switches and locks were manually operated....loads of fun on a hot day. Zak Hill The only DT6-6-2000 still running is at the IRM Kevin Piper posted EJ&E 914 passes Rock Island Tower as it departs Joliet, IL, on 11-6-65. LOUIS CERNY PHOTO/KEVIN PIPER COLLECTION |
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| Steven Holding posted MC tower from the back porch of a GM&O SD-40 taking ballast to the RI JO yard job in the '70's Richard Mead Yes, the Rock tracks needed a lot of ballast in the early 70s |
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| Bill Molony posted New York Central Railroad F7A #1757 and Pennsylvania Railroad GP9 #7162 crossing Hickory Creek, just east of MC Tower on the Joliet Cutoff in June of 1968. |
George Locascio The ROCK
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