Friday, March 6, 2020

Mar 2020 version of JC and MC Junction Towers

Joliet, IL: JC Tower: EJ&E vs RI and MC; MC Tower: RI vs. MC

(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,
Satellite
across Hickory Creek and then across the EJ&E is the NYC's Michigan Central Joliet Cut-Off. If you look further east on a modern map, you will find the Old Plank Road Trail. That was the right-of-way (RoW) of the MC.

Sanborn Map, 1924, Vol. 1, Sheet c
In the following aerial photo, the red rectangle notes the position of the JC Tower which controlled the crossing of the EJ&E with the Rock Island to the north and the Michigan Central to the south. The blue rectangle shows the location of the MC Tower which controlled the Michigan Central joining the RI for passenger service at the Joliet Union Depot and crossing the RI to access their yard north of the RI after the 1908-12 track elevation project.

1939 Aerial Photo from ILHAP

JC Tower


This tower is also known as the EJ&E Rock Island Tower.

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."
Since the Rock Island train is on the far tracks, this view is looking north along the EJ&E. I'll later discuss the track that is on this side of the tower. Below I zoom in on the bank of signalling pipelines because I think it is the widest bank I have ever seen.

Digitally zoomed in on John's photo
Note how the pipelines for the two semaphores first went south, crossed under the EJ&E double track, and then went back north to the base of the semaphore mast.
Digitally zoomed in on John's photo
Brian Skrbutenas also posted this photo. It had the following comments:
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.

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."
1
William O'Neal Stringer Minus the pipes to throw switches for the people who are wondering.

2

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.]

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.)
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.
It is now time to discuss that track that was just south of the tower in John's first photo. I believe the track in the foreground of John's second photo is the same track. This "middle track" does not exist in the 1924 map.
At photo resolution
Back in the horse-and-buggy days there was probably an industry west of the EJ&E tracks that was served by the Rock Island and that middle track was an industrial spur. I used a green rectangle on the 1939 photo to indicate what looks like the remnants of that middle track. In fact, the access road to a storage lot is probably on that spur's RoW.

Satellite

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

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
Stan Sienicki posted
EJ&E E/B at the ROCK in Joliet, IL. with SD38-2 657 and SD38 654 April 1988

MC Tower

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.


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
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
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.
Mark Llanuza posted four photos of the MC Tower with the comment: "EJ&E Joliet Tower four views in 2009 and the one in 1978 still had some windows left."
George Locascio The ROCK

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