PFW&C = Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway
Robert Daly posted two photos that include the tower with the comment:
PRR and NYC bridges over the Calumet River, Feb 18 1974, looking northwest. Tower controlling the PRR bridge was known as River Branch. Shortly after the PC merger in 1968 the NYC bridge was closed and put in the raised position, where it remains to this day. The PRR bridge continued in service through Conrail and now NS. B&O had a parallel bascule bridge to the right, which was rammed and partially destroyed by a lake boat some time in the 1980s.
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| Steve Lewandowski posted Riverbranch |
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| Steve Lewandowski posted Another River Branch Jon Roma Paul Musselman, it is. This is now known by Norfolk Southern as CP 509 on their Chicago Line. Here is a picture of the dispatcher panel that replaced the tower. https://www.flickr.com/photos/jonroma/2228029167 |
In a 1938 aerial photo, the tower is lost in the shadow of a grain elevator.
1976 Flickr of CSL train about to cross the Pennsy Calumet River Bridge.
In PRR days this was River Branch Jct. My January 15, 1972 Penn Central Western Region ETT refers to this tower as River Branch Jct. In Conrail days it was called CP 509 (Moveable Bridge). It is possible that the two-letter telegraphic designation for this tower was CR for Calumet River. The B&O Tower which controlled the B&O Calumet River bridge destroyed in the ship collision was definitely called CR Tower.
John Smatlak Flickr 1988 Photo of two Chicago Short Line locos pulling a coal train off the bridge and down the branch. "The dark sky is due to the strong winds that day, which were really blowing up the dust off the Coke piles in the area."
Marty Gatton posted videos and photos of NS switching Gulf Sulphur Solutions with the comment:
Two locations...same job...1 pm 6/4/19Dennis DeBruler Thanks for the good location description. That made it easy to find the plant being switched.
NS 645 and 1408 approach 126th street on the Calumet River Line.
The crew will throw the switch to back down onto an industry spur which crosses Carondolet Avenue at 122nd street.
They will drop a cut of tank cars and leave with a single loaded tank car from a sulphur processing facility.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/PVS+Chemical+Solutions+Inc/@41.6730437,-87.5501901,134m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x880e2742b55d8fdd:0x46acdd2f898f0e86!8m2!3d41.6720709!4d-87.5498617
Marty Gatton Dennis DeBruler no problem... believe it was actually the place to the north...
The exchange was actually being witnessed by some federal agency...
Dennis DeBruler Thanks for the correction. It looks like Gulf Sulphur Solutions. It is interesting that Google Maps doesn't label it.
https://www.google.com/.../data=!3m6!1e1!3m4...
