Towers - L&N

[Anonymous]

Hi folks.  Newbie here.  Allow to make my introduction.  I live in Louisville, KY where the rail action is like the town - not too big, not too small.  I'm a real late bloomer for trains, as I didn't really discover them until 15 years ago (CSX was less than two years away from demolishing the South Louisville Shops then).

One of the things that has piqued my interest lately is towers.  Does anyone know the naming scheme for towers, specifically on the L&N?  L&N seemed to have two-digit call letters for theirs - "MN", "HK", "KC."  I lived in Houston for a while, and I think UP just numbered their towers, so it's different for each RR I suppose.  I would appreciate any help.

[nanaimo73]

Welcome to the forum.

Although I can't answer your L&N question, I thought you might like to know about Texas. The State Railroad Commission numbered them all starting with Number 1 in Bowie up to Number 196 in El Paso, in the order that they were built. There was/is a Tower A built before the numbering in Galveston. I don't know of any other State that decided what the towers would be named.

[Anonymous]

The naming convention has piqued my curiosity, too. The old Chicago & Alton in Illinois liked 2 letter identifiers, and some were logical, like MZ for Mazonia.  But DY for the tower in Pontiac, IL, or JN for Athol tower in Lincoln?  Where did Athol come from and why JN; the call letters were neat dah-dit-dah-dit dah-dit. Most stations had a two letter ID, like VA for Varna.

Perhaps only the Shadow knows.

Art

[Anonymous]

I am not familiar with L&N tower nomenclature, but I, too, am a fan of this famous fallen flag.  Growing up in the 1950s and 60s, I had occasion to travel Pullman a number of times between Chicago Dearborn Station and Atlanta's Union Station on "The Georgian."  I also got to ride on "The South Wind" once between Chicago Union Station and Jacksonville, Florida.  Finally, I rode "The Gulf Wind" any number of times between Jacksonville and Tallahassee during my college years from 1969 until service ended in 1971. 

The service on L&N during this time certainly fell far short of that I had experienced on UP's "City of Portland" and GN's "Empire Builder," but L&N's trains had their charm nevertheless.  I was Southern bred and born and L&N was "The Dixie Line" through and through.  It was L&N's royal blue and gold script titles that kept "Georgia on my mind."