Michigan Interlocking Towers

[Anonymous]

With most of the old towers gone, I'd like to start a "conversation" here with anyone from Michigan that wants to share info., or recollections about towers in the state of Michigan. I used to hang around BO tower in Kalamazoo, and Nichols tower in Battle Creek.

[Anonymous]

I used to hang around Lapeer Jct. tower at Lapeer that protected the East-West GTW Flint sub. and the North-South M.C. (NYC) Bay City branch. The tower had an armstrong interlocking machine, a Saxby and Farmer improved model with a twelve lever frame, 8 active and 4 spare levers. The interlocker controlled four home signals and a siding on the Michigan central which required a long throw of the connecting pipe, about 4 hundred feet. The ditch that the pipe ran in would often fill with snow in the winter which gave the maintainer lots of excersize shoveling out the drifts. A good site for Michigan Interlocking photos is Miichiganrailroads.com click on history, then interlockings. There are many drawings of interlockings and photos, BO and Nichols which you mentioned in your post are there.

[Saxman]

Some of my favorite are: Delray Tower, NS Bridge over Rouge River, ex Conrail Rouge River Bridge and FN Tower. All are in the Detroit area. Towers are quickly going the way of the dinosaur. Rumor has it that FN Tower in Trenton, MI is slated to go.

[Anonymous]

I guess out of the few towers that are left in Mich., FN would be my favorite in the Detroit area. It has a very interesting track configuration, a giant X (ex D&TSL- DT&I) crossed by the double track ex NYC Toledo to Detroit line, now NS. I wished that everyone could see this one. Of the towers that I can remember that are no longer with us, I liked Romulus, the ex Wabash crossed by the ex PM with the old Wabash station across the tracks. Great place to watch trains!