CMStPnP zardoz I guess that the powers that be either forgot the incident a few years go when the tower operator during his roll-by inspection noticed a defect on a piece of Amtrak equipment which would have resulted in a derailment; either that, or they intentionally chose to ignore the safety of having a person inspecting trains passing by. The CP is mainly concerned with lowering it's property taxes now and as long as that structure stands it is assessed a property tax by the State of Illinois. I was sad to see the Brookfield, WI depot ripped out for the same reason. After the takeover of the Milwukee Road, the CP gave their assurances they would preserve the Brookfield Depot but as it turns out several decades of property taxes later they were pressuring the City of Brookfield to either take it off their hands and move it to a new location or they would tear it down. Your going to see that happen a lot more as property taxes rise and areas become more urbanized.
zardoz I guess that the powers that be either forgot the incident a few years go when the tower operator during his roll-by inspection noticed a defect on a piece of Amtrak equipment which would have resulted in a derailment; either that, or they intentionally chose to ignore the safety of having a person inspecting trains passing by.
The CP is mainly concerned with lowering it's property taxes now and as long as that structure stands it is assessed a property tax by the State of Illinois.
I was sad to see the Brookfield, WI depot ripped out for the same reason. After the takeover of the Milwukee Road, the CP gave their assurances they would preserve the Brookfield Depot but as it turns out several decades of property taxes later they were pressuring the City of Brookfield to either take it off their hands and move it to a new location or they would tear it down.
Your going to see that happen a lot more as property taxes rise and areas become more urbanized.
Lights on would seem to indicate the CTC and interlocking plant might still be wired through the building and not independent of it? (pretty handy signal case.)
BaltACDIn 21st Century railroading there are more forms of equipment defect detectors that perform a more comlplete inspection of passing trains than and individual at at tower could perform.
Agreed. However, the incident to which I was refering involved a large piece of the locomotive hanging loose between the rails but above the railhead; had the piece come loose, it would have been of sufficient density to interfere with the running gear. No detector yet made would have noticed.
The potential cost of a derailment at 79mph would surely cover many years of a manned tower.
zardoz UChicagoMatt Closed and boarded up, save two windows. An era is over after 100 years. I guess that the powers that be either forgot the incident a few years go when the tower operator during his roll-by inspection noticed a defect on a piece of Amtrak equipment which would have resulted in a derailment; either that, or they intentionally chose to ignore the safety of having a person inspecting trains passing by. On a personal note, hearing Rondout tower calling trains with his inspection report did give me a nice 20 minute heads-up.
UChicagoMatt Closed and boarded up, save two windows. An era is over after 100 years.
Closed and boarded up, save two windows. An era is over after 100 years.
I guess that the powers that be either forgot the incident a few years go when the tower operator during his roll-by inspection noticed a defect on a piece of Amtrak equipment which would have resulted in a derailment; either that, or they intentionally chose to ignore the safety of having a person inspecting trains passing by.
On a personal note, hearing Rondout tower calling trains with his inspection report did give me a nice 20 minute heads-up.
Railroads - all of them - have been closing towers since the 1920's. In 21st Century railroading there are more forms of equipment defect detectors that perform a more comlplete inspection of passing trains than and individual at at tower could perform.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
zardozI guess that the powers that be either forgot the incident a few years go when the tower operator during his roll-by inspection noticed a defect on a piece of Amtrak equipment which would have resulted in a derailment; either that, or they intentionally chose to ignore the safety of having a person inspecting trains passing by.
Drove past there on Tuesday and saw a light on in a window, wonder what that could be? Thanks.
Andrew Falconer That was a quick boarding up of the windows. Is vandalism a large problem there?
That was a quick boarding up of the windows.
Is vandalism a large problem there?
No vandalism there. In fact, a "social club" is immediately across the EJ&E (CN) tracks. I believe this is mostly as a precaution. I put photos of my first trip AFTER it closed on Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/17752038@N06/sets/72157650957067128/
Watch my videos on-line at https://www.youtube.com/user/AndrewNeilFalconer
Word has come around that Roundout tower will close on Saturday and operations will be cut over to the CP C&M dispatcher. RIP CP Roundout.
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