Nostalgia & History > A simple structure, but how many shared this name?

Bruce Black photo ... have you seen one somewhere? 

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Nice tower but the crapper looks precarious.  Where is it?

Frisco1522 Wrote:
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> Nice tower but the crapper looks precarious. 
> Where is it?

Some help: It is a Bruce Black photo, and he noted as 'State Line tower MN/WI 9/5/74' ... maybe BN???



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/23 07:38 by valmont.

Frisco1522 Wrote:
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> Nice tower but the crapper looks precarious. 

Lol, right. Hope it doesn't fall over at the wrong time!

JG

Wasn't this located on a Northern Pacific line-?  Yes, part of the =17.549999pxBurlington Northern in later years.

valmont Wrote:

> Some help: It is a Bruce Black photo, and he noted
> as 'State Line tower MN/WI 9/5/74' ... maybe BN???

The name of the tower or the name of the crapper?

My 1952 Official Guide lists 23 states with railroad  sites named State Line.

This one looks like Milwaukee, which had them in Indiana and Minnesota,

-LD
 

rgzfan Wrote:
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> That's a bit of a walk to the outhouse. I'm not
> sure that would work for me. 
Having workled towers "equiped" like that, yoiu didn't go out there unless it was reeealy necessary!!
zr190

Frisco1522 Wrote:
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> Nice tower but the crapper looks precarious. 
> Where is it?

It looks like it's off it's foundation. 

And THE State Line Tower was a Chicago & Western Indiana brick/frame structure located on the Hammond, Indiana side of the Indiana-Illinois state line.  101 feet long and maybe 16 feet wide, it housed a 95 foot long 224-lever National interlocking frame and was the world's largest mechanical interlocking plant.  Built in 1895 (I believe) it was taken out of service and demolished in 2000.  Many railroads crossed there and, if I remember correctly, seven different lineups could be made at the same time and the signals cleared and none be in conflict with any other.  I grew up there and made many, many lineups.   

The one I remember was in Indiana right outside of Chicago. It was a beehive, with around 6 railroads converging on the area.

Bill Rettberg
Bel Air, MD

Neat photo, valmont - including with the tilted "toilet annex".

But agree with the previous post about the one-and-only (and truly worthy of the title) THE State Line Tower in Hammond, Indiana. An incredible facility and trainwatching spot, for all of the reasons mentioned above. I was lucky enough to spend a couple of hours or so inside one time, tagging along with a railfan buddy of mine from Chicago. He had much more chutzpah than I to walk in, say hi to the operator(s), make himself at home, and not get the bum's rush to get the hell off the property. Even when the trainmaster walked in. I never developed the touch he had to do that - but I benefited from it more than a few times.

Including one unforgettable afternoon in THE State Line Tower in Hammond, Indiana. Anything else, interesting though it may be, doesn't even come close. Did Bruce ever get there? I'll bet he did. And probably felt exactly the same way. There's only one...

MC

I never have been to the one in the picture but I hope Frank Burns paid a visit to the outhouse!

In addition to State Line Tower near Chicago, that the Wabash ran by, the Wabash had it's own State Line on the Detroit St. Louis mainline btw Indiana and Illinoios. There was a small depot there but no need for an interlocking tower.

Victor Baird