Nostalgia & History > South Bend's "shared track"

I always look forward to visits with my cousin in South Bend, IN, as a favorite place to spend some time is Arnold Street. This crossing is located at the west end of the downtown "shared track" that runs for a little over a mile through downtown South Bend. The GT comes into town from the northeast, joins the exNYC Conrail main track through downtown, crosses over this multi track line, then, near Arnold Street, splits and the CR and GT go their own ways west. Here, in Sept '90, a CNW runthrough train heads east across Arnold Street and the big yard at Elkhart, 12 miles away.
JB

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Here, also in Sept '90, a westbound GT train is taking the turnout at the west end of shared track heading southwest back onto GTW's own track, about to cross Arnold Street.
JB

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Here, in May '98, a westbound UP runthrough is at the west end of the downtown shared track, headed for Chicago on the exNYC Water Level Route.
JB

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And, lastly, also in May '98, a westbound CR train is coming out of the shared track. The track heading to the right is the GT main. Until the early '80's, Bend tower, located just around the curve, controlled all movements through the downtown shared track area. In addition to the junction with the GT, this is also where the old Kankakee/Streater split from the old NYC main. Unfortunately, in the early '90's, Arnold Street was closed to through traffic, and, although still accessable, the neighboorhood leaves one a little uneasy not being in sight of a vehicle.
JB

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3rdswitch Wrote:
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> And, lastly, also in May '98, a westbound CR train
> is coming out of the shared track. The track
> heading to the right is the GT main. Until the
> early '80's, Bend tower, located just around the
> curve, controlled all movements through the
> downtown shared track area. In addition to the
> junction with the GT, this is also where the old
> Kankakee/Streater split from the old NYC main.
> Unfortunately, in the early '90's, Arnold Street
> was closed to through traffic, and, although still
> accessable, the neighboorhood leaves one a little
> uneasy not being in sight of a vehicle.
> JB

According to Jon Roma's tower page, Bend tower closed 7-13-96. It stood
closed for a couple years after that, but has been razed in the last few years.
I agree about Arnold St...great place to railfan, at least during
the day :) I wasn't too comfortable there after dark. Incidently, Arnold St
was closed when they redid the junction. They changed it so GTW didn't run
over the CR, but ran parallel (there was plenty of room for an extra track
or two) to speed movements through there.

I think maybe the tower page is wrong as my cousin used to know and often visit with the tower operator when it was still open. I'll check with him once again. Anyway, I still visit Arnold street whenever I go to S.B [I'll be there in August] Even with an extra track, exGTW, now CN, trains still have to cross over the exCR tracks somewhere in this area causing delays for CN trains. Thanks for the additional input.
JB

3rdswitch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think maybe the tower page is wrong as my cousin
> used to know and often visit with the tower
> operator when it was still open. I'll check with
> him once again. Anyway, I still visit Arnold
> street whenever I go to S.B Even with an extra
> track, exGTW, now CN, trains still have to cross
> over the exCR tracks somewhere in this area
> causing delays for CN trains. Thanks for the
> additional input.

It may have closed around the time they redid the interlocking, but I
know it was open into the 90's, as I knew someone that worked there too
(although I never went inside. I did walk down and chatted with him for
a little bit)

Where was Bend Tower located?  By the overpass at Scott Street?

~Joe P.
Hainesville, IL

Reading a caption from the book "Working on the Railroad"
https://books.google.com/books?id=G23dGKTAX0MC&pg=PA122&lpg=PA122&dq=bend+tower+railroad&source=bl&ots=_xTAmciXy0&sig=OQHqEHVYJwMCI1oyWDzamzNePXE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjhkufroqfRAhVjh1QKHWNnBK8Q6AEIRTAK#v=onepage&q=bend%20tower%20railroad&f=false

"Operator Dan Kopok works Conrail's BEND tower ar South Bend, Indiana, in July 1996. Note the pistol-grip levers at right. BEND controlled Conrail's busy former New York Central Chicago Line and the crossing with Canadian National's former Grand Trunk Western Chicago and Battle Creek main line. The tower was closed in early 1997 after the two double-track lines were separated along their joint right-of-way and a more direct crossing was built west of BEND."


That caption adds some detail to the closing date and circumstances and places BEND tower east of the current crossing.