Eastern Railroad Discussion > Dolton Tower is gone

On Friday, August 4, Dolton Tower was demolished. It was one of the largest towers in the Chicago area with 172 levers. Built by PRR, control later passed to PC and Conrail. In 1996 IHB took over. Traffic thru the junction is now controlled by IHB's East Dispatcher.

About two months ago, CTC was installed at Dolton and the tower was shut down. I'm told PTC equipment was also included but has not yet been activated.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/08/17 07:53 by calumet.

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I was lucky enough to get invited up for a visit there well over 25 years ago. What a neat place that was!

When the PRR still went thru Dolton to Logansport,IN, it must have been wild with trains crossing at many angles.

calumet Wrote:
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> On Friday, August 4, Dolton Tower was demolished.
> It was one of the largest towers in the Chicago
> area with 172 levers. Built by PRR, control later
> passed to PC and Conrail. In 1996 IHB took over.
> Traffic thru the junction is now controlled by
> IHB's East Dispatcher.
>
> About two months ago, CTC was installed at Dolton
> and the tower was shut down. I'm told PTC
> equipment was also included but has not yet been
> activated.

Too bad the largest S&F mechanical machine wasn't a steam engine.

TAW

Thank you for the news and the photo. Looks like Ralph E. on the left.
I had been wondering if the tower was still standing, but was afraid to ask.
Another iconic part of the glory days of railroading is gone.

Was any part of the level frame or model board saved?

Ralph used to invite my dad and I up there to switch some of the levers when you could park next to the diamond. Hard to believe it was 20 years ago. When was the photo taken?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/08/17 15:25 by WLE2679.

That's surprising; I figured when they put the new siding on that it was going to be around for a while.

Andy

AndyBrown Wrote:
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> That's surprising; I figured when they put the new
> siding on that it was going to be around for a
> while.
>
> Andy

Painting, siding, or any improvements to an interlocking tower
were generally a precursor to its demise.

WLE2679 Wrote:
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> Ralph used to invite my dad and I up there to
> switch some of the levers when you could park next
> to the diamond. Hard to believe it was 20 years
> ago. When was the photo taken?

The photo was taken around 1995 give or take a couple of years. The operator is sitting at the desk and is obscured by the guy in the dark blue coat. It wasn't Ralph Eisenbrandt, but I forget his name.

mbrotzman Wrote:
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> Was any part of the level frame or model board
> saved?

Yes, some parts went to the Hoosier Valley Rail Museum in North Judson, IN. Not sure what happened to the rest. IHB may have them stored somewhere.

Would have been awesome if they had converted it to a viewing platform, although public access would have been difficult. Sad to see another Chicagoland tower's demise

Neighborhood concerns aside, Dolton is the idea for a nice railfanning platform. The area behind the baseball park in the North West quadrant would probably be the best location, although something along the UP-IHB connector behind the police station in the South East quadrant would work well also.

I was only inside the tower one time...I just wanted to compare it with

stateline towe as I was a original c.w.i. leverman ( one of the younger ones ) we are all in our mid 50's now !!!