A5
Train #336, the eastbound Hiawatha, flies past the decommissioned Tower A5 behind a former Pepsi Can B32-8WH. Word on the street has it that rebuilt GP38-2s are on the way to replace the B32s in yard service at 14th Street.
Tower A5 opened in 1942 with an all-relay electric machine that replaced a 104-lever mechanical interlocking installed in 1899. It was located at the junction of the busy Chicago-Milwaukee and Chicago-Council Bluffs mainlines and the primarily industrial Bloomindale Line heading east towards Division Street/Goose Island.
During World War II, A5 saw as many as 200 trains a day. Almost all of the Milwaukee Road's passenger trains, the famed Hiawathas, commuter trains, and Union Pacific long-distance trains interchanged with the Milwaukee in Omaha, funneled through A5 on their final approach to Chicago well up until the formation of Amtrak in 1971. A few scheduled road freights, patrols, and Western Avenue and Division Street transfers were also regulars at A5.
The tower closed in 2015, the Bloomingdale Line was removed, and the interlocking was essentially split into three different control points. Today, Metra commuter trains, Hiawatha regional trains, the Empire Builder, and 3-4 regular freights continue to rumble through A5 on any given day.
A5
Train #336, the eastbound Hiawatha, flies past the decommissioned Tower A5 behind a former Pepsi Can B32-8WH. Word on the street has it that rebuilt GP38-2s are on the way to replace the B32s in yard service at 14th Street.
Tower A5 opened in 1942 with an all-relay electric machine that replaced a 104-lever mechanical interlocking installed in 1899. It was located at the junction of the busy Chicago-Milwaukee and Chicago-Council Bluffs mainlines and the primarily industrial Bloomindale Line heading east towards Division Street/Goose Island.
During World War II, A5 saw as many as 200 trains a day. Almost all of the Milwaukee Road's passenger trains, the famed Hiawathas, commuter trains, and Union Pacific long-distance trains interchanged with the Milwaukee in Omaha, funneled through A5 on their final approach to Chicago well up until the formation of Amtrak in 1971. A few scheduled road freights, patrols, and Western Avenue and Division Street transfers were also regulars at A5.
The tower closed in 2015, the Bloomingdale Line was removed, and the interlocking was essentially split into three different control points. Today, Metra commuter trains, Hiawatha regional trains, the Empire Builder, and 3-4 regular freights continue to rumble through A5 on any given day.