Tower A-2, Chicago, Ill.
As Metra MILW-N 2102 rounds the bend at Western Ave. and begins to clatter across the complex manual interlocking at Tower A-2, the window of the cab car's end door fills quickly with a wealth of contrasting concepts: light and dark, fire and ice, and a 21st century commuter operation kept fluid by control of flame, a skill mastered by early humans 400,000 years ago.
Here at Tower A-2, Union Pacific's West Line crosses the artery that feeds the Milwaukee North (to Fox Lake, Ill.) and West (to Elgin, Ill.) routes as well as North Central Service (to Antioch, Ill.) and Amtrak (to Milwaukee, Wis.), easily making this interlocking on Chicago's Northwest side the single busiest point on Metra's Chicago commuter network. Besides this impressive superlative, Tower A-2 remains home to one of the most significant concentration of Pennsylvania Railroad-style PL position lights (two of which are seen here displaying Clear aspects) and during the winter is kept alive by a large bank of direct flame point heaters that often elicit a series of phone calls from concerned commuters that "Metra's tracks are on fire!!"
Tower A-2, Chicago, Ill.
As Metra MILW-N 2102 rounds the bend at Western Ave. and begins to clatter across the complex manual interlocking at Tower A-2, the window of the cab car's end door fills quickly with a wealth of contrasting concepts: light and dark, fire and ice, and a 21st century commuter operation kept fluid by control of flame, a skill mastered by early humans 400,000 years ago.
Here at Tower A-2, Union Pacific's West Line crosses the artery that feeds the Milwaukee North (to Fox Lake, Ill.) and West (to Elgin, Ill.) routes as well as North Central Service (to Antioch, Ill.) and Amtrak (to Milwaukee, Wis.), easily making this interlocking on Chicago's Northwest side the single busiest point on Metra's Chicago commuter network. Besides this impressive superlative, Tower A-2 remains home to one of the most significant concentration of Pennsylvania Railroad-style PL position lights (two of which are seen here displaying Clear aspects) and during the winter is kept alive by a large bank of direct flame point heaters that often elicit a series of phone calls from concerned commuters that "Metra's tracks are on fire!!"