ATSF Coaling Towers - Chicago Area

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

The following photo is an aerial view of the ATSF coach yard and engine servicing facility at 18th Street just south of Dearborn Station. The photo was taken in 1929.

You can see the turntable and roundhouse but nowhere do I see a coaling tower although ATSF was running steam in 1929 for sure. Apparently, the Chicago-area coaling tower was somewhere else in the Chicago area. Does anyone have any info and/or photos to share?

Thanks

Rich

2

I know nothing at all about this topic, but I wonder if the coaling tower would be better placed where it would be of use to engines on the move…that is, nearer the A/D tracks and not right at the 'house and table.

-Crandell

3

Crandell, I had similar thoughts, but Dearborn station, out of the picture but just above and a little to the right, is just a ‘stones throw’ from this engine facility separated by maybe half mile or so of concentrated/congested trackage. And I can’t really believe there would be a coaling tower around Dearborn station. (Who needs sooty customers, snooty is bad enough!)

Wonder if perhaps a conveyer type loader may be lurking about?

Art

4

Having been raised in the steam era (Yep,I’m giving away my age) I look for coaling towers. There are precious few in Michigan and most are off the mainline. There is, however, still one standing in Lansing, MI that straddles double or triple main track (I don’t remember which) and has a side track for coal cars to unload their cargo into the tower. It can be viewed on Bing.

There are several around Michigan, but the ones I remember most were off the main. Pontiac and Durand come to mind.

5

I have seen tons of pictures of Dearborn Station and surrounding areas from all different time periods, but no coaling towers. If not south of downtown Chicago, it must have been at Joliet or points farther southwest. But, I gotta believe with the number of steamers coming into the ATSF yard at 18th Street after discharging passengers at Dearborn Satation, there had to be a coaling tower somewhere in the immediate vicinity.

Rich

6

I bet there was a coaling tower at or near Corwith Yard.

http://www.atsfrr.com/resources/Sandifer/Corwith/Chicago600.jpg]

http://www.atsfrr.com/resources/Sandifer/Corwith/Index.htm

1943 color photographs by Jack Delano. “Santa Fe R.R. freight train about to leave for the West Coast from Corwith yard, Chicago, Ill.”

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/fsac/1a34000/1a34600/1a34699v.jpg

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/fsac/1a34000/1a34700/1a34702v.jpg

Mike

7

Mike,

Corwith Yard is a real possibility, I suppose.

I cannot help wondering, however, why steam engines would travel so far from the engine servicing facility at 18th Street and Wentworth to 43rd Street and Lawndale, a nearly 8 mile trip one way or more than 17 miles round trip to coal up, then return to the 18th street round house or Dearborn Station at 8th and Dearborn.

But, what do I know?

Rich

8

Above the roundhouse there are two storage type buildings, there appears to be a tower structure right above the furthest one and it has an attached elevating structure. Could that be the coaling tower?

9

We will likely get an answer from someone here, but in the meantime I’ll suggest that there may have been a coaling tower along the mainline near (but not within) Corwith Yard. Locomotives could ‘coal up’ on their way to Dearborn Station or on their way west toward Joliet. Perhaps Joliet may have been the coaling stop, both eastward and westward.

They would have to make similar coaling stops along the way to wherever their westward destination might be.and this would just be another coaling stop.

10

During 1951, I worked 2nd shift at Corwith tower at the north end of the yards . ATSF freight trains had to cross the GM&O tracks to get in or out of Corwith. Passenger trains were diesel powered at that time, but I can’t imagine that one powered by steam would try to use a coaling facility at Corwith. Unfortunately, I can’t even remember what kind of power was in use for freights at that time! Freight engines must have been serviced at Corwith, I would think.

At Glenn yard, the ATSF tracks were on the other side of the river, not along side the GM&O.

Having a coal tower at Joliet would just not be logical. It is too far from Dearborn to use for servicing locos, and too close to Dearborn to re-fuel a revenue train.

Art

11

Art, I was just speculating about Joliet. The thought was eastbounds could coal (and water if necessary) and then go into Dearborn. Then all other servicing could be done at 18th street yard. When westbound they could, if necessary, again stop at Joliet for coal. This would be about 80 miles between fuel stops when the switching mileage around Dearborn was added.

I expect someone will give us the correct answer soon.

12

I’m guessing behind the roundhouse is the water tank. ATSF may have used a standpipe to water the ponies? Any idea if they used city water or something out of the river? for the kind of service they may have had a 200K tank to serve 10-20K tenders.

There may be another picture to show the ash pit & other facilities.

13

I own a book titled “Railroading in Downtown Chicago 1958-1969” by Robert P. Olmsted. On the back cover is a 1964 photo of a Wabash E8A, running west out of Dearborn Station on the C&WI tracks, passing the ATSF turntable and round house just before 18th Street. Behind the round house is a large water tank, presumably used at one time to provide service to steam engines. Just before the turntable, there are two sanding towers, one larger and one smaller. Just before the sanding towers is a large slender structure that resembles a small coaling tower. In the photo, the base of this structure is blocked by a small shed.

The photo is black and white. The structure that resembles a small coaling tower is “white”, giving the appearance of concrete. The concrete structure is as tall as the shorter sand tower. Aside the concrete structure, and apparently connected to it, is a dark slender cylindrical structure that is higher than the taller sand tower. This dark slender cylindrical structure may have a chute (coal?) protruding from it and it also appears to have a small platform with railings on it, and that platform is slightly higher on the cylindrical structure than the top of the concrete portion of the structure.

I want to say that this structure is a coaling tower but I am not at all certain. I wish I had some way to scan the photo but I don’t and besides it would probably violate copyright law. Since the photo is from 1964, it is hard to imagine that it is a coaling tower, more than 10 years after the demise of steam on the ATSF. Nevertheless, if not a coaling tower, what is it?

I have had this book for about 5 years but never paid real close attention to the details in the photo. I hope someone else also has this book and can look at the photo on the back cover.

Rich

&nbs

14

I also wish there was greater detail in the photo. I remember seeing but one coaling tower, and that was at Durango,CO. The GM&O had a water spout in my home town but no coaling.

The site below has pictures of the few remaining towers on the ATSF. They sure were not consistent.

http://atsf.railfan.net/chutes

And the tower at Ridgely IL sure doesn’t look like the Durango one!

http://home.earthlink.net/~railroad_towers_railroadmania/coal_towers_steam_locomotives/ChicagoAndAltonRailroadSpringfieldIll.html

Art

15

Art,

Do you have the book, or are you able to view the actual photo that I am referring to ?

Rich

16

I was thinking the same thing. Another possibility is that the passenger engines used fuel oil and not coal. I believe you got more miles out of a tender of fuel oil than you did a tender of coal.

17

clarkfork may be on to something. I don’t know when the ATSF converted to oil in Illinois, but the engine below was converted to oil in 1936 soon after it was built. I doubt that 4-8-4s were used in Illinois, and the pictures of lighter weight engines, like a 4-6-2, seem to have a coal tender but with no coal visible.

http://atsf.railfan.net/atsfpres/atsf3751.html

There was definitely coal in the forties at Corwith. The slide show to the right of the picure shows of a coaling tower.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2179198626/

And also, Rich, I don’t have anything on the Santa Fe that has that picture you have in the first posting.

Art

18

Art,

I have read that the Santa Fe could not bring larger steam engines into the 18th Street yard for servicing because of the tight curves. That got me to wondering whether they used oil rather than coal on their smaller steam engines and when steam stopped coming into Dearborn Station altogether on the ATSF.

I am trying to provide pictures of that small tower that I referred to. I have some better angles and views of the structure if I can upload them.

Rich

19

Here is the photo of the structure that I referred to earlier on the left side of the photo behind the sand towers:

What is it?

20

I would hazard a guess that the two to the right are for sand. As for the larger one to the left, I’m clueless. Maybe oil? Doesn’t look large enough, but I have nothing in my background to fall back on.

Art