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Trains News Wire EXCLUSIVE: New tower dedicated at Illinois museum
Needs a model board to look right.
They plan to add levers that control switches and signals. Great job, museum volunteers!
Jon, Great work by you and your crew at MRM! Been following your photos, and enjoying seeing the progress! KUDOS!
FE DeVries
I am one of the volunteers at Monticello working on the Stair interlocking tower project. I appreciate the interest by TRAINS readers in our ongoing work on this tower.
To the readers asking about things such as model boards, do understand that we’re still putting on the finishing touches to the building itself. For the past special event weekend, we had just a few levers in the interlocking machine (which is ex-Santa Fe). Short-term projects are to finish restoring and installing the remaining levers for this machine. We have a second interlocking machine (of different style) to install as well.
Working model boards are definitely in the Museum’s plans. We have a Santa Fe model board for facility similar to the location where our tower’s interlocking machine originated that we plan to use as a template for fabricating a new model board.
The Museum intends to fabricate mechanical locking in our machine shop, so that the machines can accurately demonstrate 1900-era “computer technology”. Who knew that Boolean algebra was in use in railroad interlocking towers as early as the latter third of the 19th century!
The Museum will also construct an operator desk with candlestick telephone on a scissor apparatus, telegraph equipment including a patch panel, plugboard, selectors, and other items that were “standard equipment” for the many interlocking towers that once dotted the United States like train order typewriter, train order forks, and a tool board.
The Monticello Railway Museum’s vision includes real signals operated from the tower and at least one switch operated by mechanical pipeline.
The Museum has grand plans for Stair Tower, and we hope many TRAINS readers will come out to see the newest jewel of the Museum’s collection as we continue to embellish Stair Tower to depict the interlocking towers of the past.
Well done! I agree that a model board is needed, as time and funds allow. I also hope the interpretative materials and staff will help the younger generation connect modern computer technology with the lever frame and locking bed. After all, those devices were computing machines in their day.
What a great addition to this outstanding operating museum. I look forward to my next visit.
Thanks to all who worked on or contributed to this important project so far.
Steve Mitchell, Yard Goat Images
One minor correction. The freight train consist included a steam powered pile driver rather than a wrecking crane.
This was reputed to be the last piece of steam powered equipment on the IC when it was retired.
Mary McPherson