Railroad Forums 

  • What Were the Roles of the Towers Along the New York Line?

  • Discussion Related to the Reading Company 1833-1976 and it's predecessors Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road and then the Philadelphia and Reading Railway.
Discussion Related to the Reading Company 1833-1976 and it's predecessors Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road and then the Philadelphia and Reading Railway.

Moderator: Franklin Gowen

 #701504  by westernfalls
 
In the early 20th Century arrangement, these were the New York Branch towers in New Jersey:
Trenton Junction
Ewing West End
Ewing East End
Glenmore West End
Glenmore East End
Skillman (?)
Hamilton West End
Hamilton East End
Port Reading Junction (a LV operation)
Bound Brook Junction (a CNJ operation)

Double track with center sidings was the big deal; the tower let you in and you let yourself out at the
middle switches unless instructed to run through.

In the teens the line was substantially improved. The functions of Ewing West End were brought in to Trenton
Junction with a table interlocking. Glenmore got a new tower to begin the four-tracked section, along with new
towers at Hopewell, Belle Meade, and Weston. Manville yard was extended to Weston along with the Port Reading
Branch.

Skillman, perhaps a left-over tower from the prior arrangement, was closed in the 1930's, and Ewing East End
became a remote controlled function of Trenton Junction in 1933.

In the early 1950's the entire line was rationalized with remote control machines at West Trenton (formerly known as
Trenton Junction) and Weston. See: http://rrsignal.com/railroad/towers.htm
The fourth (westward) track was mostly removed and the now center track was made bi-directional. The intermediate
towers were closed and higher speed crossovers installed. A new tower was constructed atop the battery house at
Trenton Junction and the original tower demolished. The remote locations acquired their short names at that
time: Glen, Hope, and Meade.

The three-track arrangement didn't last long; the westward track disappeared in pieces in the late 1950's, but the
bi-directional operation remained on the former center track. Hope was the first to lose its crossovers in the early 1960's.
Port Reading Junction, by now a curious name for the LV crossing, was remoted by the LV in 1955. Bound Brook Junction was
wiped out by a B&O freight train in 1969 and replaced by an operator in a trailer before the CNJ remoted it in the 1970's.

The rest survived until Conrail single-tracked it.
[This story is substantially correct, short of a major research effort.]
 #702784  by ReadingCrusader
 
Westernfalls,

Thank you for providing me with such a detailed response about those towers! You have given me a much better understanding

However, I have a few questions,

Upon looking at the pictures from www.thebluecomet.com , (about 1974) it appears that GLEN, HOPE, and MEAD had been abandoned and unused for at least five years prior. Was their territory instead operated by TRENT, and Bound Brook Junction?

Where was the Glenmoore East End tower located? Perhaps near the station? Or just across the Stony Brook bridge (which was modified at one time to accommodate four tracks)? I know for sure that the West End tower was located just north of the North Main street bridge in Pennington.

Again, thanks for the great information.

ReadingCrusader
 #702861  by westernfalls
 
ReadingCrusader wrote:Upon looking at the pictures from http://www.thebluecomet.com , (about 1974) it appears that GLEN, HOPE, and MEAD had been abandoned and unused for at least five years prior. Was their territory instead operated by TRENT, and Bound Brook Junction?
Those towers remained standing for many years after they were decommissioned in 1952. A careful inspection of the photos at http://rrsignal.com/railroad/towers.htm will reveal who controlled what.
amtrakhogger wrote:Trenton Junction tower was "CN" under the Reading and "TRENT" under Conrail. TRENT was closed in 1997 and remotely controlled from Septa Wind.
CN Tower West Trenton acquired its short name on Feb. 1, 1969, as did almost every other Reading Co. tower that was still open at the time.