Circa 1894 - Anderson Indiana

The CCC&StL was newly formed when this photo was taken. To the right is a new 4-6-0 built by Brooks switching the yard near downtown Anderson. The smoke and blur of the drivers indicate that it is backing. The structure to the right is the new Big Four Freight House between Jackson Street and Meridian. Over the top of it can be seen a water tower. That was later moved North of the track to the Northwest corner of Central Avenue. On the left is the new 1887 Big Four Station. Note that there are no buildings to the left of the station. They hadn't been built yet.
Photo from the Madison County Historical Society Collection.

Who would have thought a double slip switch would have been needed in Anderson?

Remember, this was just before the turn of the last century. There were a lot of things we had then that we don't have now.

Also, it didn't matter so much if something was maintenance-intensive, because labor was cheap; and with so many hand-thrown switches, having a compact layout would have minimized the time spent in running from one switch to another to line the next one.