DOES ANYONE REMEMBER THE TOWER IN CRANFORD ?

GREETINGS, FELLOW VALLEY ENTHUISIASTS. YOU MIGHT KNOW ME FROM MY DAYS RUNNING OUT OF OAK ISLAND. YOU MAY HAVE SEEN MY EBAY AUCTIONS, UNDER THE SELLERS NAME OF "LEHIGHVALLEYRAILROAD". I NEED YOUR HELP. I GREW UP AT CENTENNIAL AVE, IN CRANFORD, IN THE VERY EARLY 60'S. LIVED IN THE HOUSE RIGHT AGAINST THE VALLEY, ON THE SOUTH EAST SIDE OF THE BRIDGE. IN THE BACK YARD, UP ON THE RIGHT-OF-WAY, WAS A TOWER, ALMOST IDENTICAL TO NK TOWER, DOWN AT NEWARK. I BELIEVE IT CONTROLLED THE RAILROAD BETWEEN TOWNLEY, AND GOODMANS, BEFORE THIS WAS ALL HANDED OVER TO NK. TOWER WAS RAZED, IN LATE 60'S, AND I NEVER DID GET A PICTURE. DOES ANYONE ELSE REMEMBER THIS TOWER, AND THE SERVICE ROAD THAT WENT DOWN TO THE B&O "MAINLINE", ALONGSIDE THE INTERCHANGE TRACKS ? GOT A PICTURE, YOU COULD SHARE ? REGARDS, DAVE......P.S., YES, AVRO, I AM TRAPPED IN A CAPS LOCK FACTORY !!!

Well, You might want to quit your job at the caps lock factory. It is VERY hard to read in all caps like that.

Somtimes work in the CAPS LOCK FACTORY is all a retired Valley man can find in these tough times....Better than working for NS on a single tracked New Jersey Division mainline! LOL!

Honestly, I never understood the whole "caps are hard to read, stop shouting" problem people have - If I was trying to get my point accross, I 'd use a huge font , underline it, italicize it, and use an exclamation point!

Not that I am trying too, mind you.......

OK, NOW TO BE ON TOPIC.........

G-A, I know exactly where you speak of, but I didn't know there was ever a tower, but I'l look into that for you........I could take some modern day pics for you, seeing that you are down in Florida, if you'd like.
I am really intregued by the existance of a tower there at one time.......I wil lreport back soon!

Car Floater
S. Plainfield, NJ
"Full Speed To 149th St. Or Bust!"

"MR FLOATER", I AM GLAD TO SEE YOU HERE. HOPE THE LVRR STUFF I JUST MAILED YOU ARRIVED ALRIGHT. (NOW YOU KNOW MY EBAY NAME). IF YOU PARK AT CENTENNIAL, ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE BRIDGE, AND WALK EAST, ON THE DIRT ROAD ALONG THE TRACKS, YOU WILL GO TO THE END OF THE FENCE, OF THE HOUSE ON THE RIGHT.(MY OLD HOUSE) FROM THIS POINT, WALK UP THE EMBANKMENT, AND LOOK AROUND, YOU SHOULD SEE THE OUTLINE OF THE TOWER, BY THE REMAINS OF THE SLAB, IT SAT ON. I AGREE, IF I WANTED TO YELL, I WOULD GO "HUGE" !!! (I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO TYPE, AND AS I AM USING TWO FINGERS, I REALLY DO NOT HAVE TIME TO TRY TO WORRY ABOUT UPPER/LOWER CASE NONSENSE.) THAT TOWER WAS ACROSS FROM THE LUMBER YARD, WHICH WAS (IS ?) ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE MAIN. IT WAS A WOODEN, PLANKED SIDING TOWER, WITH A RATHER SMALL "FOOTPRINT". IT WAS OUT OF SERVICE, IN '66, DON'T REMEMBER MUCH ABOUT IT, BEFORE THEN. "HAPPY HUNTING", DAVE

Hi G-Arm
My Uncle lived 2-3 doors down from there (towards Cranford) on a corner house, from early '50's to early '60's. When we visited (mostly Christmas holidays), I used to sneak out and try to access that bridge over Centenial Ave. I remember a great deal of freight traffic there, many times stopped dead on the bridge. I don't remember the Signalbox, but I returned there last August for the first time in 40+ years....the area, except for the reduced railway hardware, has hardly changed. Thanks for the memories!

HELLO, S.S. WAS THE HOUSE ACROSS THE STREET, FROM THE LITTLE SODA FOUNTAIN/DRUGSTORE, OR ON THE SAME SIDE ? WE USED TO SNEAK DOWN THE OTHER WAY, TO GO HANG OUT AT EXCEE, AND IN THE OLD WOODEN CABOOSE THERE, THAT WAS BEING USED AS A YARD OFFICE. THE AREA HAS UNDERGONE SOME CHANGES, SINCE I LAST VISITED, BACK IN 93. REGARDS, DAVE

I believe across the street; it was the downstairs half of a 2-story house, next to a wooden horse blocking half the street at the corner (now one-way); incredibly, I remember when that horse was put there, in the late '50's, and it's still there! The RR bridge still has a painted LV logo faintly visible; the same day I checked out the area, I accessed the two-track LV connection (track still in place, but very overgrown) with the Staten Island B&O line (Staten Island Junction). Whole area is fascinating.

Hey CF, guess what? I was just going through my LV in color book, by Yanosey, and on page 25, there it is! A 1967 photo of a train passing SIRT junction, with the tower in the background. Too small to see, and unable to even guess the colors, but just behind that tower was our house, on Centennial ave, right at the foot of the right of way. Maybe this pic will help you judge where to walk around, and find the slab, or "footprint" of the structure? Regards

I too grew up in Cranford in the late 50's and early 60's and clearly remember the tower. I spent most of my time down at the current day Aldene where the LV crossed the CNJ at grade. The LV was always quiet in those days with all of the traffic on the CNJ. I might have a photo of the tower in my old archives.

PS: My mom taught school across the street at Centennial Ave School for years.

park

Hey Park, welcome aboard. I also remember the Centennial High school, as the location of the model railroad expo, held every year, I think sponsored by the Westfield model railroad club? I used to get a lot of great stuff there, and I saved all year, to shop there. I was going to build a model of the tower, but I need at leat one decent shot, to approximate the dimensions, and if I could get slab measurements from there as well, it would be perfect. Will also do NK, and probably Bellewood, as well. There was a real cool concrete and brick tower, at Oak Island, as well, on the west hump side. It went from ground level, down where the CNJ was, up to the top of the hump. This was the "ground floor" for the tower, and it was two stories tall, from there. So really, it was almost 5 stories tall, tucked under the side of the NJ turnpike bridge. If you come across a decent shot, would love to see it. Thanks

A post question response, from myself, to anyone interested. While looking through the LVRR book by Greenbrg and Fischer, I noticed the picture on page 130, at the top, and it became clear. I lived in the house, just out of camera range, to the southwest of this shot. It's about 50 feet from the battery box, in the lower right corner. From my point of view (as a kid, in the early 60's) the "tower" was actually the station, in the picture. From my house, the "tower" went from ground level, at the street grade, to the ROW grade, almost 20 feet above the street. Add to this, the stations height, above the ROW, and there you have it, "instant tower". It looks almost 30 feet tall, from the driveway, and parking lot, that were between it, and my house. I made many a trip, up those stairs, to watch trains, or talk with the operator/agent. This was an attended building, until I moved away. I don't know if he was an operator, agent or MOW foreman, but he did get me my first cab ride, on the LV 112, in late '64, or early '65. There was (is?) a slab, at or near that location, and it's either a partial floor in the station, or it's the floor, in the tool shed, seen in the background. I stopped many a train short, while being held at Aldene, while running eastbound, and just enjoyed the ability to reminisce about the times spent trackside, with my grandfather, and father, watching the F's and FA's pulling fast freights by, at speed. I knew I wasn't crazy, remembering a "tower" at this location!!!