The B&M tower list

Let's get the list done; don't think it will take long, but I think it'll illustrate somewhat how labor-intensive railroading used to be.

I'll start with 3 that I've been in:

FA in Lawrence
BO in Lowell
Lowell Jct. in--Lowell Jct.!!

Salem Tower (still standing) in former wye by current station.
Lynn Tower (through the late 1950s, foundation still visible).
Newburyport Tower (till maybe 1940, foundation recently filled in, N of tracks west of High St.)
Tower A (North Station)
Tower C (Sullivan Sq.)
Tower H (IIRC, at the high line underpass)
-another tower by the Fitchburg west of BET FX?
Ayer Tower
East Fitchburg?
Gardner Tower
East Deerfield (go back far enough and there was at least one in Greenfield, too)
North Adams
Johnsonville
XO at Mechanicville (or was this actually D&H?)
Winchester Tower
Manchester, NH Tower
Concord Tower
Worcester towers were all NH or B&A, at least by 1940 or so.

Tower A (three different and the current 1928 tower is in Charlestown, not North Station)
Tower B (Hoosac Tunnel Diamond/Prison Point)
Tower C (Actually it was located at what is now FX Interlocking)
Tower D (Sullivan Square, although it could be Tower E)
Tower E
Tower G
Medford Jct (This may have been Tower G)
Mystic Jct Tower (Yard 8 Hump at Washington St)
Tower X (replaced Tower C and Mystic, located in a 2nd floor room at Mystic Junction)
Tower H (original - located where the Yard 8/7 bridge over the Fitchburg Route was)
Tower H (Interim GE Leasing Trailer located just south of Tower H)
Tower H (2nd Floor west side of BET overlooking Yard 14)
Yard 5 Tower (yardmaster's tower, located against the Lowell mainline at FX)
BX Tower was west of Fitchburg station
Waltham Tower (OD)
Winchester Tower (Q)
E Deerfield Tower was called WX
Gardner Tower (was a dispatcher's tower)
West Cambridge Tower
Wilmington Jct Tower
MC - Mechanicville (B&M)
WA - Springfield
NO - Northampton

And there was a B&A Tower at Everett Jct

D

FA Tower (Lawrence)
JK Tower (Lawrence, south end of yard)
North Chelmsford Tower
Dover Tower (dispatcher's office)
AR (Arundel Rd/Maine)

D

Salem Tower was in a slightly different location; it was moved about 1950 or so when Bridge Street was elevated to run over the tracks instead of crossing at grade. Bridge Street bridge was sometimes called the Salem Tunnel Extension.

GP40MC1118 wrote: AR (Arundel Rd/Maine)

That would be Alfred Road, located in Biddeford.

Right...duh...

D

A More detailed list:

Tower A #1 6/18/1894
Tower A #2 1/14/1914
Tower A #3 9/27/1931
Tower B 3/1894 Transferred to Tower A 9/13/1931
Tower C Retired 1971
Tower D E. Somerville (Sullivan Square)
Tower E Medford Jct
Tower F E. Cambridge (Southern Div mainline/freight leads)
Tower G May have been Mystic Jct Tower originally
Tower H Closed 9/11/95. Razed 10/02/95
Tower X Retired 9/19/87
Ayer Blt 5/1928 Closed 1/09/80
Yard 5 Retired 1973
Mystic Jct Retired 5/74. Razed 1976
BX Tower Retired 11/16/79 (Fitchburg)
Lowell Jct Retired 11/16/65
Lowell Retired 11/02/84
Middlesex St Tower (Lowell). Retired 1901
Salem Retired 3/02/92
Winchester Retired 10/23/82
Crescent Tower (QS) (New York)
Rockingham Jct
W.Peabody
Draw 7 (Mystic River)

The B&M Historical Society did an extensive article on Boston area towers many years ago including great photos of Towers A, B and others.

I have been to the North Chelmsford wye and Lowell Junction and never noticed any foundations visible. Does anyone know where the towers were located at either of those locations?

The Tower at Lowell Jct. was a combination station/tower located on the Western Route mainline just west of Lowell Jct. Road, if you go there today, you can still see remnants of the old station platform, the vacant lot is still there where this building once stood.

After that last post, I decided to look through some old photos and came up with this shot of Lowell Jct. taken during WWII by the late Donald Robinson, a good friend and former co-worker. The photo is taken looking east, the grade crossing at Lowell Jct. Road can be seen in the short distance and the home signal coming off the Lowell Branch is indicated by the crudely drawn arrow.

Thank you for the information and a thousand thank yous for taking the time to look up the photo. For some reason I always look for the tower at the northeast corner of the wye, and I don't know why (no pun intended).

bmcdr wrote:After that last post, I decided to look through some old photos and came up with this shot of Lowell Jct. taken during WWII by the late Donald Robinson, a good friend and former co-worker. The photo is taken looking east, the grade crossing at Lowell Jct. Road can be seen in the short distance and the home signal coming off the Lowell Branch is indicated by the crudely drawn arrow.

bmcdr,
Looking at this map: http://docs.unh.edu/MA/wlmg50ne.jpg, does the small square black dot directly accross the Western Route from the words "Lowell Junction" represent the location for this tower/station?

Thank you very much,
Stephen

That's quite the map Stephen, it even shows the old B&M roundhouse at Wilmington at the bottom right corner. In answer to your question, yes, I do believe that square speck represents the station/tower.

bmcdr wrote:That's quite the map Stephen, it even shows the old B&M roundhouse at Wilmington at the bottom right corner. In answer to your question, yes, I do believe that square speck represents the station/tower.

Do you mean this roundhouse http://photos.nerail.org/s/?p=61865 ??
SOMEONE posted a picture of it on NERAIL.
Since I live a few hundred feet west of the Wildcat (near the Clark Street crossing) it is my favorite photo on NERAIL....

Yes, I really like the old usgs maps, I refer to them and the Historic Aerial site http://www.historicaerials.com/ a great deal.

Thanks for getting back to me,
Stephen