CTC Control Point

[NW Mailing List]

As the Division was put on TC one interlocking at a time, most sections' 
control was centralized in a tower before being further centralized in 
Bluefield, but my dates and timeline are fuzzy. Installation started 
around WWII to increase traffic density. Similar to Eckman closing after 
the North Fork realignment, Bluestone Tower (Bluestone west through 
Maybeury, the branch to Pocahontas and the Bluestone Branch eventually 
to Giatto) closed in 1950 with the Elkhorn (Tunnel) realignment, perhaps 
making it the first board in Bluefield. TC from Bluestone east skipped a 
tower and went straight to Bluefield in the mid-50's, presumably 
including HQ Tower in Bluefield, Virginia. Ed has Tug closing in 1962 
and Iaeger Tower held out into the 70's.

Who controlled what/when was a moving target, but signal numbers can 
help indicate where control points were eventually assigned. Tug Tower 
(originally) faced south, so eastward signals were lined by a lever 
thrown to the left, westward to the right, thus eastward signal numbers 
had a suffix "L", westward a suffix "R". Eckman to the east of Tug and 
Iaeger Tower to the west both faced north, so their L(eft) and R(ight) 
signal numbers were reversed per direction. The resulting signal numbers 
would seem to indicate that Iaeger indeed had Wilmore to the east and 
that Tug eventually extended west to Roderfield. Iaeger would expand 
west to include Alnwick, beyond which Devon Tower picked up where the 
signal numbers reversed again. These results synced with the 
recollections of operators.

Grant Carpenter

On 8/10/2017 8:16 AM, NW Mailing List wrote:
> I was working at Wilcoe Yard in 1962 and spent evenings at Tug Tower 
> waiting to go to work at 11PM.  Tug’s territory extended from west of 
> Farm on the west end (Iaeger had the middle track at Wilmore and the 
> crossovers at Davy) east to include the double crossovers at Huger.  
> Tug was closed that year, and I had to spend my evenings at Iaeger Tower.
> EdKing
> *From:* NW Mailing List
> *Sent:* Wednesday, August 09, 2017 7:48 PM
> *To:* nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
> *Subject:* Re: CTC Control Point
> Mr. Fisher,
>
> From what I understand...
>
> Tug Tower's control eventually expanded east to include crossovers at 
> Big Four when they were put on power, but no farther. Westbounds hit 
> Tug's bell at Kimball. The "tower" that controlled east of Kimball to 
> the east end of Powhatan Middle Track (Elkhorn) was the Eckman Yard 
> Office. Control would have moved to Bluefield in 1952 after Eckman 
> Yard was closed and with completion of the main line realignment east 
> of North Fork.
>
> Grant Carpenter
>
> On 8/7/2017 4:50 PM, NW Mailing List wrote:
>>
>> In 1952 the double-track main line between Powhattan and Big Four was 
>> placed under CTC. Where was it initially controlled from?  Tug Tower 
>> or the dispatcher in Bluefield?
>>
>> Glenn Fisher
>>

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