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Ode to Spring Hill
This past week has been tolerable, even (I dare say) somewhat pleasant. The usual stupidity has been reduced to a shell of is former self so to speak. There were a few days there where it was like the days of old and it was actually sort of fun to be in the "Big Seat" moving the nation's freight and in general just kinda watching trains.
My big "Closet in the Sky" can be a real good place to get pictures of CSX trains, as well as Soo trains. I came in one afternoon after my shift to give the second trick guy a hard time and, mainly, to Xerox some documents. As I was losing an argument with the Xerox machine, I happened to notice that unlike all of the other windows which are painted shut, the main peanut gallery facing the CSX is indeed capable of opening! So I indulge my curiosity and sure enough they open rather nicely. And the proximity of these windows leaves the shooter out of the operator's way and affords some rather beautiful shots, especially for southbound trains past afternoon. To the best of my recollection there are no wires of any kind in the way for the shots! This is just too good to be true. So before this tower goes by the wayside I think it would only be fitting to shoot a ton of Kodachrome as a parting gesture.
I have been told that the foundation for the new building is done and the framing is underway. Also, the signal crews will begin their chore of automating the plant at Spring Hill. I have never been in the position I am finding myself, in that this tower with its rich history and storied past will be gone in a matter of months. I had the opportunity to talk to some of the older heads last time I was in Minneapolis and I asked them what it was like.
To a person, they all said it was sad and eerie all at the same time. It is hard to think that after 100 years or more that this tower, having been through storms and accidents and all of the rest, would succumb to the pressures of economics. I feel very fortunate to have worked two towers in my time so far, B-17 in Bensenville and this one in Spring Hill. I guess to someone who has never worked a tower, they are messy and dirty pieces of insignificant architecture. And I would suppose that if I didn't have this appreciation of the railroad and its history, I might feel the same way.
But once you have worked in a tower, they become sort of like a second home. You spend the bulk of your time there alone, your only link to the outside world being your radio and block line or telephone. These towers take on a special charm once you have spent some time in them. They are utilitarian to a tee, but the operators tend to give them a personality to make them just a little more palatable. And these personality upgrades are what endear the tower to the operators.
Tonight I am taking in the personality charms of this tower. It is a relatively small place, with a few windows and those annoying fluorescent lights. The walls are done up in a 1970's wood grained paneling which has a certain amount of gaudiness but makes this tower unique. The interlocking machine is very old and constructed from cast and forged steel. It is so old that the "pistol grips" are rubbed smooth from all of the years of operation. In the lower level of this tower one is struck by the dichotomy between old and new. The massive timbers that support the interlocking machine look like something out of a medieval castle. They appear to be true 6 x 18's at about 20 feet long and coated in creosote. They are spaced about 36" on center and are yellow pine or perhaps oak. Over the years people have taken chalk and added their mark so to speak: "KKS, 1945", "Derailment 3-16-1952", and so on.
Also over the years, "modern" upgrades have been added. These include a toilet, central air conditioning and heating, and modern electrical upgrades. Then, in very recent years, still more upgrades have been added in the form of computer servers and CDRC II central control unit. So you have 1890's timbers next to 1990's computer racks. The "Death Chamber" is likewise an assortment of hand me downs and upgrades from over the years. Storage racks from the 1940's next to Nokia computer monitors from 1996. And I guess it is this particular blend that makes Spring Hill what it is.
Of course, towers also have a unique smell of their own as well. This particular tower has the immediate odor or oil, tar, and cigarette smoke from years past. The air tends to be on the stale side, although if the air is kept on this is minimized. There is also the smell, very slight albeit, of burnt dinner emanating from the microwave. And of course no tower would be complete without it's resident refrigerator. This pygmy stands about waist high and is stocked full of science experiments gone awry. The actual age of these medical wonders cannot accurately be determined. When the question is raised as to the ownership and age of a particular item, it's blank stares and shoulder shrugging. Not exactly comforting.
There are also items in drawers and on shelves that have no purpose and, even scarier yet, no possible use in the last 3 or 4 decades. Lever parts that are long since obsolete. References to levers that haven't been there since the Truman era. All of this in my tower.
Over the years the constant pounding of trains has thrown the tower out of square, and when doors are replaced or storm windows added, they have to be specially cut to conform to the now out of square openings. It's hard to comprehend the forces that can shake a tower some 50 feet away to the point that monitors and shelves shake.
There are 3 walls full of bulletins of every conceivable type. The other day I was going through them and found the dispatchers seniority roster....from 1973! I guess someone really wanted that one! I found about 1000 manila letter envelopes from about 1980, all with Milwaukee Road insignias! There was even a Milwaukee Road system phone book from 1980! Very neat, to say the least.
But again I am brought back to the impending doom for this tower. By August it could be history, and all of this could be gone.
Be sure to check out the assortment of photos from inside Spring Hill, shot by Mike.
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Editorial content (C) 1998 Mike Dettmers
