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The Last Levers on the Soo
I awoke the morning of Thursday, January 21 to the sound of thunder and the beating of rain against my bedroom window. This is the kind of sleeping weather I really enjoy. I managed to crack open one eye and locate the alarm clock. The time was 5:10 AM. I laid there for a while pondering the verities of life, when I reluctantly recalled that this would be the big day. All of the neckties from Minneapolis would be coming to oversee the coming of a new age: the closing of Spring Hill tower.
Spring Hill tower isn't really a remarkable tower by any means. More like a plain Jane box on a high foundation, it is really a classic piece of understatement. But as I lay there in bed I couldn't help but think that one more piece of history would fall silent. A working tower is really a sight to behold. There is always activity, from the ringing of the phone to the chatter of the radio to the banter of the block phone. And in days past, to the clicking of the Underwood as Form 19's were issued. Those unwieldy levers would also see their last use on this day as well.
So I finally managed to prepare myself for work, all the time wondering what this whole adventure would be like. I have never been a party to the closing of a tower, and there was a certain amount of anxiety involved in this as well. I drove over to the tower and prepared myself for a new adventure, although in reality the adventure had begun the previous Monday. Communications and Signal forces had been busily preparing for the Thursday cut over by working ahead on the existing radios and manual interlockings at Blackhawk, Beehunter, and Elnora. This involves cutting in a parallel line, activating it, and then at the time of cut over, deactivating the lines from Spring Hill. It sounds simple, but the reality is that all the little glitches and foo-foo's are found at that time. And while all of that preparation went fairly well, the remote activation of Belt Junction and Spring Hill was far from fluid. Belt Junction, it was hoped, could be activated and tested on Monday with Spring Hill coming on Tuesday. Neither of those activation dates were met. Problems with installing, adjusting, and activating the power switches as well as the track circuits put both of those dates out of the picture. So it was decided to proceed with the cut over and fix those plants as time would permit. In the case of the CSX, they went with suspended signals and block authority in both interlockings. This meant all mainline movements had to obtain the blocks, in this case the Belt and Spring blocks, before moving through the interlockings. They then had to regard all signal aspects as the most restrictive signal they could give, and obtain permission from us to go past them in compliance with the rules. Sounds easy enough, but in practice it was a continual headache. We would be trying to give track warrants while the CSX trains were continually trying to get permission.
So as I pulled up to the tower, the C&S forces were all in place awaiting their 15 minutes of fame. As I unfolded from my car I happened to notice that the outside light was still on. We normally left it on so nobody would trip on the steps leading to the tower door. These steps were fashioned from ties and had a tendency to become slippery in all but the driest of weather. And irony hit me that I would be the last one to turn that light off for the last time. Man, talk about feeling the weight of history! So anyhow, I make the stratospheric climb up to the heights of this old tower and already I can tell it will be interesting. The neckties are on the phone and the 3rd trick guy is giving me the look of pity. So I go through the turn over procedure as always and prepare to take on this challenge head on.
The first course of action is to get all mainline movements off the main. In this case there is the XL working back to Latta, so once he clears up at Latta things will be ready. So I fiddle about, and when he finally does clear up the show is then ready to begin. Now the neckties all begin to coordinate, and this really scares me. So the instructions are given: transfer all pertinent train data to the chief at Latta so he can begin a duplicate train sheet. OK, so we do this until he has a mirror copy of the sheet I have in front of me. Next chore is to transfer all CTWC authorities in the brain box to Latta so he can make a mirror image of the CTWC. Once this is done, the C&S gurus bring the circuits at Latta on line and take down the ones at Spring Hill. So the CTC goes down, the CTWC is shut down, and finally the radios go silent.
After about 20 minutes the word is given: mission accomplished. The neckties all congratulate each other, hop in their planes, and zoom back to the cities. We, however, are stuck with a few minor problems. The Spring Hill radio is dead. The interlockings at Spring Hill and the Belt still don't work, and the new phone lines for voice communications have yet to be cut over by GTE. And my instructions are to remain at Spring Hill until told to go home or until my hours expire, which ever comes first. So now I have no authority to issue any kind of warrants, and my primary function is now to act as an operator and flag trains through the interlockings. OK, I can handle that. But wait. I have no radio capable of communicating with the C&S forces to alert them that a CSX train is coming. I call the super chief at Latta and make this minor detail known, and offer to get my own portable. This is deemed acceptable and the day is saved.
Meanwhile, once the tower is officially done, the B&B forces sweep in and begin dismantling all that they wish to save. So now I have to flag CSX trains with hammers and power drills running in the background. So as I flag those big CSX trains across, I am once again an operator and for one brief moment there is a touch of happiness. However, it is short lived as the phone begins to ring with calls I cannot answer or help the caller with. INRD trains looking for a warrant, pool crews looking for orders, and the like. So I attempt to help as best I can knowing most of what I do today will be of little consequence, other than the flagging. After the B&B glacier passes it's just me, my portable, and that tower.
It really is a strange feeling to be in a tower for the last time. All the familiar sights and sounds are gone, and just the smell remains. As the trains plod my the tower it still shimmies from side to side and the occasional CSX train will give an extra toot but otherwise it's like being in a once important place with only the memories to keep you company. Even the B&B gorillas take time out to give the old place one last examination. Being the last lever tower on the Soo property, those levers and their workings elicits some questions and examination from all in their presence. And now there is no one to answer them.
It's about 1500 now and I inform Latta that the witching hour has arrived and I will be looking to leave shortly. Well, amidst the confusion the edict comes down: stay until 1530, which is the longest I can stay before it becomes an FRA issue. Hey, it's OT and I'm on the gold standard now! Great! I'll gladly flag CSX trains until 1530. At about 1445 I called Haley to inform them that after 1500 nobody will be at the tower and if the CSX trains need to contact the dispatcher they should switch to 44 and dial in 182. Well, at about 1505 the CSX train master calls to inquire about the move, and I tell Dale that we are out of the tower for good after 1530. He is a bit concerned since he claims he knew nothing about this move. Well, the super chief at Latta claims they have been informed all along so I really don't know who to believe. But then he asks if 123 and 127, his hot afternoon tote trains will get through. Of course, I assure him they will and proceed to give them authority. I then call Latta at 1525 to transfer the authorities I have given and pack up my goodies. At 1530 I grab my bag of tricks and off I go. I say goodbye to the C&S guys working out in the bungalow and in one final act turn out the light at Spring Hill for the last time.
The Beginning of the New Age
So after I sit in the car and ponder the enormity of the deed which
has just been done, I drive to Latta to see this new setup in action. I
arrive to a scene of unmitigated and absolute railroad chaos. Trains are
calling in from all points of the Soo Line globe, the phones (which are
now working) are ringing off the hook, and the super chief is "supervising",
which is a tactical way of saying butting in and getting in the way. RLK,
the afternoon guy, is being clobbered from all sides. You would think that
someone would try to keep the traffic to a bare minimum while we make the
adjustment but this is not the case. As with any situation, we are not even
a part of the equation, and we take the brunt of this philosophy. As it
came to be, for the next 4 days we endured the weekend from hell, with not
only a veritable plethora of extra moves but also without some of the tools
we need most dearly: telephone lists, functioning radios, and working CTC.
And I guess the most irritating part of it was that the high priced talent
never even considered giving us time to set up office. We essentially went
from the tower straight to Latta without any sort of break-in period. And
the transition was at a sprint rather than a walk.
It was one of those weekends to forget. It seemed like everything we touched turned to...well, it wasn't gold. And to top things off we were abandoned by anyone who could help. So it became truly miserable. And as in any good catastrophe, the neckties lose all sense of the situation. So when they took a look at the situation they decided to put us on the spot. After all, the whole move was so well organized and executed by those very same managers that any failures have to be because those stupid dispatchers just don't really know anything at all. And the solution really is very simple: just kick those stupid bumpkins a few times until they get off their dead behinds and do something. People sometimes say "Mike, you're just so negative." Yes, when I have to deal with these low-rent clowns my patience runs so very thin indeed. But I digress...
After the Flood
The sub runs itself. We really just insure that things keep moving. And the sub will and does achieve a certain level of equilibrium. After this flood of change has subsided, we have begun to see like return to normal. We finally got our feet back on the ground, which has made the neckties happy. But as I sit at that morphodite desk dealing with a meddling super chief and constant interruptions of the curious, I really miss that old tower.
I guess I just prefer to be alone. I spend almost all of my free time alone anyway, and that old tower was like a friend. Many hectic hours as well as quiet moments were the norm. And while that tower was old and dark and not real comfortable with respect to modern amenities, I miss being alone with my thoughts. Sitting at the desk on a dark and rainy Saturday night, listening to the train drum lightly against the roof and windows I am relaxed. The creaking of the floors and the shuttering of the walls as winds massage the tower. The sounds of crickets and frogs abound on summer evenings with the windows open and the gentle breeze carrying aromas of summer. All of these have been lost.
I am happy to have had the opportunity to work in an interlocking tower and enjoy the quiet solitude of that situation. I has become increasingly obvious to me that the industry is moving towards a micro-managed way of conducting business, and having these "unsupervised" personnel runs contrary to that way of thinking. So we are to have meddling managers and sloppy supervisors watch our every move and second-guess our every decision. We must tolerate and endure this degradation of our craft from all corners of the industry. We are rapidly becoming set up to take the "hits" and the brunt of their mistakes without the ability to guide our own destiny. To me, that old tower was the last link to those better times when we were allowed to do our job like we should.
In the final analysis, this industry is undergoing change. Some believe for the better, some for the worse. But it is change nonetheless, and towers are victims of this change. Years down the road those towers will be revered for their link to a much simpler time when railroading had integrity and a clearer purpose. With NAFTA, World Economies, and the ever increasing politicization of this world those simpler days have a real powerful appeal. I just hope these days are not soon forgotten.
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Editorial content (C) 1999 Mike Dettmers
