(Tribune-Star photo/Bob Poynter)
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| Careful hoist: Workers gently guide the top half of the Springhill Tower past a tree Wednesday to set the 91-year-old railroad landmark on the ground for transportation to the Wabash Valley Railroaders Museum at 1130 Plum St. |
By Jason Hathaway
Smiling spectators watched and snapped pictures Wednesday at Springhill Drive and McDaniel Road as work crews used a crane to lift the second floor off a 91-year-old railroad tower.
Springhill Tower was being halved by moving crews in preparation for the trip to a new home.
The tower stood over a railroad junction before it closed in 1999. Its operator at one time switched tracks for the New York Central C&I, Milwaukee and Chicago & Eastern Illinois railroads.
Today, a crew from MCF Movers in Newburgh will separately move the white building's first floor, second floor and roof to the Wabash Valley Railroaders Museum at 1130 Plum St.
Since Monday, MCF Movers has worked with members of Haley Tower Historical and Technical Society, a local railroad history preservation organization, to separate each of Springhill Tower's levels, making the substantial move possible.
As the second floor of Springhill Tower hovered above the first floor on a crane cable late Wednesday afternoon, Bill Foster, president of Haley Tower Historical and Technical Society, watched in awe. One of the biggest obstacles of the stressful day was nearly overcome.
"I'm relieved," Foster said. "It's been a long day. We started out at 7 a.m., but I was up at 4 a.m. I couldn't sleep."
The separation of the three levels had been delayed from earlier in the day because of the weight of both the second floor and a heavy track-switching machine there, Foster said.
Haley Tower Historical & Technical Society bought the retired Springhill Tower last June from Canadian Pacific Railway for $10 to house railroad exhibits at the railroaders museum. It will join 77-year-old Haley Tower, which was opened for display to visitors last August.
The moving project drew a small crowd of retired railroaders and train enthusiasts who spent the afternoon in the bright May sunshine. Larry Dragon and Norval Blankenship, both longtime McDaniel Road residents, say they will miss having the tower as an area landmark. But they were glad to see it saved from demolition.
"Every time you'd give somebody directions on how to find your place, you'd tell them to go to Springhill Junction and turn left," Dragon recalled.
Joe Dermody of Terre Haute, a Conrail train engineer from 1967 to 1990, was filming the project to include in a documentary about Terre Haute railroad history.
"It's exciting," he said. "This is the first time I've ever seen a building taken apart like this. I'm just tickled that they managed to do it and I'm surprised they've managed to do it. I've loved trains and rode on them ever since I was a child and I'm glad the [railroad] buildings are being preserved."