Ridgely Tower
Springfield, Illinois
Ridgely Tower was built by the Chicago and Alton Railroad; it controlled the crossing for the Chicago & Alton (now Union Pacific) and the Chicago & Illinois Midland (now Illinois Midland). Ridgely houses a 32 lever Saxby and Farmer Lever frame, the interlocking once was a mechanical interlocking using pipeline and cranks. C&A RR had a mechanical semaphore train order signal and the C&IM had a electric lamp train order signal. The levers for the C&A train order signal used 2 levers that were painted half red and half white. Lever 27 was the Northbound train order signal and lever 31 was the Southbound train order signal. The C&IM had a small wooden box located to the left of the lever bed on the wall, it was a simple light switch marked C&IM T.O. Sig. Both the C&A and the C&IM train order signals have been long removed. The model board is an old style with hand drawn interlocking layout; it also contains the manipulation chart. Ridgely is now controlled by the Union Pacific Railroad.
To see the Signal or Tower, Click on it on the Diagram
Photos were taken with a Union Pacific Official's permission.
In 2007 Ridgely Tower was still a manned tower and was one of the few towers that also still had an active mechanical pipeline. Though most of the interlocking had been replaced with electric signals one switch remained mechanical. That was switch number 22 which was the switch to the yard tracks; this switch also had a mechanical lock that was lever 21. This pipeline had to be maintained and greased quite a bit. The lock was easy to operate but the switch was another story; if you didn't throw all your weight into it then you would have to rock the lever to get the switch to completely move. The switch was also below grade so during the winter months it would freeze and the operator would have to place the switch to out of service state until it unfroze. The switch also was located on a bridge above the roadway.
In 2009 Union Pacific started work to replace the old mechanical tower. Ridgely made history when in 2008 it became the last mechanical tower in the United States following the closing of CSX's towers in Hancock and Keyser in West Virginia. There are still several towers that use levers but none that have active pipeline connected to them, the pipeline removed and circuit controllers installed. On April 23rd 2010 official notice was given to the operators informing them that it was UPRR's intent to eliminate jobs at Ridgely Tower on or about June 7th 2010. On May 2nd 2010 Ridgely once again made history when UPRR workers clamped switch 22 and started cutting up the old pipeline. But the end of the day all the old pipeline, cranks, compensators, and rollers had been dug up and hauled away. Ridgely tower was to close on May 11th 2010 but the day before its closing it was decided to postpone the closing until the track and signal crews finish the work. Soon Ridgely tower will close and the control of CP X182 will be given to Dispatcher 31 in Omaha, NE.
Below are photos of Ridgely during the replacement.
Photos were taken with a Union Pacific Official's permission.
Looking down the Southbound UPRR Main
Looking down the Northbound UPRR Main and into the yard
Looking at Ridgely's Pipeline
