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(rshsdepot) Hohman Avenue Tower in Hammond, Ind. to close

-From Trains.com...

Indiana Harbor Belt to close Hohman Avenue Tower in Hammond, Ind.

Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad today began a weeklong signal project that will
speed the flow of traffic through the Gary-Hammond-East Chicago, Ind., rail
corridor and result in the closure of the Hohman Avenue Tower.

The tower, built in 1900 by the Erie Railroad, controls the crossing of IHB
and Norfolk Southern (former Nickel Plate) main lines in Hammond. When the
signal project is complete, the junction will be controlled by the IHB East
dispatcher. The junction formerly included tracks of the old Monon, Erie,
and Chesapeake & Ohio, now torn out in the area.

The tower was manned by Conrail operators until June 1999, when it became
owned and operated by CSX but maintained by IHB. The $750,000 project
involves replacing the tower’s functions with a microprocessor-based control
system linked by data radio to the IHB dispatching office in Calumet City,
Ill.

Other towers scheduled to be closed soon include Calumet, where the IHB
main, CSX main, and an EJ&E branch cross, and nearby Graselli on the IHB
main and an EJ&E branch. Both towers are manned by IHB operators, although
Graselli is only open on the day shift.

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