(rshsdepot) Sherman, TX

["Jim Dent" <james.dent_@_itochu.com>]

From the Altamont Press Newsline...

BNSF Interlocking Tower 16 moving to historic district

After 99 years of service, a Sherman, TX landmark is getting a new home.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway's Interlocking Tower 16 will move to
Grapevine, TX, as part of a collection of historic railroad structures.

Tower 16, the 16th such tower authorized by the Texas Railroad Commission,
entered service with the Southern Pacific in 1903. Located near Sherman's
Union Passenger Station (1903-1943), the tower and its operators served as
traffic cops at the junction, where the SP tracks crossed those of the Texas
& Pacific. The tower was staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks
of the year.

When it was taken out of service late last year, Tower 16 was the last
working staffed interlocking tower in Texas, and one of only a handful in
the United States. The mechanical and electrical equipment in the tower is
original, circa 1903, and unusual for its time in the use of
electro-magnetic relays to control distant switches, reports the SHERMAN
HERALD DEMOCRAT.

When BNSF replaced the interlocking system with a modern one, rail
historians and preservation buffs scrambled to find a home for Tower 16. In
Grapevine it will take its place with the rebuilt and restored 1901 St.
Louis and Southwestern (Cotton Belt) depot, an 1888 Cotton Belt section
foreman's house and a period turntable. -BNSF TODAY, Larry W. Grant

For more info and a picture:
http://www.railspot.com/interlockers/016.htm

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