Texas Railroad History - Tower 55 - Fort Worth
A Major Crossing of Four Railroads near Downtown Fort Worth
Tower 55 was razed in mid November, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeFAp6-VILM&t=928s
Fort Worth promoter B. B. Paddock created the "Tarantula Map" envisioning his
town as a major railroad center with lines extending in all directions like the
legs of a giant spider. But this was truly a vision since he imagined it in
1873, three years before even the first railroad had reached Ft. Worth. That
railroad was the Texas & Pacific (T&P) arriving from Dallas. Paddock's vision
quickly became a reality as the T&P was joined by the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MKT,
"Katy"), the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe (GC&SF), the Fort Worth & Denver (FW&D),
the Fort Worth & New Orleans (FW&NO), the Fort Worth & Rio Grande (FW&RG), the
St. Louis, Arkansas & Texas (SLA&T), the Chicago, Rock Island & Texas/Gulf
(CRI&T/G), and the International - Great Northern (I-GN)...
1876: T&P, Dallas (Eagle Ford) to Ft. Worth
1880: T&P, Fort Worth to Baird
1880: T&P, Sherman to Fort Worth (line shared with MKT)
1881: GC&SF, Temple to Fort Worth
1881: MKT, Fort Worth to Hillsboro
1882: FW&D, Fort Worth (Hodge) to Wichita Falls
1886: FW&NO, Fort Worth to Waxahachie
1887: FW&RG, Fort Worth to Granbury
1887: GC&SF, Fort Worth to the Red River
1888: SLA&T, Renner to Fort Worth
1894: CRI&T, Paradise to Fort Worth
1903: I-GN, Waco to Fort Worth
1903: CRI&G, Fort Worth to Dallas
Many of these rail lines were owned by larger railroad companies at the time
they were constructed. This along with years of railroad consolidation distilled
the ownership into a handful of companies competing for Fort Worth business. The
focus of Fort Worth rail operations was the major junction near downtown where
the east/west T&P main line crossed three major north/south lines: the Katy, the
Santa Fe, and the Houston & Texas Central (H&TC, successor to the FW&NO owned by
Southern Pacific). To control this junction, these four railroads collaborated
on establishing an interlocker which was commissioned as Tower 55 by the
Railroad Commission of Texas (RCT) on September 26, 1904. At that time, Tower 55
housed an electrical interlocking plant built by Taylor Signal Co. with 122
functions and 89 levers. This was by far the largest interlocking plant in Texas
with 75% more functions than the second place interlocker at that time,
Tower 42. Tower 55 held the record for initial
interlocking functionality until Tower 106 was
commissioned with 139 functions in 1916.
Above: A magnification of Tower 55 taken from the image below provided by the John W Barriger III
National Railroad Library. The image shows a due south view
with T&P #902 facing east at the diamond. This photo was likely taken in the
1930s, but it is not known whether this is the original Tower 55 commissioned in
1904.
Consistent with this image, the 1926 Sanborn Fire Insurance map of Fort Worth
depicts a 2-story tower structure in the northeast quadrant of the crossing,
with a
1-story shed behind it. Sometime later, this structure was razed in favor of a
3-story brick tower in the southeast quadrant (see photos further
below).
Above: Another image from the Barriger Library, this one shows the west side of
Tower 55 with T&P's East (City) Yard in
the distance. From this direction (facing east), the shed behind the tower is
partially obscured.
Above: This Barriger image looks north up the Katy tracks towards Tower 55;
downtown is beyond the T&P water tank at
left that advertised "3 Famous Trains". Behind it, advertising is barely visible
on the side of the Waples Platter Company. Below: A clearer view of the water tank and the Waples Platter Company building
taken from a painting by John Winfield
commissioned by Jim & Terry King in 2006. Waples Platter was a grocery company
that sold White Swan brand foods.
Above: Glenn Anderson took this photo of CRI&P 1297
passing Tower 55 northbound on Feb 26, 1975. This 3-story brick
structure replaced the wooden tower seen in the Barriger photos. Note the "F.W.
Tower" sign on the side of the building.
Below: The same view of Tower 55 is shown in this photo taken by Myron Malone on
July 3, 1989. The brakeman
riding
the
Denver & Rio Grande locomotive is H. L. Hunt. By this time, the "F. W.
Tower" sign has been replaced by a "Tower 55" sign.
Interior Photos from Tower 55 (Jay Tatum, photographer)
Above: View to the north from Tower 55, with the Santa Fe depot ahead on the
left
Below: the tower operator's desk
Above: Railroaders of
yesteryear could scarcely imagine the massive I-30 and I-35W freeway interchange
that now engulfs Tower 55. The tower, with its shadow offset to the northwest,
remains in the southeast quadrant of the crossing, but with today's automation,
it is no longer used for its original purpose. Below: The area looked much
different in 1958, but not as devoid of freeways as one might think! This view
shows the future I-35W was already limited access. The view is to the
north-northwest. The Fort Worth Macaroni Co. factory (left of center) changed
its name a year later to O. B. Macaroni Co. Pasta is no longer manufactured
there, but the building has been
preserved for other uses.
Below: The 1926 (left) and 1951 (right) Sanborn maps show the relocation of the
tower from the northeast to the southeast quadrant. Today,
with only two railroads, Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific, the
track arrangement is much simpler than before.
Additional historic and modern views of Tower 55 are available
here.
