Texas Railroad History - Tower 99 - Galveston
Crossing of the Galveston,
Harrisburg & San Antonio Railway and the Galveston Terminal Railway
The precise function and location of Tower 99 is unknown. It's brief
existence is documented in Railroad Commission of Texas (RCT) annual reports. Tower 99 appears in the
RCT's List of Interlocking
Devices for the first time on October 31, 1914 where it is
described as a 40-function electrical interlocker in Galveston at a crossing of
the Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio (GH&SA) Railway and the Galveston
Terminal (GT) Railway. It was authorized for operation on April 29, 1914, but
according to documents at DeGolyer Library, it was "approved for operations in
advance of inspection" on April 22, 1914. In 1915, the Tower 99 listing changes only slightly, showing 27
functions instead of 40. In the 1916 report, Tower 99 is removed from the active
list and included in a separate list of interlockers "abandoned on account of
removal of crossing". However, files examined by Michael Lowe at the Texas
State Archives indicate that Tower 99 was actually taken out of service on
September 22, 1914, less than five months after its initial authorization
date.
What could account for such a brief existence? The
Handbook of Texas provides clues...
"The Galveston Terminal was initially owned
by the Trinity and Brazos Valley Railway Company, which supplied the equipment
required. However, as a result of its 1914 receivership, the Trinity and Brazos
Valley discontinued use of the terminal on July 31, 1914. Between August 1,
1914, and January 31, 1919, the Galveston Terminal was leased by the Galveston,
Harrisburg and San Antonio Railway Company to supplement its own terminal
facilities."
Thus, the receivership of the GT parent company occurred only three months
after the Tower 99 interlocker was established. Since the GT was then leased by
the GH&SA, it is likely that the GH&SA decided that the interlocker was no
longer required to be formally managed within the numbered tower system of the RCT. In those
days, the generally accepted rule was that continued RCT approval was only
required for interlockers at junctions of two different railroads. Once the GT was incorporated
by lease into the GH&SA, the interlocker could be abandoned in favor of internal
operating rules.
The precise location of Tower 99 is unknown, but a review of the Tower 99
file at DeGolyer Library provides a few clues. Although the file is very sparse,
it does include an interlocker drawing with the title "Galveston Terminal
Railway, Galveston Wharf Co. Crossing with the Galveston, Harrisburg & San
Antonio Railway, 57th Street, Galveston". This is interesting because it clearly
shows that the Galveston Wharf Company was involved in the interlocking (and "J.
J. Davis" signed the drawing indicating their approval), yet they are not listed
as being associated with Tower 99 in the RCT annual reports. A letter dated
April 12, 1912 from the GH&SA to the RCT requesting inspection of the
interlocker also refers to it as being "near 57th St." in Galveston, matching
the title block on the drawing. The drawing only shows track information and
does not depict any streets, so we cannot determine the location directly from
the drawing, a sketch of which appears below.
Above: As reproduced in this sketch by Jim King, the Tower 99 interlocker
drawing at DeGolyer Library shows the tower to be
located where parallel lines
of the Galveston Terminal (GT) Railway and Galveston Wharf (GW) Co. cross
parallel lines of the GH&SA
approximately 560 feet east of a GH&SA crossover
track. There were no other tangible clues on the drawing that would indicate its
location. Also, neither the drawing nor any of the correspondence in the
DeGolyer file indicates whether this was a manned tower
structure or a cabin
interlocker.
Prior to our examination of the Tower 99 file at DeGolyer Library, Don Harper
had speculated on a different location, near 49th Street. In an email dated
October 30, 2006, Don explains...
"I have a 1936 map of the railroads east of
50th Street in Galveston. On that map, one of the tracks paralleling the GH&SA
is labeled B-RI (GT). On that same map, at the junction of the GH&SA and the Z
track leading from GH&SA to GH&H, is a yard office. The B-RI (GT) track runs
right past that office. If I were going to place a tower, that is where I would
put it." (Editor's Note: "B-RI" references are to the Burlington-Rock Island Railroad which was
created to acquire the assets of the Trinity & Brazos Valley Railway when the
receivership ended in 1930.)
In addition to the GT line, Don's map shows a GW line parallel to the GT line
near the Z track junction. Unfortunately, as highlighted below, for the Z track
junction to have been the location of Tower 99, the track diagram would need to
be the opposite of the DeGolyer drawing, i.e. the GT and GW lines would be the
straight parallel lines and the GH&SA lines would be the ones that cross at an
angle and then curve to become parallel, joining the GH&SA main line.
Above: Highlighted on Don's map, the Z track crossing next to the
GH&SA Yard Office was a good potential location for Tower 99's
controls, but one
that does not easily reconcile with the interlocker
drawing at DeGolyer Library.
The Galveston Wharf Co. had extensive tracks throughout Galveston, so it is
likely that both areas, 49th St. and 57th St., were served by it. According to
the Handbook of Texas...
"By 1917 the company operated three miles
of main track and nearly forty-one miles of yard tracks and sidings. In that
year railroad revenues were $186,730, and the Galveston Wharf Company owned
eight locomotives and five freight cars."
If the demise of Tower 99 was in fact due to the leasing of the GT by the
GH&SA, this does not account for the continued operation of GW tracks at the
crossing. Apparently, some other control arrangement was made (or perhaps the GW
was somehow removed from the interlocking prior to operation since its name does
not appear associated with Tower 99 in the RCT annual report?) The Tower 99 file
at DeGolyer contains nothing to explain what happened to Tower 99. Sanborn Fire
Insurance index maps of Galveston show tracks in the vicinity of 57th Street,
but nothing that matches the interlocker drawing. If anyone has information that
pertains to the location or operation of Tower 99,
please contact us.
