Pelton Tower

View Comments

• I think some part get updated at different times for the sattelite imaging. The lancaster that used to be in Jackson Park and now at the airport is shown inside the building the CH2A built to store it around the end of the summer early fall last year if I remember correctly. So some of the images cant be THAT out of date.

• Wow, you play with trains and think your the only one. This site is just great, picture intensive just my style.

  Thanks and keep up the great work here.

  Ron Pare
  http://www.modelersguild.com

• i was at pelton tower the day the wreaking ball hit i must say i was very sad to see them knock the old tower down i happened to know the guy driving the shovel and he got me the pelton sign from off the wall of the tower,that used to be a great train watching spot you could sit there on a summer after noon and see the trains of the C&O coming from Detroit that took the wye to head south to st thomas as well as the local between Chatham and walkerville,as well as the NYC and Conrail as far as the gravel pit nearby we would swim there all summer from what i'm told when they dug it during the construction of the 401 they hit a natural spring if you look carefully on the CASO website there is a model producer who has actually manufactured a model of the Pelton tower

• i knew the signal maintainer who worked for the PM/C&O who worked out of the small tool house in the wye at Pelton his name was Mel Penrose he gave me a old worn cardborad box full of signal maintainer reports from the 40s&50s lots of history there

• while were talking about interlocking towers does anyone remember the one that was at the jucntion of the ETR/C&O in walkerville this tower was located north of seminole street,if you walked north down the track from dominion forges offices now Hearns office it was to the right of the track at the diamond it was boarded up painted gray i suspect that it was owned by the PM/C&O access to this tower would be from walker road just before you cross the ETR tracks there's a dirt road that leads out behind Hearns warehouse it was in this area

• Gary - thanks for the info about an interlocking tower for the ETR/C&O. i'm surprised to learn that the ETR had a tower on the line...but as you said, it was probably owned by PM/C&O. All of ETR's interlocks were actually outdoors, which i guess is odd according to what i've read. I know that their interlocks with CASO (MCRR/NYCR) at Amherstburg and at Collage ave were outdoors, i suspected the same for this diamond with the C&O.......hmm.
  Does anyone know who controlled ETR's access when the line interchanged with CN in Walkerville or if and where there was a tower? i guess i never thought about it that much. i can't see CN wanting an entire freight train backing into it's mainline unannounced! does anyone know if ETR just had a couple tracks worth of siding at George ave along the CN line, or was there a tower controlling the movments?

  i was looking on an old aerial photo of the ETR/C&O diamond and now that i know it was there, the tower is pretty obvious now. comparing that to a google shot of "today", it would seem that this tower sat very near, if not on the exact spot that a radio tower of some type sits today.

  thanks again for that info!

• Aron i think where the ETR met the CN way back when i don't think they really needed clearence from a tower operator if i remember there were just a couple interchange tracks which din't fowl CN's mailine i worked for CN for 5 years and we were given our swtch lists from a shanty that stood west of george Ave on the south side of the tracks hope that helped

• that's what i was thinking. alot of those interchange tracks are still there buried in weeds.
  thanks Gary!

• A'burg dave that spur going to the left joining with the cp main was actually a wye track that allowed the PM/C&O engine to travel west on the CP to there crawford avenue yard to pick up a car that was on there line but yes your correctjust to the south of the wye there!is an old spur that goes into the rear of the substation it's all but overgrowen with weeds today i recall when i was a teenager i lived in the area Meighen rd one winter day we were walking in that exact are and that spur you mentioned had a Canadian Pacific work train parked on it there were a couple guys in the kitchen car all dressed in white cooks outfits cooking for the track crew well one of them invited us into the car to warm up and he made the 2 of us a cup of hot coco it was the a pretty cool thing for a couple of 13 year olds

• i was out near where Pelton tower once stood this morning the only evidence of railroading in that area is the former C&O line that ran parelele with Walker rd the original CASO line and what appears to be a relay box propped up on a few 4X4's you can no longer walk under the 401 going south from where Pelton was stood they backfilled that area in with all the new 401 construction i'm thinking the companies south of the 401might have bought up the property so they propbably destroyed part of the walkway heading towards oldcatle to the uniformed they will never know about all the railroad history in that small area what a shame