The six-axle freight haulers received a new Dash-7 electrical system, Sentry Wheel-Slip management system, as well as a coat of the company new Kodachrome paint scheme. Santa Fe's Cleburne, Texas shops remanufactured seventy U36Cs into 3000-hp "SF30Cs" during 1985-1987. Ironic that the Cadillac sign might even be syptomatic of the then-prevailing sentiment of the SD40-2. For some, the challenge was getting the sign composed with the train. The Frank Kent Cadillac sign was just as much a landmark in downtown Fort Worth as Tower 55. If this was a "where is it", every photographer in the southwest during the 70s and 80s would get this right away. For the remainder of their time on "Uncle John's" railroad, the once pristine-looking F-units will be delegated to hauling freight. The five war bonnet-attired EMDs are surplus passenger power and no longer needed to haul the railroads decreasing number of long-distance trains. Santa Fe F7A #327L leads a classic A-B-B-B-A locomotive consist on a late afternoon in May 1970. The single E-unit is in-charge of the Dallas section of the "Lone Star," which on 10 October 1976 consisted only of a high-level coach and an ex-Sante Fe sleeper. (Gary Morris photo and caption info)Īmtrak E8A #367 slows to a crawl so the Tower 55 operator can deliver train orders the old fashion way, with a long wooden hoop. The train will use Missouri Pacific trackage for the remainder of the journey on an October afternoon in 1976. It has just left the old Santa Fe station in Fort Worth and has turned at Tower 55. Here is an opportunity in photos to revisit what was once a famous railroad landmark.Īn ex-Santa Fe Hi-Level Coach and sleeper make-up the consist of the Dallas section of Amtrak'sLone Star. At times, the movement of freight and passenger trains pass Tower 55 could resemble a broadway stage production in which the characters perform their roles when qued.Ĭonstruction of a major interstate highway interchange led to the closure of the tower it has stood idle since May of 1995. Tower 55 orchestrated the traffic across the interlocking of many railroads, all of which today are "Fallen Flags": Cotton Belt (SP), Frisco, Katy, MoPac (T&P), Rock Island and Santa Fe. Built in the early 1930s, the tower controlled rail traffic at one of the busiest rail junctions in the southwest U.S., with an average of more than 100+ train movements in a 24 hour period.ĭubbed the "Mix-master" by some area train watchers, it was easy to understand why. The central Texas interlocking plant had become one of the most widely recognized North American hot spot names. Worth had been attracting train watchers for more than six decades, and perhaps even longer. Prior to its closing in the mid-1990s, Tower 55 in Ft. MKT SD40-2 #600 passes Tower 55 with a northbound coal train in July 1985.
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