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IVANHOE TOWER Interlocking Diagram My introduction to Ivanhoe Tower began early in the summer via this message. The three day break in was later followed by three more break in days specifically for 2nd trick right before I worked 2nd trick for 11 days (two full weeks plus one of my days off). Like Van Loon, Rock Island, Ship Canal, and Bart, Ivanhoe was an "armstrong" plant with rods running to the switches and derails. First, check these four pages of notes, much of which describes the phones and even includes a partial tower diagram showing where the phones were located. That helped in identifying which phone was calling. Ivanhoe communicated with Kirk Yard to the north (railroad east) and Van Loon to the south (railroad west) on the EJ&E and Gibson to the west and Tolleston to the east on the NYC(MC)/IHB. The second set of notes describes the procedures for running trains of the J, NYC(MC), and IHB. The EJ&E had no interchange with the other railroads at Ivanhoe so J trains ran straight through without stopping unless there was cross traffic. A typical second trick had an average of four J trains and seven NYC/MC/IHB trains. I kept a list of trains for one break in day and all 11 days I worked 2nd trick. Let's take a look at a typical day, say Thursday, July 11. Eastbounds are on top, westbounds on bottom, NYC(MC) and IHB on the left, and EJ&E on the right. Here's a description of the July 11 train activity from top to bottom. The J runs 4 trains, 2 east and 2 west. Lead locomotive number and time past Ivanhoe are listed. NYC train JS2 with engine 1770 arrived at 2:15pm and departed 2:53pm after picking up an unknown number of cars (unknown since the cars were delivered earlier on 1st trick). At 8:06pm IHB engine 8867 arrives to set out 15 loads and 10 empties to be picked up by later by CB4. He returns lite to Gibson at 8:13pm on the Eastbound track. Advance-NY4 with engine 1039 passes Ivanhoe at 8:32pm. NYC train CB4 with engine 1110 arrives at 10:10pm to pick up the 25 cars left by IHB 8867. He departs 30 minutes later. Westbound NYC train NP7 with engine 8035 passes Ivanhoe at 2:42pm. Michigan Central local with engine 8868 works at Ivanhoe from 6:28pm to 7:19pm. Heads to Gibson on the Westbound track. IHB local with engine 9003 passes Ivanhoe at8:21pm. Heads to Gibson on the Westbound track. NYC train Advance-IHB1 with engine 1075 passes Ivanhoe at 9:24pm and heads to Gibson on the Westbound track. I thoroughly enjoyed my 11 days working at Ivanhoe. All the operators were friendly and helpful. Memories which stand out after all these years include: The hardest lever to throw in the entire plant was #19 switch and derail right outside the tower. I don't know the reason but the operators who trained me warned me it was a tough one and tried to give hints of how to throw it without injuring myself. I was six feet tall and weighed 160 pounds and I really struggled with that lever. To add insult to injury, almost every afternoon there was a local which used that switch! If you look at the list of trains, you will see a Michigan Central local almost every day. I don't recall the name of the industry served by the local using that switch. At any tower when I threw a lineup, before giving the signal, I normally walked through the lineup a second time just to make sure it was correct. For some reason I failed to do that one time at Ivanhoe. Turns out I had not lined a crossover. I quickly discovered the mistake, took down the signal, and ran time. The train was not delayed for more than a few minutes. Never did that again. The J required an on-the-ground inspection of passing trains. I recall almost gitting hit by a large chunk of coal (or coke?) as I was inspecting a westbound EJ&E train. That was scary! I worked the first afternoon they activated directional signaling on the single track right next to the tower. This track was known as the MC "high speed" track. Gibson tower would designate this track as good for either an eastbound move or a westbound move but not both. If, for example, the track was set for an eastbound move, Ivanhoe could not clear a signal for movement on that track westbound toward Gibson. So, based on Murphy's law, I had a problem. The first NYC eastbound freight on the "high speed" to stop and pick up cars from the IHB could not get a signal to get back on his train after the pickup because the track was set for an eastbound movement. I correctly lined the movement and pulled signal lever #42. When I threw the signal lever, I said to myself, "I bet this doesn't work." I was right. It was dark outside, the train did not move, and I had no means of communication except for a backup signal via lantern. After a while a crew member showed up at the tower and asked why they had no signal. Apparently they had not been informed of the new "directional running" change. I remember having a terrible time convincing him it was OK to make the reverse movement based on my hand signal. I doubt if he understood the basics of interlocking, but I showed him that switch levers 19, 12, and 21 were normal and were locked by reversing levers 20 and 22 and that signal lever 42 was reversed. He left the tower and they made their reverse move back to their train. Lastly, I conclude with a very sad event which happened near Ivanhoe tower a few years after I worked there. An EJ&E switchman was killed by a gunshot. Here's the newspaper clipping sent me by my Mom who asked on the bottom, "Did you ever work here?" Next:   Go to Home and select another tower.

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