In 2010 Amtrak's PARK tower in Parkesburg, PA closed as one of the final pieces of PennDoT's Phase 1 110mph Keystone Corridor upgrade. Once serving as a junction between the original Pennsylvania Railroad Main Line and the 1906 Atglen and Susquehanna Low Grade Line, the interlocking plant limped along as an overbuilt crossover after the A&S was shuttered in 1988, shifting to an "as needed" status in 1994 when SEPTA cut back R5 service from Parkesburg to Downingtown/Thoendale. Eventually the 4-track interlocking was replaced by a simpler 2-track crossover about 2 miles to the west and old PARK spent another decade as an automatic block signal location before money became available to extend the new signaling an additional 6 miles to THORN tower in Thorndale. With the COVID related Keystone suspensions as an accelerant, this work was due to wrap up in June of 2020 so I went out to document the remaining automatic signals and the remains of Old PARK interlocking. The full set of photos can be seen here ( mirror ).
On the way out to PARK a brief traffic delay let me snag a picture of one of the new style traveling cranes installed on the Conowingo dam. These cranes are necessary to lift the heavy gates that control the spillways and penstocks on what is one of the largest privately owned hydro-electric dams in the United States. The original 1928 cranes were replaced about 5 years ago, but similar examples are still active on the Safe Harbour dam about 20 miles upstream.
Unlike most "towers", PARK is a unique single story design although it shares many PRR design features such as brick construction and a bay window. Now used as a base for signal maintainers, features from its old interlocking days, like the manifold style air dryer, remain.
Up through about 2010 old PARK actually sported three main tracks to the east with the center track 2 turning into an industrial track serving some local industry in Atglen on the former A&S right of way. Later that track was cut back to a point just east of the interlocking and today it remains for storage and in case any industrial customers ever return.
I arrived in time to catch a mid-morning eastbound Keystone train with M<etroliner cab car #9632 and ACS-86 #604.
That's a wrap for my spring 2020 PRR main Line expeditions. Tune in next time as I travel to Georgia via Amtrak in the middle of a pandemic!
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