FOSTORIA, Ohio — Fostoria’s historic Jackson Street Tower, which housed the nation’s first Centralized Traffic Control equipment, has been demolished. The former New York Central structure was torn down as part of an ongoing effort by CSX Transportation to remove old, unused structures along its routes. It was the operator in the Jackson Street Tower who controlled the CTC machinery installed in 1927, overseeing about 40 miles between Stanley, southeast of Toledo, and Berwick, on NYC’s former Toledo & Ohio Central route. The tower’s control panel was donated to the Smithsonian Institution.
What a shame.
No tower, less property tax.
We saw this tower some years back. It seemed to have little or nothing to do with most of the action at the Fostoria interlockings. Kind of off by itself.