A CSX local returning from the “back side” of the former Toledo Terminal passes Hallett Tower in August 2016.
Brian Schmidt
TOLEDO, Ohio – Watco Companies will close the final chapter on Toledo’s final interlocking tower this week with the transfer of dispatching duties from Hallett Tower to its Pittsburg, Kan., offices. The move, expected to be completed on Friday, comes following the removal of local interlocking control in April.
Since its 1949 opening, Hallett Tower has controlled the crossing of the former Toledo Terminal, now CSX Transportation’s double-track main line around the east side of the city, with the Ann Arbor, along with several other lines in the immediate are. Operators also served as dispatchers for the railroad, which stretches to Osmer, north of Ann Arbor, Mich., using both CTC and track warrants.
With the closure, Watco offered the four affected operators the opportunity to transfer to its Kansas office. Instead, all opted to take a severance payment.
For more on Hallett, including a look inside, see the August 2018 issue of Trains.
Watco’s dispatch center is actually in Wichita, KS; not at their corporate offices in Pittsburg, KS.
Sic transit gloria mundi.