One can stand trackside and see the headlights of three or more approaching trains in the distance . . .
Chicago’s Metra commuter system is one of the busiest in the U.S., with lines emanating from downtown in all directions to the suburbs. Trains originate from four stations: Union, LaSalle Street, Millennium (near the site of the Illinois Central Railroad’s Central Station) and the Ogilvie Transportation Center (a skyscraper built on the site of Chicago & North Western’s Northwestern Station). Every weekday morning trains pour into the downtown area, packed with commuters headed to work in the city. The late afternoon hours find the reverse as commuters head for home.
Of the many routes operated by the system, the former Chicago, Burlington & Quincy line to Aurora is the busiest. During the height of the commuter rush, one can stand trackside and see the headlights of three or more approaching trains in the distance on the triple track mainline. The northern-most track finds trains making local stops, while express trains take the middle track and a combination of empty deadhead moves and eastbound commuter trains take the southernmost track.
The sign along the BNSF’s Beardstown Subdivision for the town of Shattuc.
Railroad interlocking towers once dotted the landscape so much that it seemed like they would always be there. Many towers still stand and watch silently as their human operators and the interlocking levers they controlled have been replaced by new technologies controlled from afar. Many other towers have vanished completely, with only a patch of gravel marking the spot where the tower once stood.
In the small, central Illinois town of Shattuc stood one of these towers. For years Shattuc Tower stood as a silent sentinel, watching the trains of many railroads roll by its broken and boarded up windows, its interlocking levers frozen in place from when the tower was decommissioned and the tower operator walked out of the tower at the end of the very last work shift. In its heyday the tower controlled the movements of the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroads. In later years the tower stood guard over the Burlington Northern and Chessie System, before being closed sometime in the 1980s. After being closed, CSX and Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) trains rolled past the unused tower on the CSX’s Illinois Subdivision and the BNSF’s Beardstown Subdivision.
Looking southeast toward Shattuc Tower
Looking south along the BNSF’s Beardstown Subdivision
Looking east along the CSX’s Illinois Sub. (Now out of service)
Today the tower is gone, and one of the two rail lines it once controlled is no longer a through route. Shattuc Tower was torn down in December 2014, after having stood as an empty, silent sentinel for many decades. In 2015, in a filing to the Surface Transportation Board under STB Docket No. AB-55 (Sub-No. 748X), CSX requested and received approval to discontinue service on its Illinois Subdivision between Caseyville, Illinois and Aviston, Illinois. Because of this, the rest of the subdivision now lies dormant with an uncertain future. However, BNSF trains still ply the rails of the Beardstown Subdivision, rolling past the empty spot where the tower once stood.
Looking west down the CSX Illinois Subdivision., with the interchange track in the foreground
When I came across Shattuc Tower back in 2005, the abandoned railroad tower grabbed my attention more than the previous abandoned railroad towers, depots, and stations I had come across. Previous to coming across Shattuc Tower I had never thought much about these by-gone structures disappearing, which is a shame because so few of them are still standing and even fewer are being used. Shattuc Tower made me realize just how important it is to document the railroading environment as a whole, rather than just locomotives and the rail cars they move. The tower had stood watch along with its operators for so many years and then in the blink of an eye it was abandoned. This abandoned state was to me a reminder of just how quickly life can change after being the same for so long. The tower was a reflection of life and how the advancement of technology changes how people interact with their world. Before being torn down, Shattuc Tower taught me the valuable lesson to get out and document what I can because what is standing today may not be standing tomorrow.
Looking northwest at the tower at sunset. The BNSF’s Beardstown Sub. crosses left to right over the CSX’s Illinois Subdivision
