LwS S2, E6: A Dark & Stormy Night at Tower 50
On the evening of September 22, 1949, John M. Prophet III brought his wire recorder to New York Central’s Tower 50; located almost in the heart of Downtown Buffalo. The tower controlled the movement of trains from the NYS’s Niagara Branch to the mainline east (and vice-versa) in addition to controlling trains from the mainline west (from Chicago) to the mainline east.
Tower 50 also controlled trains that moved in and out of several freight yards in the area. Back in its prime, Tower 50 was an incredibly busy place. Sadly, it was closed and torn down in 1957. John visited the tower a total of four times. The recording featured in this episode of LwS is one John made on the evening of September 22, 1949. The weather was completely uncooperative with heavy thunderstorms, unseasonably cold temperatures, wind, and even hail. In fact, the storm was noted as one of the worst of 1949.
As mentioned in the episode, the ambient sounds that were present when John made these recordings (such as the thunderstorm, road traffic, and other nuances) have been enhanced simply for the fact that the crystal microphone that came with his Webster-Chicago wire recorder didn’t have the dynamic range to catch everything that was taking place outside the tower. Regardless, what you will hear is about as close to “real time” as we’re going to get. Everything you hear is, according to John, exactly what took place the night he was there.
It’s too bad John didn’t care too much for any of his Tower 50 recordings. It amazes me that he thought they were boring.
Unless noted, all images of Tower 50 and surrounding facilities on this page are courtesy of the Western New York Railway Historical Society. Visit them at http://www.trainweb.org/wnyrhs/
Special thanks to Steve Kocsis of the WNYRHS for, once again, helping me gather the necessary facts and these incredible images of Tower 50. Not every element in the search for local railroad history is easy to come by, and I’m very grateful to Steve for his help in making sense of it all.
Above is the page of notes John wrote down for the Tower 50 recordings featured in this episode of LwS. There’s a lot of information given in the narrative of the program, so following along as you listen will help make sense of everything your hearing.
Worthy of note is where John indicates when a train “does not pass tower.” These were PRR trains either coming off or heading to their Buffalo Division tracks right in front of Tower 49-A; located about a 1/4 mile east of Tower 50. There was so much moisture in the air that the sounds from the PRR trains carried the distance and made it seem like the trains were passing the tower. The only way a PRR train would get close to Tower 50 is if a very long passenger train had backed out of Central Terminal and then onto the track leading to the Buffalo Division. The tail end of the train might be within shouting distance of Tower 50 thus making the recording seem like the train was right outside the windows of the tower.
You can also see where John indicated “The First Hudson” for train 246.
The above images show different views of Tower 50 in addition to the valve house and section house which were located in close proximity to the tower. Tower 50 was an “electro-pneumatic” designed tower; meaning it used electricity to control magnets that operated control valves to move compressed air to the track switches. Since compressed air was necessary in the operation of the system, a “valve house” was constructed near Tower 50 to hold an air compressor. Although I haven’t been able to find its exact location, based on the photograph, it appears the valve house may have been almost directly under the Seneca Street overpass bridge with a clear view of the New York Central mainline… as can be seen with the signal bridge in the photo.
The section house may have been used to store Maintenance of Way (MOW) equipment and other necessities for keeping Tower 50 and its surrounding tracks in perfect working order.
If anyone has any corrections or thoughts about Tower 50, the valve house, and section house, please drop a comment below.
The two images above show the area around Tower 50 in the later years of its life. The two NYC FA units are pulling a freight train for certain, but the exact is a bit of a mystery. There are, however, some clues in the first image that may help to narrow down a possible location of where the photograph stood when he shot the picture.
You’ll notice that the train is coming off a curve as it heads to the foreground of the photo. To the immediate right of the second FA unit, there is a section of track that can barely be seen on the ground but I can’t think of who’s tracks those are. Possibly an old section of Erie tracks? In the distance is a Lehigh Valley overpass bridge. My best guess is the photo was taken from Exchange Street looking south. The train may be coming off the Compromise Branch of the NYC and will shortly cross Exchange and pass Tower 50 on the right.
The Lehigh Valley right-of-way was taken over by the New York State Thruway Authority so the tracks are roughly where Interstate 190 is today. Trying to accurately identify a picture like this is very difficult because the construction of the 190 eliminated and altered much of the landscape in this area. Some of the tracks may have been slightly relocated which makes it all the more difficult to put a finger on where these photos were taken.
All I can do is offer my best guess and hope someone else can chime in to be much more accurate than me. If you can, please leave a comment below.
The above Google Earth images show views of what the area around Tower 50 looks like today. The best way to really see this area is to simply drive down and look for yourself. Just DON’T trespass on private property or get close to the tracks.
The two map sections shown above are from the “Hydrographic Harbor and Railroad Chart of Buffalo” map from 1907, and the “Vicinity Map of Buffalo, N.Y. Showing Railroads and Industries” map from 1969. Tower 50 is indicated on both maps by a red dot. The Hydrographic maps does a fantastic job conveying how cluttered the area was with railroad tracks. You can clearly see the freight yards and other facilities used by the NYC (LS&MS), the NKP (NYC&ST.L), the Erie, and the PRR. By 1969, Tower 50 isn’t pictured, but Tower 49-A still is, even though it was closed in October of 1963 with all train movements then being controlled by Tower 49; located in the shadow of Central Terminal.
Be sure to click on each image to see a much larger view.
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