Page 24 - NMRA Roundhouse May-June 2019

The Evolution of ALTO Tower
Michael Brotzman Part 2
At ALTO Tower a Norfolk Southern freight awaits clearance signal to proceed. Photos by Michael Brotzman
B y the 1970s steam power had hand painted labels, a consumer grade la- in the westbound direction and allow
long since vanished from the scene and passenger operations were also dwindling. Fewer
trains needed to stop for helpers to
be added and the slow speed inter- locking plant had become a bottleneck. To relieve this problem and to reduce costs, ALTO was rationalized with unnecessary tracks and turnouts being removed, including the entire east end
of the passenger station along with the 27 lever XX machine that controlled it. The interlocking was also converted to full speed operation with high signals replacing dwarfs on main tracks. To this end the Penn Central installed a new in- termediate westbound signal bridge with three high position light signals bolted on top. Gone were the days of crafted steel lattice as by the 1970s plain steel beams were the name of the game.
The rationalization resulted in a new model board made from plastics and other “modern” materials. Instead of
The famous Penn Central vintage ALTO signal bridge
24 ROUNDHOUSE - June 2019
to coupling onto trains headed up the grade.
In place of the slow speed dwarf signals
high PRR Position Light masts with “red eyes” on the upper horizontal position and a full size backing plate on the lower head (both Penn Central innovations) appeared.These masts were installed on the newly bi-directional track 2 in the eastbound direction and on tracks 1, 2 and a yard lead.
bel maker stepped in to do the job. The Penn Central layout featured two bi-di- rectional main tracks and two yard leads from the east and three main tracks (one bi-directional), a yard lead and a spur
for movements to proceed at track or 30mph diverging speeds. Of course to get those higher diverging speeds a num- ber of the switches were upgraded from #10 points to #15.
Tracks 1 and 2 under clear signals
track from the west. Within ALTO inter- locking two pocket tracks were created for helper sets to lay over while waiting
From the ashes of the Penn Central rose Conrail and along with it billions of dol- lars in government funding. In the early years this meant bringing the existing physical plant to a state of good repair. Wooden structures need paint and along with the other PRR Main Line towers, ALTO needed a coat of paint. Still, there was a lot of old railroad spirit, and man- agement, in the Conrail organization and as a result ALTO was painted with a gray and blue scheme, still visible here in 2004.
ALTO was also given a new nameplate made of reflective materials in Conrail white and blue.
The aging double hung windows were also boarded up and replaced with cheap pre-manufactured windows one might buy in bulk at a hardware store. While