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Contact: David Farlow info@whitewatervalleyrr.org
Whitewater Valley Railroad (765) 825-2054
WHITEWATER VALLEY RAILROAD
455 Market Street
Connersville, Indiana 47331
DEARBORN TOWER MOVES TO CONNERSVILLE
July 28, 2003, Connersville, Indiana
The first tangible development of the Whitewater Valley Railroad’s planned
railroad museum display area arrived last week on three semi-trucks. The
building was disassembled and moved last week from Lawrenceburg, Indiana.
Through the generosity of CSX Transportation and Fayette County
Foundation, this important architectural and technical example has been
preserved. The Dearborn Tower project serves as a cornerstone of the
railroad artifact interpretation and display area.
Signal towers were once icons of the railroad age and numerous examples
existed all over southeastern Indiana. This original (circa 1896) artifact
is eligible for the National Register for Historic Places. It represents
the traditional form and function of these once common structures. It is
believed to be one of only eight existing structures in Indiana and is the
only one preserved in eastern Indiana. The building retains its manually
operated interlocking machine and lever controls. The machine itself is a
mechanical computer of sorts. It protected trains by requiring the levers
be thrown in a certain order to allow for various movements through the
crossing and switches.
Dearborn tower located in Lawrenceburg, appears to have been last manned
in 1986 by CSX Transportation. As such it was one of the last manual
interlocking towers in service in the state of Indiana. It is believed
that the building was constructed by the New York Central Railroad in
1896, though additional research is needed to confirm this. The building
protected the line of the existing Baltimore & Ohio railroad tracks and
those of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago, and St. Louis Railroad (known
locally as the Big Four) a component of the New York Central System. With
the construction of the Argosy Casino and its hotel complex, the former
NYC Aurora Branch was removed along with the crossing that provided the
last purpose for the tower.
The Whitewater Valley Railroad plans to restore the building as closely as
possible to its original appearance both inside and out. It appears that
most of the original Victorian shingles and angled siding is still intact
under the present aluminum siding. This will be restored to match the
original appearance. A tower restoration fund has been established for
donations to the project. The railroad is also very interested in older
photos taken of the tower, especially those that might show the building
before the installation of the aluminum siding. The WVRR would also like
to talk with anyone who once worked in Dearborn tower.
The Whitewater Valley Railroad is an operating railroad museum dedicated
to the preservation of a historic branch line railroad, to the restoration
of railroad equipment, and to the conduct of educational railroad
programs. Weekend trains leave for Metamora at 12:01pm. See the railroad’s
website for details: www.whitewatervalleyrr.org
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