INDIANA TOWN SEEKS TO MOVE, PRESERVE HISTORIC INTERLOCKING TOWER:
The twin towns of Union City sit on the boundary between Ohio and Indiana. The former New York Central interlocking tower, on the Indiana side, stands vacant and no longer needed for railroad use. According to retired NYC tower operator Bill Haines (who catalogs for the Bull Sheet the status of former towers and their adaptive reuse), the tower was closed in 1969 when its functions were transferred to Ansonia Tower in Ohio. The town now wants to save Union City Tower. It will need to be moved 525 feet from its present location to a place where it can be transformed into a visitors' information center, with restrooms, in the town's Artisan Walk and Military Park. There it can also serve as the first stop on a walking tour of the town's historic railroad roots. At its new, safer location, it will be angled in relation to the track. The state of Indiana has offered $50,000 in matching funds for the project, but the town will need to raise an equal amount to qualify for the match. Those willing to contribute are invited to send donations to UC Rail Tower, 105 N. Columbia, Union City, Indiana 47390. [Posted 2-12-2021]
UPDATE July 28, 2021.. Years of planning and fundraising paid off in Union City, Indiana, July 27, 2021, when a moving company moved the town's railroad interlocking tower about a block west to a park. The brick tower, which closed in 1968 [sic], once controlled the crossing of the New York Central's (Big Four) Cleveland-Indianapolis line with the Pennsylvania Railroad's (Panhandle) Columbus-Logansport, Indiana, line. Local interests raised more than $56,000 which was matched by a $50,000 grant from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Agency. Union City, located on the Indiana-Ohio border, had faced a late March deadline to commit to moving the tower or else it would be razed by CSX. The tower is slated to be restored with the lower level being used as a visitor center with restrooms, and the upper level returned to its appearance when the tower was still open. [Akron Railroad Club, 7-28-2021]
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