The great universal truth commonly held of Chicago Illinois was, the city was the Railroad Hub of the United States. A major hub indeed, given that nearly every railroad company east, west, north and south had struck steel rails to the Windy City.
If Chicago was the hub, then Northwest Indiana, Hammond was transformed as the railroading threshold, a major gateway. For many rail lines as a spider's web had once crossed the city from every direction, transforming Hammond into a literal playground for trains. A playground formed of tracks, switches, crossings, junctions, signals, stations, bridges. As well as hosting several rail yards, service facilities, local industries that relied upon the railroads for transportation of raw materials and finished goods.
This page, a continuous work including additions and refinement as additional or better information comes along, will serve as a viewing portal, a look at Hammond's grand railroad past and present. A past which no longer exists, old curios that do survive yet are fading fast. Even tasty bits of modern railroading in the Hammond area that still remain.
Hohman Interlocking Tower
Hohman Avenue & Willow Court
1970s, when Hohman was still a manned & working tower.
A map schematic of Hohman Junction, illustrating of the several rails lines that had once crossed & passed here along with switches and signals controlled by the tower (click to enlarge map)
An early 1980s scene looking northwest; Hohman Tower, Hohman Avenue and Willow Court, a gateman's shanty--
On the left, tracks of the Monon Railway. Right side is today's Norfolk Southern, was once the Nickel Plate Road. Center of the photo, remnants of the Erie Lackawanna and Chesapeake & Ohio/Indiana Line, undergoing tear-up and removal.
Rail lines running east-to-west, Indiana Harbor Belt and Conrail, nee Michigan Central, New York Central.
Sighing along the Monon as it narrows & disappears into the horizon--
Interior photos of Hohman tower's upper level--
The interlocking machine which the towerman uses to control the outside railroad switches and signals. Above the machine is an old & tarnished model board, an overview map studded with lightbulbs, showing the towerman at a glance the status of outside train and switch positions, signal indications--
A new visual element in the form of the Hohman Avenue bridge appears, now spanning over the tracks that automobiles had once bumped over to cross. Or patiently waited for yet another train to pass--
Hohman tower is living on borrowed time, her useful service life is quickly drawing to
a close--
Decommissioned and abandoned, Hohman Tower as she looks today--
Her interlocking functions have been remoted to another location out of sight of Hohman Junction. Shuttered, her electrical lines of control and communication have been severed, leaving the tower a mute relic. Instantly changing her from a workday 24-7 centerpiece of human activity that went on for decades, into a quiet, charmingly antiquated icon of old school railroading that is slipping away.
She sleeps...and she is still here at her original location as I scribe these thoughts.
For how long Hohman tower will remain, it's a question that hasn't been answered. Yet. She could've met her destiny with a wrecking ball, her owner had the good insight that the tower should remain, to tell others of how railroad routes were once controlled locally, on-site. And she will be given to whomever wishes to be her new caretaker.
There's just one catch. The tower must be moved to a new location, it cannot remain at Hohman Avenue & Willow Court. For certain, there are several challenges, logistical problems to be solved before moving a heavy brick and wood structure in a safe manner.
No takers have risen to the challenge, for now? NWIRPS is seriously on this. To move, give Hohman tower a safe harbor for future display.
Updated 5.6.2007