www.txrrhistory.com - Tower 8

www.txrrhistory.com - Tower 8 - East Waco

A Crossing of St. Louis Southwestern (Cotton Belt) and International and Great Northern railroads

Tower 8 was located at a crossing of the International & Great Northern (I-GN) Railroad and the St. Louis Southwestern (SSW) Railway ("Cotton Belt") in east Waco. The Cotton Belt arrived first, building from Athens to Waco in 1881 under the charter of predecessor Texas & St. Louis Railway. Two decades later, the I-GN completed a rail line between Houston and Ft. Worth, crossing the Cotton Belt on the east side of Waco. A 20-function mechanical interlocker was installed at the junction and commissioned as Tower 8 on June 12, 1903.

Over the years, Tower 8 became known locally as "Eastco Tower". It was eventually replaced by an automatic interlocker, probably in the early 1960s. The fate of the tower structure is not known but it may have been relocated by SP further south to serve as a yard tower. On November 30, 1966, SSW issued a bulletin announcing that the automatic interlocking at Tower 8 was being taken out of service. Except for two miles of track in Waco, the I-GN line from Marlin to Ft. Worth was abandoned by successor Missouri Pacific (MP) in 1965 (south of Waco) and 1967 (north of Waco). In 1988, the Cotton Belt line was abandoned by its owner, Southern Pacific (SP). Today, all of these lines are owned and operated by Union Pacific, successor to MP and SP.

Above: Tower 8 was known locally as "Eastco Tower"; this SP track chart from 1957 shows its location
Below: Cotton Belt bulletin announcing the retirement of the Eastco interlocking (both documents courtesy Tom Kline)

Satellite Image - Tower 8

Above: In 1965, MP acquired SP's line between Waco and Marlin so that the circuitous I-GN route from Waco
to Marlin (via Mart) could be abandoned. A new track (south of this image) was built to connect the I-GN tracks
with the old SP route to Marlin. In 1966, MP began sharing Katy's main line from Waco to Ft. Worth. A new
track was built to connect MP's I-GN line with the Katy main; this connector crossed the SSW a short distance
southwest of Tower 8, allowing the Eastco interlocker to be abandoned (see bulletin above). The I-GN north of
the Katy connector was abandoned all the way to Ft. Worth in 1967. The SSW was abandoned in 1988, and the
SSW yard became a storage yard for MP.

Below: This 1983 photo by Lewis Raby shows a MP freight crossing the Cotton Belt on the connecting track
between the Katy and I-GN main lines. (Tom Kline collection)