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The railroad interlockings in Griffith, Indiana
Griffith, Indiana, located near the Chicago suburbs, was once one of the largest railroad interlockings in the world. At one time, FIVE railroads lines intersected here. The Grand Trunk Western came in from the west and crossed the Elgin Joliet & Eastern, and NYC Joliet Branch. The EJ&E had a branch line heading east from here to Porter, Indiana. The Erie Lackawanna and C&O formed a joint line south of the junction, and crossed the other three. Some of the diamonds were actually IN Broad Street!
The NYC was abandoned in 1976, the C&O in 1983 and the EL in 1984. The EJ&E Porter Branch followed in 1985. The tower was closed in December, 1999, and efforts were being made to preserve it, (note the banner). They were successful, and the tower was moved to the north side of the tracks where the small railway museum is located. A piece of the EL remains to the north, and a piece of the C&O remains to the south to serve a chemical plant. Now the GTW and EJ&E are the only two main lines that cross. Griffith is still a busy place, but is not the amazing gaggle of tracks it once was.
When I last visited this location in September, 2011, Broad Street became a quiet zone, and CN had a new connecting track on the northwest quadrant. Now westbound trains on the GTW can swing north onto the EJ&E to head to Kirk Yard in Gary. The spur track that is a piece of the former EL mainline has been severed from the mainline, and may be removed soon. Average train frequency is around 40 per day, although the pace is moderate, and there are extended periods of time with no activity, usually in the late afternoon. Predecessor power still predominates, but CN is repainting diesels fast.
The small museum includes the tower, watchman’s shanties, an EL concrete phone booth, and three EJ&E cabooses. The cars and tower are open for inspection on Sunday’s, when the museum is open. Shirley Welch is the curator of the property, and she is a very nice person to converse with.
If you are near the Illinois-Indiana state line, Griffith is still worth a stop.
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