OPRRMS Wrote:
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> For clarity's sake, it's West Oakland Interlock
> not West Oakland Tower. West Oakland Tower was
> (and still is) the yardmaster's tower in the West
> Oakland Yard, although nowadays it's often
> shortened to being called Oakland Tower or just
> Oakland. In SP days, the yardmaster's tower was
> most commonly known by employees as the Glass
> House. The station location for "West Oakland"
> was in the telegraph office that was located less
> than 50 yards from the yardmaster's tower. And,
> yes, UP has big plans (and has had 'em for going
> on a decade now) to demolish the tower, move the
> yardmasters (one on each of the three tricks) to a
> building at ground level, and install cameras to
> help them observe what's happening (also useful
> for managers). Gonna happen any day now . . .

The days of actual towers on the UP sure seem to be numbered.

Not that it had been used in some time, but the ex-WP yardmaster's tower in Stockton yard was finally torn down over two days last month (the 15th and 16th to be exact). The ex-SP yardmaster's tower in Fresno yard still stands and is in use at this point.