York, Pa.’s signal tower to be preserved: ‘Towers … kept the railroad moving’
This tall structure in the York Street area of York City will remain standing as the area around it changes. Buildings in the 200 blocks of York and Chestnut streets will come down. Think Loud Development is looking to make infrastructural improvements around its 210 York St. building to make room for a large data center. The 210 York St. address is headquarters for Think Loud, whose principals include members of the rock band Live. The two-story brick signal or switching tower is a vestige of the old Northern Central Railroad, later Pennsylvania Railroad. Railfan Guide to the U.S. lists it as one of the remaining railroad attractions in York. Think Loud officials say the tower is considered historic and will be preserved. Such towers were common around busy rail yards, offering a bird’s-eye view the complicated switching activities on the tracks below. Railroad Signals of the U.S. said about such towers: ‘Towers once served as the operational hub at many railroad locations, and kept the railroad moving. Without them, railroads would have gotten clogged up in short order if the train crews had to go out and align all of the switches for a particular move.’ For more photos, check out: Think Loud Development. Also of interest: How one big York building tells an even larger story.
Other neat, unrelated stuff from all over … .
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In New Oxford: The new with the old … .
You see the New Oxford Coffee Co. sign, which is a modern-day mainstay in New Oxford’s square. Then you see guys in World War II uniforms in action. The Evening Sun’s headline helps explain this: New Oxford transforms to a French village in World War II reenactment.
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Name these people? For years, a breakfast group has met at the Yorktowne Hotel coffee shop. The group has changed as much as the name of the coffee shop. But it is reportedly still meeting. This drawing captures the group in its prime, about a generation ago. Groups like this help create and maintain community … .
O.K. Jim McClure – so close to Hotel Yorktowne’s 90th birthday, here’s a throwback to a simpler, kinder time…. maybe Gordon Freierich has some things to say –
Posted by Terrence Dutchie Downs on Sunday, September 20, 2015
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History Mystery: A famous painting, scrubbing up well … .
History Mystery: This restoration expert works on the area’s – indeed, one of the world’s – most famous paintings. It…
Posted by York Daily Record/Sunday News on Wednesday, September 16, 2015
