Interlocking: Tower 12, Bay City, MI

Tower 12 in north Bay City was located on the busy north/south Michigan Central branch line which ran from Bay City north to the Straits of Mackinaw. Tower 12 was located near Wilder Road where two east/west industrial spurs crossed the MC. The first road to cross the MC here was the Huron & Western railroad, a Pere Marquette route which ran from North Bay City west to some coal mines west of town. The second cross route was a MC industrial line called the Hecla Belt Line railroad, which ran from the Hecla cement works on Saginaw Bay west to MC's Wenona Yard. It also crossed the MC here, probably to reach coal mines for fuel for the cement plant.

The Hecla Belt  was originally planned to bring coal and marl east into the Hecla Portland Cement Works which was located at the entrance from Saginaw Bay to the Saginaw River.

According to blueprints in [SMA-IF], this tower was originally proposed to be Tower 11-M but changed to Tower 12 operationally, with a 12-lever interlocking frame in the tower with 10 levers used. It was expanded to 36 levers.

This was a PM (H&W) staffed tower. [TRT]

According to records in the State of Michigan Archives, the PM H&W branch was removed on February 26, 1929 and Tower 12 was removed.

Photo info: Two views of Tower 12, the top from 1902 and the bottom from 1922. [Both, by Dale Berry from blueprints in the State of Michigan Archives].

Notes

Time Line

1903. The Huron & Western Railroad company undertook to put in a diamond at the crossing of the Michigan Central at Bay City Thursday (at what would become Tower 12), and the latter road resisted by placing a locomotive across the right of way. An injunction was procured by the H&W which was unheeded. All traffic on the Mackinaw division is held up pending the settlement of the affair. [PHTH-1903-0124]