Cleveland Avenue - RA

Manual Tower/Single Story Cabin

Network Diagram - B&O

Click on the photo to enlarge

There is no Cleveland Ave tower photo available to columbusrailroads.com.  There were at least two Cleveland Ave. towers both situated in the "V" formed by Cleveland Ave. and the N&W "fly over" bridge shown in the photo above.  The first tower was located on  the north side of the joint B&O/PRR four track main and the second was located in a single story building just across that main on the south side.  Photo from Dave Bunge Collection.

        Cleveland Ave tower was located .5 miles from Columbus Union Station.  According to the B&O employee timetable It was .2 miles east of US tower and 2.7 miles west of the Alum Creek tower. 

       Daniel Macke, a former railroad trainman who has studied Columbus railroad history writes:

"The former tower was located on the  north side of the mains between the Cleveland Avenue overpass and the N&W bridge.  Later Cleveland Avenue was a very small one-story frame structure almost directly opposite the older tower.  The location was immediately west of the Cleveland Avenue overpass on the south side of the mains.  Just west of the operators shanty was also a small tool house.

"There was a frame switch tender's shanty located about 300 feet east of Cleveland Avenue on the north side of the main.

"Cleveland Avenue protected a series of four hand thrown double-slip switches that crossed the mains diagonally from Yard B on the north side to five tracks on the south side of the mains.  That part of Yard B was called the Freight House Yard. The five tracks on the other end consisted of one eastward freight tack, two B&O freight tracks (to their 4th St. yard), and two PRR tracks (to the freight house).

"Position light signals #1361 and 1361F (westward) were located just east of Cleveland Avenue and #1362 and 1362F (eastward) were mounted on the west side of the N&W overpass.  These were automatic signals.  They were not authority to enter the limits of Cleveland Avenue.  Authority for movement was a proceed signal from one or more switchtenders.  Trains and engines on #1, #2 or #3 needed a signal from the  switchtender east of Cleveland Avenue.  Trains and engines on #4 and the  tracks south of #4 needed a signal from the switchtender west of Cleveland Avenue.  Trains and engines making crossover moves needed hand signals from both switchtenders.

"There was no access to Yard A from Cleveland Avenue.  The south track was #4 main.  farther east there was a track to Fort Hayes with access from the St. Clair area (east).  The first access to Yard A was just west of St. Clair Avenue (red onion), not quite one half mile from Cleveland Avenue.  There were three hand thrown crossovers (from tracks 2 and 4) and a switch tender.

"B&O valuation maps label Cleveland Avenue as "RA Tower" when it was located on the north side of the mains, and as "RA Tel. Off." when it was located on the south side.  There definitely was an operator at the location."