Richard Morrison, Ratha Liladrie, Lisa and Bill Rickert and Vincent M. Morales, Jr. Photo by BAC Photography.
Cold weather didn’t stop the Rosenberg Railroad Museum from celebrating the grand reopening of historic Tower 17. Joined by members of the community, Rosenberg Mayor Vincent M. Morales, Jr. proclaimed February 6th as “Tower 17 Grand Re-Opening Day.” Thanks to grants from the George Foundation and the City of Rosenberg, the Museum was able to replace the roof and broken windows, repair the walls and paint the building in a traditional Southern Pacific color scheme. In addition, the interior also received royal treatment with new paint and re-engineered exhibits that highlight the tower’s original interlocker and new Advanced Train Control System (ATCS).
Tower 17 was the last traditionally manned interlocking tower in the state of Texas and was in operation for over 101 years, from July 1903 until February 2004. It was generously donated by Union Pacific and moved to the Museum grounds in the spring of 2004. Over the next two years, project manager Jim Vollmar worked tirelessly with numerous volunteers to get Tower 17 ready to open to the public in the summer of 2006.
Today, the rail junction at Tower 17 continues to see heavy rail traffic and is one of the busiest rail junctions in Texas, with over 60 trains a day passing through. The Rosenberg Railroad Museum is pleased to have the only interlocking tower in the United States, where visitors can operate the interlocking machine. Located on the second floor, the interlocker operates exactly as it did for over 101 years. Visitors can pull the levers just as the tower operators did and operate an actual semaphore signal. In addition, an ATCS computer and radios have been added, so visitors can monitor actual train movements in real time.
“The Rosenberg Railroad Museum is proud to be stewards of railroad preservation in Fort Bend County, and we are very grateful for all of the support we have received from the community,” said Executive Director Ratha Liladrie. “We are thrilled that we are able to save this piece of history so that we may share it with future generations.”
For more information or to volunteer or donate, call 281-633-2846 or visit www.rosenbergRRmuseum.org.