I took this rare and historic photo in October of 1983, at what was the now closing GTW Elsdon Yard on West 51st Street in the city of Chicago Illinois.
I don't recall the date of My visit, but it was during October of 1983 and the GTW was in the process of closing Elsdon Yard. This tower is viewed looking west along the north side of West 51st Street during it's final week of operation. The following week, it was demolished onsite. The Grand Trunk Western had decided to move their Chicago yard switching operations, to the huge Belt Railway of Chicago Clearing Yard in southwest suburban Bedford Park Illinois.
The once busy GTW Elsdon Yard had 14 tracks that crossed West 51st Street between South St. Louis and Lawndale Avenues, and had required manually operated crossing gates during busy switching operation periods. Their was also a tower like this to the south of the yard at West 55th Street, wich was demolished around 1981.
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