This Delaware, Lackawanna and Western typical railroad signal tower is a perfect fit for any railroad
Built in 1908, the Mattes Street signal tower directed train traffic at the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western passenger station in Scranton Pennsylvania. Before the days of centralized traffic control, signal towers controlled sections of track with levers that controlled the switches and signals around it. The levers on the top floor of the station were designed in such a way that they were interlocking, that is if one lever was activated, it prevented the movement of any lever controlling conflicting signal or switches. Connection from the tower levers was most often through mechanical linkages through pipes from the tower to the switches and signals.[1]
The tower was built to the standardized architecture of the Lackawanna railroad with a bay window, arched windows and doorways, concrete exterior, and Spanish tile roofing that would be at home on any model railroad based in the 20th Century.
[1]Historians Kathryn Steen and Amy Slaton were responsible for the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad: Scranton Yards Recording Project, performed in 1989. The drawings were delineated by Michael R. South. Photos were taken by Mark Harrell. The project was part of the Historic American Engineering Record, a project of the National Park Service. More information can be found in the Library of Congress, HAER record PA 132-1.