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Growing Up at "Town Line"

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Town Line's shanty was made from wood construction.  I don't recall the building being on a concrete foundation but the wood-slatted siding went into the ground so I am not sure.  The building was painted gray with gray trim on the outside (during my time there) and the inside was New York Central green.  Electrical service on the inside of the building was through conduit which was outside of the walls.  Another words, there was a maze of conduit piping carrying wires on the inside of the building.  These pipes were put to use holding "torpedoes", ready to grab for any emergency.

The Operator sat at his desk, facing east, and had a good view of westbound oncoming trains.  By turning around and looking behind him, he could see eastbound trains as well.  The railroad provided a wooden chair, which usually had some type of seat cushion as I recall.  The floor of the shanty was wood as well - perhaps finished at one time but now well worn.

I believe that Town Line was built no later than about 1920.  It appears that the first wye leg between the Michigan Central main line and Schaefer (then the DD&D branch, now the Junction Yard Secondary) was put in around that time, taking the place of the original DD&D line which went between (west) Dearborn and YD tower in River Rouge.  The shanty was probably heated by a coal furnace originally, as there was a coal bin/shed located next to the building just to the west.  In 1963, the building was heated by a center oil furnace.

The building was not well insulated and cracks near the windows, caused by old construction and ground settling had taken their toll by 1963.  When it was windy, you always heard it inside.  But the oil furnace made the environment cozy.  In the summer, the building heated up very quickly and windows and the door were always opened to cool things down.

In addition to the Operator's chair, a few other pieces of furniture graced the inside of the shanty.  Next to the door, a seat (which held about 2 people) was located and then was used by train crews that wanted to get in out of the cold while awaiting their crew change.  Other other seat was a bed (actually a caboose cushion) to the left of the Operator.  Though I am sure that NYC rules prohibited sleeping on duty, it was a regular practice.  Many an operator was awakened by the dispatcher's decoder bell which was very loud.