The Philadelphia Chapter of the

National Railway Historical Society

Established in 1936

On the Reading side of the SEPTA system, the "two towers" were Wayne and Wind, both housed in Wayne Tower (the red building in the top photograph) just south of Wayne Junction Station. They controlled the SEPTA Main out of Market East to the Chestnut Hill (line to the right), Norristown (at 16 Street Junction), Airport, Fox Chase, Doylestown, Lansdale, Warminster and West Trenton lines (lines in the foreground), trains in and out of the maintenance facilities at Roberts Yard to the south (track crossing the Chestnut Hill line to the right and one of the few diamonds in the area) and Wayne Electric Shop to the north, the Blue Line connection which runs right in front of the tower to Conrail's CP Nice (fourth track from the left which the pictured Conrail train is using, and a possible diversion route for the Trenton Line last weekend), as well as Conrail's access points to the Trenton Line at CP Newtown, CP Cheltenham, CP Wood and CP Trent. Busy place!

Unfortunately the "fall" of the two towers came late last year, when all dispatching was transferred to SEPTA headquarters on Market Street in center city Philadelphia.

Here are some shots from a July 1991 visit inside the tower. The model boards are of the SEPTA Main Line in sequence from north to south, with the last one a newer board the Norristown line and the connections between the Conrail Harrisburg and Morrisville Lines and the Stony Creek Branch to Lansdale PA.