American Railroad Hotspots: Tower 55 In Fort Worth, Texas

In the shadows of one of the busiest highway crossroads in the state of Texas lies one of the busiest railroad interlocks in the country. Hundreds of thousands of drivers on Interstates 30 and 35 drive over top of this interlock every day, and an average 110-120 trains per day between Union Pacific, BNSF, and the Fort Worth & Western Railroad pound the diamonds of this critical section of Fort Worth every 24 hours. Amtrak passengers also pass through the interlock bound for Chicago, San Antonio or Los Angeles. In this video, we will take a look at all of the different angles at the area of the famous Tower 55, dive into the history of the interlock and show some past clips of the old interlock during its prime days. This is Tower 55 in Fort Worth, Texas: the very first episode of American Railroad Hotspots, proudly presented by the North Texas Rail Productions.
*NOTE: I DO NOT OWN THE THREE VIDEO CLIPS FROM THE 1990’S, NOR DO I OWN THE RIGHTS TO THE PHOTOS OF THE ORIGINAL INTERLOCK USED IN THE VIDEO!! ALL CREDIT FOR THOSE CLIPS GOES TO CHRIS JOHN THROUGH THE FOLLOWING LINK DOWN BELOW, AS WELL AS ALL OF THE OWNERS OF THE ORIGINAL PHOTOS!!*
• 3 Trains in Fort Worth...

[@chris_the_railfan]

I’ve been to Tower 55 before I love it there it’s my favorite place to Railfan

[@RyanFRails]

Absolutely. Definitely try shooting on the Pennsylvania Avenue bridge since you’ll get basically a full view of the interlock and you’ll be able to see trains on the Dallas Sub a little more clearly before they hit the interlock

[@jakeinlow1561]

Another good one is tower 60 lots of train traffic as well hopefully you do a video of that area as well

[@Nethanel773]

Wow, great video! Never looked at Ft. Worth till I heard about this Tower 55, off of a train dispatch game. And great narration on this locale's history and day-to-day.

[@greaterHoustonrailfan]

You should do Rosenberg, 3 Railroads meet at one railroad crossing, and *most of the time,* 2 trains Avery hour. You can see KCS And UP With ATCS And Trainmon5, BNSF Only has ATCS In the diamond area, but you can hear BNSF Trains before you see them. (Another crossing past a curve) The area in between the 2 tracks may look like trespassing, but it’s not, I and many other railfans have filmed there and we never got in trouble, even once the railroad employees just watched us. There’s the KCS Rosenberg Sub, but that merges into the UP Glidden sub at the diamond. Next, there’s the UP Glidden sub, which has a straight shot through Rosenberg, until it hits Richmond. And lastly, the BNSF Galveston sub, which also has a connection via trackage rights to the Glidden. There’s also radio for the area via Railstream.

[@DoryRail]

Never seen such a beauty.

[@bazis98]

Just wanted to say I found this video a month or 2 ago and now I'm about to check out the bridge you mentioned! I drove over it a minute ago, pretty cool spot.

[@RyanFRails]

Thanks! Yeah, the bridge I was standing on gives you undoubtedly the best in full view of trains running north/south or east/west so its definitely one worth checking out

[@northtexasrailroadproduction1]

@@RyanFRails there is a spot I railfan at tower 55 under the bridges I asked the company that owns the land right next to the interlock if I could film there and they said yes

[@jakeinlow1561]

This is a great video of tower 55 I was wondering down the road could u do one on tower 60 where they built a new bridge

[@NS3210]

I just recently moved to the Dallas area for a job, thank you for the video and info! I do plan to head around the Fort Worth and Saginaw area soon, then on towards the Panhandle area for some weekend Transcon action later in the Spring hopefully!

[@Th3Rambler]

I was on the first BNSF train to cross the new diamond..it’s easier now than it ever was.

[@herbertw.jr.carrier6122]

Nice video and review. I see that it's super busy and plenty of traffic to follow. There's some traffic that I don't get a chance to see(autoparts) but down here in Southeast Texas, it's a good bit of intermodal, chemical, autoracks, grain and wind turbine traffic.

[@zwmrailfan]

Nice video! By the way for the first train its the Smithers Lake Power Plant in Thompsons Texas

[@anthonyventi362]

I subscribed

[@RealRailfan]

DARN, this beats out Rochelle, IL Railroad Park hands down!!! I just may have to visit here one day!

[@RyanFRails]

It’s a great spot for railfans especially if you live in or around Dallas/Fort Worth. Highly recommend it

[@RealRailfan]

@@RyanFRails I live in Minnesota, but maybe one day could plan a trip out their! And hearing that there are 100+ trains a day makes it sound EVEN more worth a trip! Would make for some nice Shots for my YT Channel! :)

[@RyanFRails]

@@RealRailfan absolutely! Definitely shoot from the Pennsylvania Avenue overpass for the best angles. You also get a view of the entire interlock from that spot too and that way you’ll get a little time to set up for eastbound and westbound traffic on the T&P line

[@RealRailfan]

@@RyanFRails thanks for the advice!

[@RyanFRails]

You’re welcome

[@davidfinney5404]

Really interesting. What is in those Black round things on the track?

[@zwmrailfan]

Do Tower 26!

[@davidfinney545]

What is in those black round containers on the train?

[@828confido]

Tower 55 torn down Nov 2022

[@anthonyventi362]

When railfanning that location where is good place to park

[@RyanFRails]

There’s a Public Storage warehouse over on Arizona Avenue for ground level views of north/south traffic, and there’s a small dog park right off the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and Crawford Street that I typically park my car at, then I’ll just walk onto the Pennsylvania Avenue bridge from there. I personally like the bridge spot more because it gives you the best in full view of the interlock without a question