National Capital Trolley Museum

As the street railway companies of Washington were planning their facilities for Union Station in 1908, they commissioned the American Automatic Switch Company to manufacture five towers which would enable attendants to route street cars by setting switches and signaling motormen in the vicinity of the Station. Of these five, the one donated to the Museum by the James H. Cochran family of Brentwood, Maryland in 1977 is the remaining example.

Construction of Union Station required re-routing of street car tracks of the Capital Traction Company and the Washington Railway and Electric Company. Routes serving Mt. Pleasant, Lincoln Park, Cabin John/Glen Echo, Anacostia and other points were to be directed onto jointly-owned tracks through Union Station Plaza. To facilitate streetcar traffic, the companies installed switch towers at North Capitol Street and Massachusetts Avenue, on both sides of the Plaza where Massachusetts Avenue intersected, at C Street and Delaware Avenue, and adjacent to the terminal on the Capitol grounds. From these elevated vantage points, tower operators directed street car traffic until Congressionally-mandated track realignments entered service in October, 1931.

Three towers were relocated to major street car intersections at l5th Street and New York Avenue, NW; 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW; and 7th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, where they enabled manual control of the track switches during rush hours. This practice continued until after World War II when the towers were removed from the intersections. The tower from 7th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW found its way to the Cochran residence in Brentwood, Maryland for use as a playhouse and eventual preservation.

Restoration was accomplished by Sanders Museum Services and involved reconstruction of the tower cabin's frame and interior, repair of the copper sheeting, reproduction of certain trim pieces, fabrication of new windows, and treatment of the cast iron pedestal. Funds were provided by the Maryland Museum Assistance Program, the Montgomery County Historic Preservation Commission, the Potomac Electric Power Company, and the patrons of the National Capital Trolley Museum.

September 25, 2007