Walking Bridge with Tower and MOW Photos

[FunValleyLine]

I took these while driving around one day with nothing to do. They were taken in Roanoke Va near the switching yard. Thought maybe it would give someone some ideas for a small project. The date on the camera is the default I forgot to reset the pictures are about 3 month ago.

 

[UP2CSX]

Interesting pedestrian bridge. It's the first one I've seen with a guard shack in the middle of it.

 

[FunValleyLine]

I am not sure what the purpose of the tower is/was it over looks the yard/shop area. The bridge goes from a parking lot to a couple of old yard office buildings. None of it looks to be used much anymore but is hard to get close enough to tell.

 

[UP2CSX]

Hard to tell but the placement of the tower, with no independent stairs, leads me to believe it's security related. It looks like you enter the tower from the pedestrian bridge and there appears to be a gate just before the tower. It looks like two levels, the bottom for checking employee ID's as they cross and the upper for observing the yard. The radio antenna mounted on the bridge would also indicate separate radio facilities in the tower. The biggest tip off for me is that wind sock. If they had a hazmat leak, the railroad police would be the ones communicating with the area emergency responders and the first thing they'd want to know is wind direction and approximate speed. That sock is mounted so the police in the tower can look out the window and tell what's happening with the wind...and also let them know which direction to run.