I clicked on the links and the websites were unavailable so maybe it would
have answered my question if the links had worked. Has anyone take a
picture of the picket fence area FROM the railroad tower? It would give a
us a good idea of just what Lee Bowers would have been able to see. I know
the tower is still there (at least it was when I visited in 2008).
A bit of useless information from yours truly who is also a railroad buff
in addition to being a JFK junkie. Bowers was working for the Union
Terminal Company in an interlocking tower. The Union Terminal Company was
technically a railroad although its only tracks were those leading to and
from Dallas's Union Station a few blocks from Dealey Plaza. It connected
to the eight railroads that used Union Station and was jointly owned by
them. Interlocking towers controlled the signals and the turnouts(what
most people call switches) from a central tower. The turnouts were set
from the interlocking tower by pulling levers connected to steel cables
that would run to the turnout. It took a strong man to pull those levers
because in some cases the cable would run hundreds of feet. Eventually the
mechanical levers were replaced with electrical switches which allowed
turnouts to be controlled from miles away as opposed to hundreds of feet.
Most of the towers have also been rendered obsolete although some are
still operational.
The Union Terminal Company ceased operations in 1974 after Amtrak had
taken over most intercity passenger traffic and the station is now used by
Amtrak and a light rail company.