Turning the table on time: BNSF donation to nonprofit preserves piece of history

By PAIGE ROMANOWSKI 
Staff writer 

Recently, BNSF Railway donated the historic Clyde turntable from BNSF’s Cicero, Illinois, yard to Railroading Heritage of Midwest America (RRHMA), a non-profit in Silvis, Illinois. The Chicago-area yard was previously known as “Clyde Yard” by a BNSF predecessor, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (CB&Q) Railroad, and that’s how the turntable got its name.

Turntables were created to redirect locomotives or railcars onto different tracks, a necessity because early locomotives could only run forward. Controlled electronically from a booth perched on the turntable, operators ride along with the equipment they skillfully steer.

While modern trains can move in both directions, turntables still hold a special connection to the railroading world – a time capsule into the history of rail and marvel of engineering.

The Clyde turntable was built between 1938 and 1940 by the CB&Q, and to this day, remains one of the largest active turntables in the world. Spanning 135 feet and weighing 160,000 pounds, this turntable played a key role in turning generations of locomotives – everything from steam to diesel. 

As part of BNSF’s expansion of the Cicero yard, a new, smaller turntable is in the works because relocating the old one would cost more than building new. Project Engineer Matt Hans and a colleague had an idea that they took to RRHMA’s Erik Hoofnagle and Steve Sandberg to see if the organization would be willing to be home to this railroad relic.

“Working together with the Railroading Heritage of Midwest America organization, we were able to successfully donate the existing 135-foot turntable instead of scrapping it,” Hans said. “This helped lower overall project costs and reduced waste -- plus allows a piece of history to live on.”

Hoofnagle, an RRHMA volunteer, added: “The Railroading Heritage of Midwest America is all about preserving and sharing rail history. This turntable will allow us to showcase 1940s engineering and eventually play a role in our charter trips.”

The next challenge was how to move 135 feet and 80 tons of solid metal that simply refused to be taken apart. The turntable’s riveted construction had bolts that wouldn’t budge, and folks had long forgotten the exact model of the turning mechanism hiding beneath the surface of the table.

As a final salute to the turntable’s more than 80 years of service, BNSF’s high-wide dimensional team worked with RRHMA to move the mechanism more than 200 miles from Cicero to Silvis. Over three days, the team worked alongside RRHMA volunteers and local contracting companies to lift, assess and load the turntable onto railcars – and another three days for it to pass clearance for movement.

“The day of lift was suspenseful – it was a surprise as to what holds it in the ground,” Hoofnagle said. “Luckily, it came off center bearing. It was a spear center bearing with spherical objects to help it turn.”

RRHMA is located on the former Rock Island Railroad property in Silvis, and they plan to install the turntable near where the original Rock Island turntable once was. When installed in its new circular base, it will be fully operational and used to maneuver RRHMA rail equipment. While the turntable awaits installation, visitors can see this engineering marvel on display.

“We plan to make the turntable one of our open house events to celebrate,” Hoofnagle said.