COLUMBUS - The last tower for manual traffic control of area railroads sits empty for the first time in nearly a century.

        At 2 p.m. Friday, a computer in Jacksonville, Fla., took over the work done in the Scioto Tower near downtown by people such as train operator Walter Dorsey. The third-generation railway worker has worked for CSX Railroad for 43 years.

        CSX is consolidating dispatch operations, company spokesman David Hall said.

        The tower's levers allowed the operator to manually move tracks left or right to send trains in the correct direction. The flip of a switch changed signal lights, commanding trains when to stop and go.

        This is not the first change Mr. Dorsey has seen in his years at the railroad. Morse code was used when he began.

        Mr. Dorsey, of Frazeysburg, said he probably will transfer to CSX's railyard on the city's south side, but he'll miss being an operator.

        CSX and Norfolk-Southern trains use the tracks that the Scioto Tower controlled.

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