Before the 1940s, making sure two trains were not on a collision course on a line of track took the work of a lot of people. There were telegrams sent, people were stationed up and down the tracks and conductors had to get off at every stop to ensure all was clear ahead for changing tracks.

Then came the invention of the Centralized Traffic Control panel, which allowed one person to control the tracks for hundreds of miles. The Cotton Belt Railroad made the leap with other railroads into the future and by 1957 had a fully installed CTC system.

“It was akin to going from pen and paper to digital. That is how big of a leap this was for the railroad,” Cotton Belt Depot Museum President Shane Murphy said.

Murphy said the new electronics worked when a train’s wheels contacted an electrical track circuit and sent information back to the unit, which allowed the operator to know where trains were on the hundreds of miles of track.

“By flipping levers and pushing buttons on the panel, the dispatcher opens and closes railroad switches, shunts slow trains on to sidings and expedites the meeting of trains running in opposite directions on the same track. With centralized traffic control, a single-track railroad is able to handle up to 80 percent more traffic with greater speed, efficiency and safety,” he said.

That piece of industry-changing equipment has returned to East Texas after Murphy and Glenn Wilkins, also with the museum, made a trip to Pine Bluff, Arkansas, to pick up the unit that was once housed in the Cotton Belt building on West Front Street.

When the building was sold to the county, the piece of equipment was moved to Pine Bluff for storage, Murphy said.

“We have it back here now, and the plan is to revamp it and get all of the lights and switches working, so we can put it on display in the museum,” he said. “We are really glad to have this back in Tyler, and it will be great to see it on display for everyone to see.”

Those interested in trains can attend the Cotton Belt Train Show at Harvey Convention Center in Tyler on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission for adults is $6, and children younger than 12 get in free. All proceeds go to the museum.