Sand is loaded into the engines under these towers. The engines can drop sand along the tracks in front of their wheels for better traction in areas of ice and snow. This is where the sand is loaded into the engines.
The photos in this slide show were taken in the mid-1990's by Steve Grande on his Amtrak travels throughout the nation. The size of the photos is purposely smaller as disk space was expensive and download speeds were slower at that time.
