Built in 1925 by Ogle Construction Co. of Chicago, Illinois, the Grand Trunk Western Standard Coaling Tower was a concrete and steel structure used to load coal into locomotive tenders until it was removed from operation in the early 1950's, when all ladders, stairways, and other steel hardware were stripped from it. In operation, a hopper car of coal was positioned over the pit beneath the arches, its bottom hopper doors were opened, and the coal dropped by gravity into the pit, where a bucket hoisted it to the storage bin at the top of the tower. An attached concrete shed contained the power source and mechanical equipment that activated the hoist bucket, which was controlled by an operator in the hoist tower. A locomotive tender was then positioned under the coal discharge chute, and a lever activated by the fireman opened a door in the chute to allow the coal to pour by gravity into the tender. The tower was 79 feet high, 28 feet wide, 30 feet long, and had a capacity of 200 tons of coal.