A railway roundhouse is a building with a circular or semicircular shape used by railways for servicing and storing locomotives. [1] Traditionally, though not always the case today, these buildings contained or were adjacent to a turntable.
A railway roundhouse is a building with a circular or semicircular shape used by railways for servicing and storing locomotives. [1] Traditionally, though not always the case today, these buildings contained or were adjacent to a turntable.
Early steam locomotives normally traveled forwards only. Although reverse operations capabilities were soon built into locomotive mechanisms, the controls were normally optimized for forward travel, and the locomotives often could not operate as well in reverse. Some passenger cars, such as observation cars, were also designed as late as the 1960s for operations in a particular direction.[ citation needed ] Turntables allowed locomotives or other rolling stock to be turned around for the return journey, and roundhouses, designed to radiate around the turntables, were built to service and store these locomotives. [2]
Most modern diesel and electric locomotives can run equally well in either direction, and many are push-pull trains with control cabs at each end. In addition, railroads often use multiple locomotives to pull trains, and even with locomotives that have distinct front and rear ends, the engines at opposing ends of a locomotive "consist" (a group of locomotives coupled together and controlled as a single unit) can be aligned so they face opposite directions. With such a setup, trains needing to reverse direction can use a technique known as a "run around," in which the engines are uncoupled from the train, pull around it on an adjacent track or siding, and reattach at the other end. The engineer changes operating ends from the original locomotive to the one on the opposite end of the locomotive consist.
Railroad terminals also use features such as balloon loops and wyes (Commonwealth: triangle) to reverse the orientation of railroad equipment. Because of the advent of these practices, modern roundhouses are frequently not round and are simply large buildings used for servicing locomotives. Like much other railroad terminology, however, the structure has retained its traditional name. The alternative term engine-house encompasses both semi-circular and rectangular structures and broadly describes all buildings intended for storage and servicing of locomotives. [3] Shops or workshops are buildings containing hoists and heavy machinery capable of major repairs beyond routine servicing. [4] Some roundhouses include shop facilities internally or in adjoining buildings.
Since the great dieselisation era of the 1940s and 1950s, many roundhouses have been demolished or put to other uses, but a few still stand and remain in use on the railroads. Early roundhouses were too small for later locomotives. The buildings' peculiar shapes can make it challenging to adapt them to new uses, but they can also be visually pleasing.
Roundhouses were originally constructed to service steam locomotives. In North America, regular daily serving began with a hostler moving an engine to an ash pit to remove the detritus of burned wood or coal. The locomotive's tender would be filled with fuel and water, the locomotive's sand dome would be filled, and the engine would be placed above an inspection pit so that workers could inspect it for any maintenance needs, like wear on its brake shoes and wheels. The engine's many moving parts would also be thoroughly lubricated, although this meant that engines typically required frequent cleanings to remove old lubricating fluid along with dirt and anything else that stuck. [1]
At larger 24-hour North American roundhouses, steam locomotives would often be turned around and made ready for service within a few hours of arrival. However, locomotives with major issues or in need of semi-regular maintenance required additional time. Larger roundhouses were adequately staffed with boilermakers, blacksmiths, and pipefitters so that this work could be accomplished on-site; only the most extensive work, such as major unexpected repairs or scheduled major maintenance, required the transport of locomotives to specialized backshops. [5]
The location of the first roundhouse is thought to be Birmingham. England, built in 1837. Some turntables that were built in earlier days rapidly became unsuitable for the longer locomotives introduced. For example, the Roundhouse in London was built in 1846 to turn around steam locomotives on the line to Birmingham, but newer locomotives were too long within ten years—the building has been preserved and used for other purposes over the years. [6]
Valley Heights roundhouse, 75 kilometres (47 mi) west of Sydney, New South Wales, is the oldest surviving roundhouse in Australia, and has been preserved as a railway museum.
The London Roundhouse Project London, Ontario, Canada, is an extensive renovation of the Michigan Central Railroad steam locomotive repair shop which was built in 1887. It is to become the new home of Ellipsis Digital and Engine SevenFour, a pair of emerging technology companies.
The Canadian National Railways roundhouse at the Turcot Yard in Montreal, built in 1906, was the largest ever built in Canada. Its demolition in 1962 to make way for the Turcot Interchange illustrated a profound change in transportation habits across North America.
The Steam Whistle Brewing brewery in Toronto, Ontario is located in the building known as the John Street Roundhouse, a former Canadian Pacific Railway steam locomotive repair facility.
The Canadian Pacific 374 steam engine is on display at the former CPR Drake Street Roundhouse in Vancouver, [7] now the Roundhouse Community Centre [8] [9] designed by VIA Architecture.
The Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway Roundhouse in Victoria, British Columbia
Several roundhouses exist in France; two exist at Chambéry, built between 1906 and 1910. Another two exist at Avignon, and three exist at Lyon with other roundhouses being at Bordeaux, Strasbourg, Dijon, Bayonne, Colmar, Paris, Marseille, Clermont-Ferrand, Mulhouse, Nevers, Toulon, Valence, and Saint Etienne.
Several roundhouses survive in Germany, The roundhouses at Augsburg and Freilassing are home to a museum. The German Museum of Technology shows a doubled roundhouse.
The former Budapest North Depot in Budapest is home to a railway museum since 2000.
At its height, there were four railway roundhouses in Indonesia; three of which survive: the roundhouse near Lempuyangan station in Yogyakarta, [10] [11] the one in Tebing Tinggi station in North Sumatera, [12] [13] and a former roundhouse inside Jatibarang sugar mill in Central Java which is now used as a mini railway museum. [14]
There are two roundhouses at Turin, still in use by the FS. There is one in Rome.
There were three roundhouses in New Zealand. Elmer Lane in Greymouth was one of the largest and most famous roundhouses in New Zealand and had up to 17 total berths. The last remains were demolished in the 1990's. None of the original roundhouses survive however Mainline Steam as part of their Mercer project will build a roundhouse at Mercer.
Norway has had many roundhouses, and many still survive. Examples include Voss, Ål, Kongsberg on the Bergen line. Hamar, Otta and Oppdal on the Dovre line, Lodalen - Oslo (covered) and Egersund on the Sørland line.
A roundhouse is known to exist at Manpo-Jian.
Roundhouses were a significant feature of Japanese railways. Many smaller roundhouses are still in use today as fully operational buildings on a few private and third-sector railways.
One Japanese roundhouse that remains intact is at the Kyoto Railway Museum. The museum comprises a number of structures classified by the Japanese Government as 'Important Cultural Properties'. One of these structures is the museum roundhouse, the oldest reinforced concrete car shed extant in Japan. [15]
The museum roundhouse in Wolsztyn, in western Poland, continued to supply steam locomotives for regular national rail services as of 2011.
The Roundhouse at Entroncamento is home to the Portuguese National Railway Museum.
The Uster roundhouse in Uster.
Changhua Roundhouse in Changhua City built in 1922 is the only surviving roundhouse in Taiwan and is still in use as of 2022.
Probably the first railway roundhouse, designed by Robert Stephenson, was built in 1837 in Birmingham, at Curzon Street station. [16] Its central turntable, inspection pits, and an exterior wall were uncovered in March 2020 during work to build the HS2 line. [16]
Another was built in 1839 at Derby, England by the North Midland Railway. A guidebook of the time says: [17]
The engine-house is a polygon of sixteen sides, and 190 feet (58 m) in diameter, lighted from a dome-shaped roof, of the height of 50 feet (15.2 m). It contains 16 lines of rails, radiating from a single turn-table in the centre: the engines, on their arrival, are taken in there, placed upon the turn-table, and wheeled into any stall that may be vacant. Each of the 16 stalls will hold two, or perhaps more, engines. [18]
This roundhouse narrowly escaped demolition when the works closed down, and was classified as a listed building. It was restored in 2010, being converted into a brand new site for Derby College, with a new addition called the 'Stephenson Building' including the other survival of demolition – the original Midland Counties Railway workshop. The new site was opened in September 2009. Tours can be arranged through Derby Tourist Information Centre.
In Leeds, Thomas Grainger designed the roundhouse near Armley Gyratory that was opened in 1847, with accommodation for 20 trains from the Leeds & Thirsk Railway. [19] It was operational until 1904. [19]
The Fenton, Murray and Jackson building in Leeds (1831–1843), a private workshop, may previously have been laid out in a radial pattern like a roundhouse.
The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm, London was built in 1847, but was too small for its function within 20 years; it is now an arts center and concert venue.
Barrow Hill Engine Shed, which is home to a number of preserved locomotives is still in use.
It is estimated that there were about 3,000 roundhouse sites in the United States, although at least three times that many were built between 1840 and 1950. Many were demolished and rebuilt as locomotives became increasingly large. Several were built around 1840 for the earliest railroads. It is likely that the first in the US was built by the Baltimore and Ohio at Mt. Clare (Baltimore), although this cannot be confirmed because early records have been lost. Early roundhouses, especially those built in cold climates, were fully enclosed, with the turntable as well as the stalls under cover. Once locomotives became too large to fit in these structures, they were torn down and replaced with "doughnut"-shaped structures that surrounded an open turntable. Although some roundhouses used by Class 1 railroads were built as a full-circle with as many as 52 stalls, the vast majority were only part of a circle with 12 or fewer stalls. [20]
Nearly every locomotive terminal in the country was anchored by a roundhouse, especially if a railroad owned more than a few locomotives. The largest concentration of roundhouses was in Chicago, with over 75 in and around the metropolitan region during the early 1900s. Other cities where multiple railroads terminated or were major division points also had over 20 roundhouses, such as Boston, Cleveland, St. Louis, Sioux City, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati. [21]
The largest "as-built" roundhouse ever constructed is believed to have been the Boston and Maine's East Somerville roundhouse outside Boston, today the site of the Boston Engine Terminal. It was built with stalls 112 feet (34.1 m) long, 90 feet (27 m) of open space between the roundhouse and the turntable, and a 110-foot (33.5 m) turntable, giving it a diameter of 525 feet (160 m). However, several roundhouses were enlarged over time to become larger than the one in Boston; for example, the Union Pacific roundhouse in Cheyenne, Wyoming was lengthened in 1930 to accommodate the new 4-8-8-4 "Big Boy" articulated locomotives being delivered. After the expansion it was 560 feet (170 m) in diameter and constituted a near full-circle. [22] A portion of this roundhouse still stands and is used by Union Pacific to store heritage rolling stock.
The vast majority of roundhouses were torn down beginning in the 1950s as railroads converted from steam to diesel-electric power, which needed far less maintenance. Some were converted to service diesel engines, while others were used as storage or sold to other parties. Several dozen roundhouses stand today in active use by modern railroads and museums, although the majority of those still standing have been abandoned. An average of two per year are demolished or otherwise destroyed. [23]
The only roundhouse still in use as a locomotive servicing facility by the same railroad that constructed it is the Long Island engine house in Queens, New York. The largest surviving roundhouse by interior square footage is owned and operated by the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, North Carolina. It was built by the Southern Railway in 1924 and contains 37 stalls. [24]
The B&O Railroad Museum complex in Baltimore, Maryland contains the restored railcar maintenance roundhouse of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, originally built in 1884. [25]
The roundhouse in Aurora, Illinois, constructed in 1856, was purchased and restored by NFL football player Walter Payton in 1995. After Payton's death, the roundhouse was occupied by a micro-brewery and renamed Two Brothers Roundhouse, with a plaque mounted in Payton's honor. [26]
The vast majority of roundhouses built in the US and Canada no longer exist, lie in ruins, or have been repurposed; however, a small number of them still exist and continue to operate in their intended capacity as locomotive storing and servicing facilities. [27] Of the roughly 3,000 roundhouses that once existed in North America, fewer than 200 roundhouses are extant in the US as of 2010 [update] ; in Canada, none exist east of Montreal. [28] Below is a list of locations with operational roundhouses that are also open to the public.
| Location | City | Track gauge | Number of intact stalls in use | Year built | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age of Steam Roundhouse | Sugarcreek, Ohio, US | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | 18 | 2011 | Open May–October on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays for guided tours only. [29] |
| Colorado Railroad Museum | Golden, Colorado, US | 3 ft (914 mm) | 5 | 2000 | |
| Como Roundhouse, Railroad Depot and Hotel Complex | Como, Colorado, US | 3 ft (914 mm) | 2 | 1881 | |
| Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum | Willimantic, Connecticut, US | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | 6 | 2000 | Replica [30] |
| Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad | Durango, Colorado, US | 3 ft (914 mm) | 7 | 1990 | Replica; utilizes parts from original structure built in 1881 on same site, which burned down in 1989 |
| East Broad Top Railroad and Coal Company | Rockhill Furnace, Pennsylvania, US | 3 ft (914 mm) | 8 | 1882 | |
| Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway Roundhouse | Victoria, British Columbia, Canada | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | ? | 1913 | |
| Heritage Park Historical Village | Calgary, Alberta, Canada | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | 6 | 1981 | Replica [31] |
| North Carolina Transportation Museum | Spencer, North Carolina, US | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | 6 | 1924 | |
| Railtown 1897 State Historic Park | Jamestown, California, US | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | 6 | 1910 | |
| Steamtown National Historic Site | Scranton, Pennsylvania, US | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | 13 | 1902 | |
| Union Pacific Roundhouse | Cheyenne, Wyoming, US | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | 7 | 1931 [32] | Used to store and maintain the Union Pacific Heritage Fleet; only open during authorized tours |
| Weiser Railroad (Greenfield Village) | Dearborn, Michigan, US | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | 6 | 2000 | Replica; utilizes parts from original structure built in 1884 in Marshall, Michigan |
| Location | Address | Track gauge | Number of intact stalls in use | Year built | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Changhua railway station | Changhua City, Changhua County, Taiwan | 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) | 12 | 1922 | The Changhua Roundhouse is open to the public Tues to Fri 13:00 – 16:00, Sat & Sun 10:00 – 16:00. Still used for maintenance by the Taiwan Railways Administration. |
The Minnesota Transportation Museum is a transportation museum in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States.
In rail terminology, a railway turntable or wheelhouse is a device for turning round railway rolling stock, usually locomotives, so that they face the direction they came from. It is especially used in areas where economic considerations or a lack of sufficient space have served to weigh against the construction of a turnaround wye. Railways needed a way to turn steam locomotives around for return journeys, as their controls were often not configured for extended periods of running in reverse; also many locomotives had a lower top speed in reverse. Most diesel locomotives, however, can be operated in either direction, and are considered to have "front ends" and "rear ends". When a diesel locomotive is operated as a single unit, the railway company often prefers, or requires, that it be run "front end" first. When operated as part of a multiple unit locomotive consist, the locomotives can be arranged so that the consist can be operated "front end first" no matter which direction the consist is pointed. Turntables were also used to turn observation cars so that their windowed lounge ends faced toward the rear of the train.
The North Carolina Transportation Museum is a museum in Spencer, North Carolina. It is a collection of automobiles, aircraft, and railway vehicles. The museum is located at the former Southern Railway's 1896-era Spencer Shops and devotes much of its space to the state's railroad history. The museum has the largest collection of rail relics in the Carolinas. Its Back Shop building of nearly three stories high is notable for its size, two football fields long.
A motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine sheds" or just "sheds". Facilities are provided for refuelling and the replenishing of water, lubricating oil and grease and, for steam engines, the disposal of ash. There are often workshops for day-to-day repairs and maintenance, but locomotive building and major overhauls are usually carried out at locomotive works.
The Morris Park Facility is a maintenance facility of the Long Island Rail Road in Queens, New York City. It includes two employee-only side platforms on the Atlantic Branch named Boland's Landing. Two wooden platforms, each two cars long, exist on the two-track line, with a flashlight for workers to signal trains to stop.
Spokane, Portland & Seattle 700 is the oldest and only surviving example of the class "E-1" 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive and the only surviving "original" Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway steam locomotive. It was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in May 1938. Nearly identical to the class "A-3" Northerns built for Northern Pacific Railway, it burns oil instead of coal.
Roundhouse Park is a 17-acre (6.9 ha) park in the downtown core of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is in the former Railway Lands. It features the John Street Roundhouse, a preserved locomotive roundhouse that houses the Toronto Railway Museum, Steam Whistle Brewing, and the Rec Room restaurant and entertainment complex. The park is also home to a collection of trains, the former Canadian Pacific Railway Don Station, and the Roundhouse Park Miniature Railway. The park is bounded by Bremner Boulevard, Lower Simcoe Street, Lake Shore Boulevard West/Gardiner Expressway, and Rees Street.
The Steam Railroading Institute is located at 405 South Washington Street, Owosso, Michigan. It was founded in 1969 as the Michigan State University (MSU) Railroad Club. It became the Michigan State Trust for Railway Preservation, and later adopted its present name.
The Georgia State Railroad Museum is a museum in Savannah, Georgia located at a historic Central of Georgia Railway site. It includes parts of the Central of Georgia Railway: Savannah Shops and Terminal Facilities National Historic Landmark District. The complex is considered the most complete antebellum railroad complex in the United States. The museum, located at 655 Louisville Road, is part of a historic district included in the National Register of Historic Places.
The Southern Railway Spencer Shops are a former locomotive repair facility in Spencer, North Carolina. The shops were one of the Southern Railway's primary maintenance facilities. The shops were built in the 1890s and named after Southern Railway president Samuel Spencer. Following dieselization, the need for the Spencer Shops diminished, and the facilities were decommissioned in the 1970s. The Spencer Shops and associated land were donated by the Southern Railway to the state of North Carolina, which established the North Carolina Transportation Museum on the site.
The Augsburg Railway Park is a railway museum in Augsburg on part of the former Augsburg locomotive shed owned by the Deutsche Bahn. Following reconstruction work, the park officially reopened on 13 April 2009. In the future, 29 historic locomotives from the EU member countries and also Switzerland will be exhibited in the roundhouse and on the turntable, the so-called Europa Roundhouse, which are protected historical buildings. In addition to the roundhouse there are also three historical steam locomotive halls with a workshop atmosphere and a historical smithy.
Junee railway station is a heritage-listed railway station located on the Main Southern line in New South Wales, Australia. It serves the town of Junee in the Junee Shire. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
The Buffalo, Rochester, and Pittsburgh Railway was one of the more than ten thousand railroad companies founded in North America. It lasted much longer than most, serving communities from the shore of Lake Ontario to the center of western Pennsylvania.
There were a number of engine sheds and railway works located in York. The large York North engine shed became the National Railway Museum in 1975.
Steamtown, U.S.A., was a steam locomotive museum that ran steam excursions out of North Walpole, New Hampshire, and Bellows Falls, Vermont, from the 1960s to 1983. The museum was founded by millionaire seafood industrialist F. Nelson Blount. The non-profit Steamtown Foundation took over operations following his death in 1967. Because of Vermont's air quality regulations restricting steam excursions, declining visitor attendance, and disputes over the use of track, some pieces of the collection were relocated to Scranton, Pennsylvania in the mid-1980s and the rest were auctioned off. After the move, Steamtown continued to operate in Scranton but failed to attract the expected 200,000–400,000 visitors. Within two years the tourist attraction was facing bankruptcy, and more pieces of the collection were sold to pay off debt.
The Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum, located in Sugarcreek, Ohio, United States, is a museum roundhouse housing steam and diesel locomotives, passenger cars and other vintage United States and Canadian railroad equipment.
Broadmeadow Locomotive Depot was a large locomotive depot consisting of two roundhouse buildings and associated facilities constructed by the New South Wales Government Railways adjacent to the marshalling yard on the Main Northern line at Broadmeadow. Construction of the locomotive depot at Broadmeadow commenced in 1923 to replace the existing crowded loco sheds at Woodville Junction at Hamilton, with the depot opening in March 1924. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
Rockhampton Railway Workshops is a heritage-listed railway workshop at 380 Bolsover Street, Depot Hill, Rockhampton Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1915 to 1953. It is also known as Rockhampton Roundhouse. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 August 1992.
Changhua Roundhouse is a railway roundhouse operated by the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) in Changhua City, Changhua County, Taiwan. The roundhouse is located directly north of Changhua railway station. Built in 1922, it is the only surviving railway roundhouse in Taiwan.
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