Roundhouse

:This article is about a railroad shop structure called a roundhouse. For other meanings, see Roundhouse (disambiguation).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A roundhouse is a maintenance facility used by railroads. Roundhouses are the large, circular or semicircular structures that are located surrounding or adjacent to turntables. The roundhouse in a railroad yard is typically where steam locomotives were stored when they weren't in use.

Related Topics:
Railroad - Turntables - Steam locomotive

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One of the earliest (if not the first, as some suggest) was built at Derby, in England, by the North Midland Railway In a guidebook of the time {{ref|NMGuide}} we are told "The engine-house is a polygon of sixteen sides, and 190 feet in diameter, lighted from a dome-shaped roof, of the height of 50 feet. 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."

Related Topics:
Derby - England - North Midland Railway

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Since the great dieselization era of the 1940s and 1950s, many roundhouses have been demolished, but a few still stand and remain in use on the railroads.

Related Topics:
Dieselization - 1940s - 1950s

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum, in Baltimore, MD, is located in the restored roundhouse of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.

Related Topics:
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum - Baltimore, MD - Baltimore & Ohio Railroad

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~