Found: America's forgotten roundhouse

Evanston, Wyo., is off most railfan radars. I doubt it is on many bucket lists. But it should be.

Located just east of the Wasatch grade that made Big Boy steam locomotives both necessary and famous is a preserved roundhouse that deserves attention. A large brick structure, it is among the largest in preservation at 28 stalls. Amazingly, it is not a museum and neither is it envisioned as one in the future.

Having spent countless hours as a volunteer since 1986 in what’s believed to be the largest preserved roundhouse in North America, the 37-stall Southern Railway building at Spencer, N.C., I appreciate these buildings. Rare today, they were once commonplace on railroads large and small, from coast to coast. To non-railroad people and to the newest generation of railroaders who came along well after the roundhouse era, I explain the structures as a “C-shaped” garage for daily servicing with a Lazy Susan in the middle to turn the locomotives 360 degrees. So it was with astonishment that I encountered Evanston’s former Union Pacific roundhouse earlier this month while visiting with the Union Pacific Historical Society during its annual meeting in nearby Ogden, Utah. I had heard something about a preserved roundhouse in Wyoming, but I didn’t connect the two. Last spring, while following Big Boy No. 4014 on its ferry move to Cheyenne, Wyo., I caught a glimpse of the building. I had to come back.

So, in early August, I parked my rental car and walked into the restored machine shop where a model train show was underway. I exited that restored building and entered the last four stalls of the 1914 roundhouse, which have been restored as a meeting hall and multi-purpose center. The other roundhouse stalls are boarded up and need restoration, and when they do, I’m told they will house city offices. The other gem here is the 110-foot turntable that is operational, and a real treat to ride as it slowly revolves.

UP departed Evanston in 1971, and it’s amazing that the roundhouse and machine shop were only restored within the last 10 years. So many places would have fallen into neglect and then to nature or the wrecking ball. The fact that it is preserved and has a future is good indeed. It won’t become a museum, but it will once again thrive with activity of a civil nature. My fellow roundhouse devotees, find a way to get yourself to Evanston the next time you’re out west. You’ll be glad you did.

See a video of the preserved 1912 28-stall Union Pacific roundhouse at Evanston, Wyo.