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NEW USES FOR OLD ROUNDHOUSES AND OTHER REPAIR FACILITIES

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NEW USES FOR OLD ROUNDHOUSES AND OTHER REPAIR FACILITIES
Posted by daveklepper on Tuesday, July 26, 2016 11:20 AM

WHERE ARE THERE ROUNDHOUSES THAT HAVE BEEN CONVERTED TO HANDLE DIESEL LOCOMOTIVE REPAIRS, OR SERVE AS , FREIGHT OT PASSENGER CAR REPAIR SHOPS, LIGHT RAIL REPAIR SHOPS OR EVEN ROAD VEHICULAR REPAIR SHOPS?   ANY?

WHAT ABOUT OTHER OVERHAUL AND REPAIR FACILITIES, DISUSED BECAUSE OF MERGERS OR DOWNSIZING OR WHATERVER?   ANY? WHO AND WHERE?

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Posted by Firelock76 on Tuesday, July 26, 2016 1:10 PM

David, there's two I'm aware of.  The former Jersey Central roundhouse in Cranford NJ survives as a maintanance facility for town vehicles, and the former Colorado Midland roundhouse in Colorado Springs is a retail outlet for the Van Briggle Pottery Company, at least it was the last time I saw it about 14 years ago. 

I'm not sure, but that Cranford facility could be the last surviving Jersey Central roundhouse.  If anyone knows differently I'd love to hear about it.

 

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Posted by Norm48327 on Tuesday, July 26, 2016 2:42 PM

The Black Hills and Fort Pierre Railroad Roundhouse in Lead, SD is now The Roundhouse Restaurant.

Good steakhouse. BTDT.

Denver RTD now occupies the former Union Pacific shops in Denver.

Norm


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Posted by ACY Tom on Tuesday, July 26, 2016 3:29 PM

The PRR (Cumberland Valley RR) roundhouse in Chambersburg, PA was a flea market a couple years ago.  Don't know whether that is still the case.

Tom

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Posted by Miningman on Tuesday, July 26, 2016 4:48 PM

Yes, still in functioning railroad use is the former CN roundhouse in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. It is now the Carlton Trail Railway. This is a beautiful large solid all brick roundhouse. It was a "later" built roundhouse and turntable, hence the brick, having been constructed in 1955. You can see videos, including a flyover one, and another showing operation's, on U Tube "Carleton Trail roundhouse". 

The CPR John St. Roundhouse in Toronto is now a brewery but CNR #6213 U2g Northern is on display there. 

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Tuesday, July 26, 2016 4:54 PM

The local 2 stall roundhouse for the Illinois Central has been a shop/office for a junkyard for probably 40+ years.  It's now being renovated into an office for a civil engineering firm.

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

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Posted by Semper Vaporo on Tuesday, July 26, 2016 5:44 PM

My list of Roundhouses, Turntables and Transfertables is not very complete as to what the Roundhouses are now, but here are some of the 100 that I have managed to list as 'repurposed':

Aurora IL, Restaurant (Walter Peyton's?)

Champion, MI, Boat storage

East Chicago, IN, "Inland Steel"

Portand, ME, Shopping Center

Keene, NH, Shopping Center

Many Museums are based in Roundhouses, too.

Over 100 are listed as still in use by RR's as Diesel or car shops.

See the Trains.com thread:

Roundhouses and Turntables (and transfer tables)

Scroll backwards from the following link to find my latest posting that lists how to get (download) my lists:

http://cs.trains.com/trn/f/111/t/195380.aspx?page=13#2886892

 

 

 

Semper Vaporo

Pkgs.

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Posted by ACY Tom on Tuesday, July 26, 2016 8:54 PM

The old NYC roundhouse at Minerva, Ohio, is buried within the complex of Machine Dynamics. You can see it in the satellite view.

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Posted by rrnut282 on Tuesday, July 26, 2016 9:07 PM

Not sure if this fits your category exactly, but the former NKP Diesel House (it sits next to the still active turntable in New Haven, IN) now houses the Lake Division dispatchers. 

Down in Logansport, the former PRR Panhandle car shops are still in use including the transfer table at the east end of the building. 

Mike (2-8-2)
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Posted by daveklepper on Wednesday, July 27, 2016 1:53 AM

Two-stall IC roundhouse where? PRR Panhanldle carshops, CSX or NS?

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Posted by Paul3 on Wednesday, July 27, 2016 10:53 AM

The 4-stall roundhouse in Plainville, MA is now a garage for an home heating oil company.

The 9-stall roundhouse in Hyannis, MA has been a night club for over 30 years called "Pufferbellies".

Paul A. Cutler III

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Posted by daveklepper on Wednesday, July 27, 2016 11:10 AM

Down by the station, early in the morning

See the little pufferbellies all in a row

See the Staiton Master, turn the little handle

Puff puff whoo whoo off we go

(Must be from one of the Welsch narrow gauge towns)

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Posted by DS4-4-1000 on Wednesday, July 27, 2016 11:21 AM

The ex L&NE roundhouse at Tamaqua PA is being used as part of a factory by Magnesium Electron Powders.

The ex Reading Engine House at Gordon PA was used by a lumber company for many years before being replaced with a prefab building.

The ex LV engine house in Weatherly PA was used by a factory for many years but is now gone.

The ex North Penn Engine house in Glenside PA has been used as aparments and a garage for many years.

The ex Reading Car Shops at Saint Clair PA is being used as part of a factory.

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Posted by CAZEPHYR on Wednesday, July 27, 2016 12:15 PM

The remains of the BayShore roundhouse owned by the Southern Pacific was recently used by drones for races in and about the verical structures which is open except for the back and side walls.  The roof is gone but the upright and roof supports are still in place and the drones race around a course laid out.   The local news was reporting the practice of drone racing and where they practice.   This is the roundhouse that serviced Cab Forwards and GS series locomotives about sixty years ago.   It can be viewed on Google.

 

CZ

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Posted by SD70M-2Dude on Wednesday, July 27, 2016 8:20 PM

I know of 3 more in Western Canada that survived into the 21st century, at least in part:

-CN at Calder Yard (now called Walker Yard) in Edmonton; once a 20ish-stall roundhouse now only the backshop/powerhouse section and turntable are left, the turntable is still in daily use turning diesels and the remaining section of the building is used for storage.

-CP at South Edmonton (Strathcona); originally had 10+ stalls around a turntable, 2/3 of the building were demolished and the turntable was removed after dieselization and today there are only 2 tracks inside what remains of the building.

-CN at Biggar, SK; another large roundhouse that was abandoned in the years after dieselization and went through several non-railroad uses, the last one being a turkey barn.  Unfortunately it deteriorated so much (the turkey "leavings" probably didn't help) that its structural integrity became comprimised and it was demolished a year or 2 ago.

I should also add that if one goes farther east Hornepayne and Sault Ste Marie, ON still have their indoor roundhouses (turntable under the roof too), and both are still in use for MOW equipment and light diesel repairs & storage.

Greetings from Alberta

-an Articulate Malcontent

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Posted by rluke on Wednesday, July 27, 2016 8:28 PM

B+O Roundhouse in Cleveland (W. 3rd St.) is still in use.  Midwest Historical group is restoring steam and diesel engines at that facility.

Rich
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Posted by kenny dorham on Wednesday, July 27, 2016 11:37 PM

Norm48327

The Black Hills and Fort Pierre Railroad Roundhouse in Lead, SD is now The Roundhouse Restaurant.

Good steakhouse. BTDT.

Denver RTD now occupies the former Union Pacific shops in Denver.

 

Denver Union Station

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnChAGrmpQY

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Posted by mudchicken on Thursday, July 28, 2016 10:37 AM

Norm48327

The Black Hills and Fort Pierre Railroad Roundhouse in Lead, SD is now The Roundhouse Restaurant.

Good steakhouse. BTDT.

Denver RTD now occupies the former Union Pacific shops in Denver.

 

Norm: The Colorado Midland RH in Colorado City is now a brewery. http://www.cmbrew.com/locations.htm ...Location #2

Covington, KY - The Kentucky Central RH is part of the Duro Paper Bag plant

Las Vegas, NM = Bagged Fertilizer Warehouse (ATSF)

Phillipsburg, KS = TAMKO Roofing Products (Shingle Warehouse) (CRIP/Kyle)

Hugo, CO (UP) = ? Just stabilized and restored (Now that the THC in the water scare is over...it might morph into a museum or? http://hugoroundhouse.org/ ) http://coloradopreservation.org/programs/endangered-places/endangered-places-archives/hugo-roundhouse/  

EDIT: Although it's not a roundhouse per se, The Union Pacific (read KP) facilities for the old division point at Ellis, KS have been repurposed into museum space and county shops...The backshops (Where Walter P. Chrysler got his mechanical background) are county owned and partially leased out, the 1870-1968 roundhouse floor is still out there and the two story stone office building is a museum. (by 1972, UP had totally left town, totally removed the yard and moved to Oakley as the division point and junction point)

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
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Posted by rcdrye on Friday, July 29, 2016 8:04 AM

Central Vermont's White River Jct VT roundhouse served a company that rebuilt NYNH&H coaches for the MBTA in the 1980s. After sitting idle it became a tire facility, mainly serving large trucks.  After it burned down in a spectacular fire a few years ago, the tire company rebuilt a roundhouse-like building on the site.

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Posted by Gramp on Saturday, July 30, 2016 1:20 PM
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Posted by BigDaddy on Saturday, August 13, 2016 2:39 PM

Ma & Pa Roundhouse in North Baltimore now used by the highway dept for road salt storage 

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

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Posted by rcdrye on Sunday, August 14, 2016 3:46 PM

B&M's Westboro (West Lebanon) NH roundhouse was used for salt storage, including using the turntable to dum salt, until the early 1990s.  It now sits abandoned and fenced off, with no turntable.

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Posted by MidlandMike on Sunday, August 14, 2016 8:20 PM

The Calumet & Hecla's roundhouse in Calumet, MI is now Calumet Electronics.

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Posted by artie on Friday, August 19, 2016 6:39 AM

What is even more interesting about the Cranford NJ roundhouse is the little one room building adjacent to it. It is constructed of COAL with the pieces cemented together. I know it was constructed by the railroad workers. I will try to get more information on it.

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