Choo Choo Charlie posted:Here is great article on Roundhouses and how they operated in their heydays. The American Roundhouse by John P. Hankey. Lots of pictures and description of roundhouses and how they operated.
A quote from the article, "A big roundhouse on a major railroad might have between one and 300 men and women on the property for each eight-hour “trick.” Depending on how many trains originated, terminated, or changed crews, there might be another hundred or two train and engine employees passing through every 24 hours. In railroading’s glory days, a middle-sized Class I carrier might have had 7,000 employees pause at its round-houses every day, with twice or three times that number on big railroads. The roundhouse was also where almost every aspect of everyday railroading rubbed together with varying degrees of friction. I cannot think of any other place that brought together so many different crafts, functions, agendas, territories, and departments as the traditional, big-time, roundhouse/locomotive terminal. It was the main interface between the operating department, which needed locomotives for its crews to run, and the mechanical department, which was expected to have those machines ready."
Charlie
Hello Charlie,
I tried the link, but it comes back stating that there is something blocking the pdf.
Do you have a link to the site itself?
Thanks!
