Skip to main content

I found this photo on a search of RH and TT.  It is noted to be a Mystery Roundhouse in the Properties window and seems to have a large number of stalls and lots of engines outside.

Anyone know where it was located?     Charlie

 

Mystery_Roundhouse

Attachments

Images (1)
  • Mystery_Roundhouse
Last edited by Choo Choo Charlie
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Choo Choo Charlie posted:

Thanks fellows.  It was in Mingo Juction, OH Dan was right on.   I found the picture from the past shown above and a recent picture below at http://towns-and-nature.blogsp...prrs-roundhouse.html.

2018-09-10

Please tell me how you can tell from the original picture that the locomotives were PRR ones.

Charlie

If you look you can see not only Pennsy locomotives with Belpaire fireboxes and PRR style tenders but PRR J's without the square Belpaire firebox and what looks to be a large number of PRR steamers with long tenders.  

I would have guessed someplace lines west but I recall that the picture was posted before on occasion and identified as Mingo Junction so my guess doesn't count. 

Ok, late entry:   I think it's Crestline, OH.   But perhaps the picture was captioned originally, so I yield.  Was there/Crestline about 1987, the complete/huge building was still standing, but being used by a junk dealer. Snuck in through a chain link fence, was ambling around the stalls, when a "junk yard dog" of at least 600 lbs (German Shepard) bounded toward me at full throttle. I fled. Escaped - just barely !

Interesting post Charlie, 

I found something in Google Books that may be of interest. It's an article from Jan. 1920 describing a new roundhouse the Pennsylvania Railroad built in Canton Ohio. I'm assuming the one in Mingo Junction is of a similar design because of standardization practices of the Pennsylvania Railroad. It would be cool to build this or something similar on the layout. I am looking for archived blueprints for a Pennsy Type A roundhouse but haven't had much luck.  It has some unique features such as a radial travel overhead crane and smoke jacks mounted to the floor which removed locomotive smoke through ducts in the ground that lead to the powerhouse smokestack. Notice in the pictures that Charlie and GP40 posted there are few roof penetrations and some stalls do not have any. I'm assuming these roundhouses had a similar smoke takeaway system. 

Google:  "Railway Review Volume 66" and the article starts on page 1.

Eric

 

 

What a shame that locations like these have be reduced to rubble and the engines turned into hubcaps or sheet metal for the cars of that era.  Such a waste, that 70 years hence we are not able to duplicate what the men of this era were able to accomplish.

Actually if you look closely it looks like there are two steamers underpower.  One located on the far left near of the photo just exiting one of the stalls and another small steamer adjacent to the building also on the far left.   

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.

Copy below and paste to address bar.

trn.trains.com/~/media/files/pdf/circulation/trn2015roundhouse.pdf

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

Last edited by Choo Choo Charlie
Allegheny posted:

What a shame that locations like these have be reduced to rubble and the engines turned into hubcaps or sheet metal for the cars of that era.  Such a waste, that 70 years hence we are not able to duplicate what the men of this era were able to accomplish.

 

Well, at least a number of PRR K4s and others have survived. All the NYC Hudsons were scrapped.

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!

If anyone is digging around looking for photo's of the site let me know if you find pictures of PRR 9339. that is where my 44 tonner was originally assigned to work in the mills. 9339 was returned to Altoona to be MU'd with 9338. Since it was considered under powered. It stayed in Altoona never to return to Mingo Junction. 

Sad isn't the only word to describe what has happened there. I went through there on the WL&E highline. just about everything is now gone. 

Add Reply

Post

OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×
×