Roundhouse in 1909, turntable in the front

Roundhouse in Uster, Switzerland

Steam locomotives sit in the Chicago and North Western Railway roundhouse at the Chicago, Illinois freight yards, December 1942.

North Midland Railway roundhouse at Derby, England, built in 1839, as it is in 2006

A roundhouse is a building used by railroads for servicing locomotives. Roundhouses are large, circular or semicircular structures that were traditionally located surrounding or adjacent to turntables. The defining feature of the traditional roundhouse was the turntable, which facilitates access when the building is used for repair facilities or for storage of steam locomotives. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (936x189, 32 KB) Description Train roundhouse, 1909 Source www. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (936x189, 32 KB) Description Train roundhouse, 1909 Source www. ... A small turntable at the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris, CA. In rail terminology, a turntable is a device used to turn railroad rolling stock. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2592x1259, 378 KB) The roundhouse in Uster, Switzerland. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2592x1259, 378 KB) The roundhouse in Uster, Switzerland. ... The technically interesting and perfectly looking roundhouse in Uster train station, Switzerland Uster is a city and capital of the district Uster in the Swiss canton of Zürich. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (884x679, 94 KB) Steam locomotives of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway in the roundhouse at the Chicago, Illinois rail yards. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (884x679, 94 KB) Steam locomotives of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway in the roundhouse at the Chicago, Illinois rail yards. ... The Chicago and North Western Railway (AAR reporting marks: CNW, CNWS, CNWZ; unofficial abbreviation: C&NW) was a Class I railroad in the United States. ... Flag Seal Nickname: The Windy City Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location Location in Chicagoland and northern Illinois Coordinates , Government Country State Counties United States Illinois Cook, DuPage Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 606. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1942 calendar). ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The North Midland Railway was a British railway company, which opened its line from Derby to Rotherham (Masborough) and Leeds in 1840. ... British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL) Derby consisted of two separate works; Derby Loco works, and Derby Carriage and Wagon works. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... This is the top-level page of WikiProject trains Rail tracks Rail transport refers to the land transport of passengers and goods along railways or railroads. ... Great Western Railway No. ... A small turntable at the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris, CA. In rail terminology, a turntable is a device used to turn railroad rolling stock. ... Union Pacific Big Boy #4012 at work on a cold November 29, 1941 A steam locomotive is a locomotive powered by steam. ...

Early steam locomotives normally travelled forwards only; although reverse operations capabilities were soon built into locomotive mechanisms, the controls were normally optimized for forward travel. Some passenger cars, such as observation cars were also designed as late as the 1960s for operations in a particular direction. A turntable allowed a locomotive or other rolling stock to be turned around for the return journey. Restored passenger cars on display at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, WI. A passenger car is a piece of railroad rolling stock that is designed to carry passengers. ... When passenger trains were still the preferred mode of intercity transportation in America, observations often were used by those campaigning for public office, especially for the Presidency of the United States. ...

Modern railroads typically use multiple locomotives to pull trains, and the engines at opposing ends of the locomotive consists often face opposite directions. With this setup, trains needing to travel in the opposite direction can use a move known as a "run around," in which the engines cut away from the train, pull around it on an adjacent track or siding, and reattach on the other end. The engineer changes operating ends from the original locomotive to the one on the opposite end of the locomotive consist.

Railroad terminals also use features such as balloon loops and wyes (Commonwealth: triangle) to reverse the orientation of railroad equipment. Due to the advent of these practices, modern roundhouses are frequently not round and are simply a large building used for servicing locomotives. Like much other railroad terminology, however, it has retained its traditional name. A Balloon loop is a track arrangement that allows a train to reverse direction, and return to where it came from, without having to shunt or even to stop. ... A wye in American railroad terminology, known as a triangle in British terminology, is a triangular shaped arrangement of tracks with a switch at each corner. ...

History

Probably the first railway roundhouse was built in 1839 at Derby, in England, by the North Midland Railway. Some private workshops, such as that of Fenton, Murray and Jackson in Leeds, England, (1831–1843) may previously have been laid out in a radial pattern. In a guidebook of the time 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."^[1]. This roundhouse narrowly escaped demolition when the works closed down; the roundhouse was classified as a listed building. In 2006 there is a proposal by the University of Derby to refurbish it as an annex to the university. 1839 (MDCCCXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... For other uses, see Derby (disambiguation). ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... The North Midland Railway was a British railway company, which opened its line from Derby to Rotherham (Masborough) and Leeds in 1840. ... Fenton, Murray and Jackson was an engineering company at the Round Foundry in Leeds, England. ... Leeds is a major city in West Yorkshire, England. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... Buckingham Palace, a Grade I listed building. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... The University of Derby is a university in the city of Derby, England. ...

Since the great dieselization era of the 1940s and 1950s, many roundhouses have been demolished or put to other uses, but a few still stand and remain in use on the railroads. Early roundhouses were too small for later locomotives: The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm, London, England was built in 1847, but was too small for its function within 20 years (it is now an arts center). This article does not cite its references or sources. ... The 1940s decade ran from 1940 to 1949. ... // Recovering from World War II and its aftermath, the economic miracle emerged in West Germany and Italy. ... Chalk Farm is the name of a place in the London Borough of Camden. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ...

The B&O Railroad Museum, in Baltimore, Maryland, is located in the restored roundhouse of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Mt Clare Roundhouse Opened in Baltimore on 2 July 1953, the B&O Railroad Museum is located at the historic site of the B&O Railroads Mt. ... Nickname: Monument City, Charm City, Mob Town[1][2], B-more Motto: The Greatest City in America,[3] Get in on it. ... 1876 map The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) is one of the oldest railroads in the United States, with an original line from the port of Baltimore, Maryland, west to the Ohio River at Wheeling and Parkersburg, West Virginia. ...

The Roundhouse located on the BNSF line, with the last stop in Aurora IL was purchased by Walter Payton and has become Walter Payton's Roundhouse Brewery and Restaurant.

References

1. ^ The North Midland Railway Guide, 1842, Nottingham: R. Allen. Republished (1973) by Turntable Enterprises, Leeds

External links

• Barrow Hill, Derbyshire, England: includes a list of other worldwide roundhouses