The Roundhouse – A Service Station for Trains

 

 
As a divisional point of the new Grand Trunk Pacific, the town of Rivers underwent a considerable building boom as the GTP began the construction of buildings to service the many locomotives that would be passing through. By 1909 up to 300 people were employed in railway operations.

As simple as their designs were, engines needed regular maintenance. Boilers needed special attention and occasionally had to be re-built. Catastophic explosions could occur in a faulty boiler.

The most important and unique structure was the Roundhouse.  Roundhouses or Engine Houses are large, circular or semicircular structures that were traditionally located surrounding or adjacent the tracks. They are maintenance and repair shops for locomotives. Along with the adjacent coal dock and water tower they were Service Stations for trains.
The defining feature of the traditional roundhouse was the turntable.
The main structure was a series of stalls, arranged in a semi-circle. Each stall was connected by a track to the edge of the turntable. The turntable allowed a locomotive or other rolling stock to be directed towards the proper stall and turned around for the return journey when the work was done.
How else would you turn and park five tonnes of steel?
 

Some 250 to 300 men were employed in Rivers during the early railroad operations at this point. Pictured here are some members of the machine department.

The first roundhouse, built in 1908, was updated in 1918, and although there was a serious fire soon after that, the building was saved. Other mishaps occurred. A tornado destroyed one end of the building in 1935 and a storm buckled part of the roof in 1940, but these setbacks were quickly overcome. 

These unique and indispensible buildings became obsolete as diesel engines replaced steam power. These new engines required much less local maintenance. Rivers building remained a vital part of the railroad operation until the 1950’s and was torn down in 1962.