A roundhouse is a structure used to store and repair locomotives and other railway equipment. The first roundhouses were built in the 19th century to fit onto locomotive turntables. Modern roundhouses are not necessarily round, but still serve the purpose of sheltering locomotives while out of service. Railroads use their rails to store standby locomotives or those in need of repair. Visiting a roundhouse can be exciting and staff are often enthusiastic about giving tours.
A roundhouse is a facility that is used to store and repair locomotives, along with other railway equipment. Classically, circular houses were literally round, which explains the name, although modern variations on the structure are often built in different shapes. A roundhouse can also be referred to as an engine room, and most major railway junctions have one hidden somewhere on the ground, as you never know when a locomotive might need servicing.
The first roundhouses were built in the early 19th century and were round for a reason: they were designed to fit onto locomotive turntables. Early locomotives did not run backwards, or ran backwards very slowly, so when trains needed to turn the locomotives, they were driven onto a set of rotating rails which could be used to reverse the direction of the locomotive. By mounting a turntable in a circular house, engineers could move locomotives around it very efficiently, creating stalls for each locomotive to be stored and moving the locomotives into stalls with the help of the turntable.
With the development of easier-to-handle modern locomotives, the turntable is no longer needed, although some railroads still use turntables. However, the need for a sheltered structure to protect locomotives while they are out of service is still present and traditionally such structures are called a roundhouse even though they are not roundabouts.
Many railroads use their rails to store standby locomotives or to store locomotives while not in use. Depending on the size of the railroad, a number of locomotives may be taken out of service at any given time, allowing the railroad to be flexible in scheduling trains. When locomotives are damaged or in need of routine service, they are also stored in the circular hall, which typically contains equipment for working on trains.
Visiting a roundabout can be quite exciting, especially when the facility belongs to a large and active railway company. While the locomotives aren’t as picturesque now as they were in the days of steam, they’re still quite impressive. Roundhouse staff are also often very enthusiastic about the trains they work on, and are usually happy to talk to people about the locomotives and give tours of the equipment used to work on them.
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