Roundhouse On The Ground 002

Robert W. Thomson
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Roundhouse On The Ground 002
Roundhouse On The Ground 002

Photo shot by my Dad, Jay Thomson, at Etowah, TN in July 2008

On July 3, 2008 Dad took two more shots of the demolition of the historic L&N roundhouse building in the CSX yard at Etowah, TN. As can be seen in these two shots, the building is no more, just a pile of debris to be hauled away.

The building was, to the best I can determine, built in 1906 when the rest of the initial structures in the then-new Etowah yard were constructed. As far as I know, with the roundhouse now being destroyed, the only remaining original structure is the historic preserved depot, which is used by the Etowah Chamber of Commerce and houses a museum.

The roundhouse actually had not been used much in the last decade, and not at all in the last few years. It was beginning to fall apart already when the decision was made by CSX to demolish the structure. It's sad to see it go. I remember going inside it as a kid when I'd go to the yard with my Dad, seeing old ALCo RS3s and C420s parked outside or being worked on inside.

You can see a couple more shots of the roundhouse HERE and HERE. Note how in the shot from the early 70s, the building was still brick red. I'm not sure when it was painted white, but it was sometime in the mid-70s.

And, yes, I realize this structure is not "round", and despite being an original structure built in 1906, it is not the actual original roundhouse that was torn down decades ago, but railroad tradition led employees and railfans alike to refer to this square shop structure as "the roundhouse" until the very end of it's existence. Very few true "roundhouses" exist anymore, but many railroads - including CSX and BNSF, at least - still refer to their square or rectangular shop structures as "roundhouses".

Canon PowerShot A570IS

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Taken on: July 3, 2008
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Camera: Canon PowerShot A570 IS, f/7.1, 1/500 sec, 5.8mm, ISO 80 (more info) (hide info)
Camera: Canon PowerShot A570 IS
Aperture: f/7.1
Exposure Time: 0.002 sec (1/500)
Focal Length: 5.8mm
ISO: 80
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Auto, Did not fire
Exposure Mode: Auto
Metering Mode: Multi-segment
White Balance: Auto
Color Space: sRGB
Software: Adobe Photoshop Elements 6.0 Windows
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