Eckman (not so) roundhouse

[NW Mailing List]

In the early 1900s, Radford had a 22-stall roundhouse with a 60-foot turntable.

About 1920, two of the stalls were lengthen to accomodate the Mallet pushers from Walton to Christiansburg. About the same time the roundhouse was reduced to 16 stalls total, but the short turntable remained. The two stalls for the Mallets were opposite the approach tracks so that the Mallets could run across the turntable into their stalls.

The turntable was not removed until 1946 or '47 when the Radford engine terminal was modernized. At this modernization, the roundhouse was removed except for the two former Mallet stalls and what was left of the old roundhouse became a two-stall engine shed.

Bud Jeffries
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: NW Mailing List 
  To: NW Mailing List 
  Sent: Monday, July 05, 2010 7:07 PM
  Subject: Re: Eckman (not so) roundhouse


  Gordon,
  Thanks a million for your response.  It makes perfect sense that the Mallets would have necessitated major renovations to existing facilities that were built for Gs, Ws and Ms.  Are there records of which other roundhouses were enlarged due to the "biggie-sizing" of motive power other than Bluefield that you mention?  Also, did they just knock down the outside wall and grow the house radially, or were there other significant changes that needed to be made?  It seems like the turntable itself might have needed to be enlarged to accomodate the extra-long power.  If that were the case, did they have to push the inside wall back as well?  Fascinating stuff!
  Thanks again,
  Jim

    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: NW Mailing List 
    To: NW Mailing List 
    Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 9:37 PM
    Subject: Re: Eckman (not so) roundhouse


    Jim,

    Looking back through my email I can't see where anyone addressed your question about the roundhouse at Eckman.

    The 1906 drawing that you cited shows a drop pit 62' 2" from the inner circle of the roundhouse, indicating a stall length of, say, 80', too short for the Mallet locos that the N&W began getting in 1910, particularly the Z1's in 1912, which were 100' 5" over couplers.  But, that same drawing shows that if the outer circle of the roundhouse were extended, as was done at Bluefield and other points to accommodate the longer Mallets, the roundhouse would overhang the creek.  So apparently the decision was made to extend just the four stalls at each end of the roundhouse because the N&W Annual Report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1912, states, "A roundhouse with eight stalls, a machine shop 60 feet by 240 feet, and an office and storehouse 32 feet by 100 feet, were constructed at Eckman, W. Va."

    Gordon Hamilton
      ----- Original Message ----- 
      From: NW Mailing List 
      To: NW Mailing List 
      Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 6:59 PM
      Subject: Eckman (not so) roundhouse


      The few photos I've seen of the facilities at Eckman show a turntable with two, four-stall portions of a roundhouse connected by a shop building.  I just saw the thumbnail of drawing NW-A07863 from the archieves dated 1905 showing a "full" semicircular roundhouse that appears to come within about twenty feet of the creek at its closest point.  Does anyone have any information as to whether Eckman started out with a half a roundhouse, and if so what caused the downsizing change?
      Thanks,
      Jim Cochran
      dcochran116 at roadrunner.com



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