Inside the Roundhouse at Steamtown National Historic Site

Steamtown National Historic Site occupies the old Delaware, Lackawanna & Western railyard. The park’s creation in 1986 has been criticized because there is nothing all that historical about the railyard to begin with—this is a Historic Site after all—and the fact that almost nothing from the steam era (1850s to 1950s) remained standing compounded the controversy. The only relic from the steam era that the public has access to is a section of the roundhouse that was built in 1902, and even this is mainly a restoration of the ruins. The rest of the historical structures are repair shops, storage facilities, and office buildings that are off limits to the public.

Traditionally, the roundhouse is where steam locomotives and railway cars were stored and maintained. The building is shaped like a donut, with stalls built into the main structure and a turntable situated in the central, open area. The following is a 3-D rendering of today’s roundhouse angled as you would see it from the parking lot. Keep in mind that back when the roundhouse was actively being used by the DL&W Railroad that the building would have looked like a tire with gaps only where the tracks entered the structure.

Roundhouse at Steamtown National Historic Site

The roundhouse at Steamtown National Historic Site has two track entrances, one where two tracks enter and one where a single track enters.

Single track entrance into the Roundhouse at Steamtown National Historic Site

As mentioned, in the center of the roundhouse is a turntable, which is essentially a large Lazy Susan for railway cars. It serves two purposes, one being to turn steam locomotives around since they cannot run in reverse, other than for short distances. A locomotive drives onto the turntable, which is then rotated until the locomotive is pointed in the right direction for the next leg of its journey.

Turntable at Steamtown National Historic Site

Locomotive on the turntable at Steamtown National Historic Site

The second function is to shuttle locomotives and other railway cars into the stalls of the roundhouse. As you can imagine, locomotives can’t make right- or left-hand turns. Once a locomotive is on the turntable, it is rotated so that its track lines up with the track that runs into the appropriate stall.

Track to a roundhouse stall at Steamtown National Historic Site

Once diesel-electric locomotives became the standard in the railroad industry by the end of the 1950s and early 1960s, turntables and roundhouses were no longer needed. Diesel locomotives can run in either direction, forward or backward, so there was no need for a turntable to turn them around. They also need less maintenance, thus no need for a roundhouse with dozens of stalls. All that is needed for diesel locomotives is one, large repair shop, like an airplane hangar. As a result, most roundhouses and turntables were torn down. This explains why there are very few of the original DL&W railyard structures remaining.

The roundhouse at Steamtown National Historic Site is now mainly full of locomotives, though there are a few passenger coaches. Most of the locomotives do not run and are not scheduled to be rebuilt. To the best of my knowledge, only Baldwin No. 26 is operational, so it is the only locomotive that is moved in and out of the building on a regular basis. Other than daily maintenance, no major repairs are done here. Repairs to the engines are done in the Locomotive Shop, which is the building behind the roundhouse (an original building from 1902, by the way). Every now and then tours of the Locomotive Shop are given by park Rangers.

Locomotive tenders inside the roundhouse at Steamtown National Historic Site

Passenger coaches inside the roundhouse at Steamtown National Historic Site

The following are photos and a description of the locomotives that were in the roundhouse when I visited.

Baldwin No. 26 was built in 1929 by the Baldwin Locomotive Company for use at its Eddystone Plant in Pennsylvania. This locomotive is operational and used periodically at Steamtown National Historic Site for Short Train Rides and Excursions. It is one of the original locomotives used for excursions at the park, running from 1990 until 1999, at which point it needed major repairs. After a complete restoration, which took 17 years, No. 26 was put back into service in April 2016.

Baldwin No. 26 locomotive at Steamtown National Historic Site

Canadian National Railways No. 3254 was built in 1917 by the Canadian Locomotive Company. This is one of the original locomotives used for Steamtown National Historic Site excursions, operating from 1995 until December 2012. It now needs significant repairs and most likely will not be used again.

Canadian National Railways No. 3254 on display at Steamtown National Historic Site

Canadian Pacific Railway No. 2317 was built in 1923 by Montreal Locomotive Works. This is another of the original locomotives used for Steamtown excursions. It has been out of service since 2010.

Canadian Pacific Railway No. 2317 on display at Steamtown National Historic Site

Delaware, Lackawanna & Western No. 565 was built in 1908 by the American Locomotive Company in Schenectady, New York. It is one of only two surviving DL&W locomotives.

Delaware, Lackawanna & Western No. 565 on display at Steamtown National Historic Site

Nickel Plate No. 759 was built in 1944 by Lima Locomotive Works of Ohio for the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad, which was nicknamed Nickel Plate Road. No. 759 is the largest locomotive in the Steamtown Roundhouse. Due to its size, there are no plans to restore it to working condition.

Nickel Plate No. 759 locomotive on display at Steamtown National Historic Site

Grand Trunk Western No. 6039 was built in 1925 by Baldwin Locomotive Works for the Grand Trunk Western Railroad. It worked mainly in Michigan pulling passenger and freight cars.

Grand Trunk Western No. 6039 locomotive on display at Steamtown National Historic Site

ROUNDHOUSE AND TURNTABLE HISTORY

Note: Just in case the print on the graphics below is too small to read, Yellow structures are new, Green are existing structures, and Purple are structures that were removed.

The very first roundhouse at the DL&W railyard was built in 1855. It could hold 30 locomotives. Ten years later a new 40-stall roundhouse and turntable were installed at the location where the current roundhouse is. The original roundhouse remained in use.

Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railyard from 1850 to 1860

Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railyard from 1860 to 1900

In 1902, the original roundhouse was torn down, but the turntable was left in place. The 1865 roundhouse was also torn down and a new, larger one with 48 stalls was built on the same location. The machine shop that still stands behind the roundhouse at Steamtown National Historic Site was built at this time as well.

Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railyard from 1900 to 1907

In 1917, 21 stalls in the roundhouse were destroyed by fire. When rebuilt, firewalls were placed between every five stalls. Since locomotives had gotten larger, twelve of the stalls were lengthened to 91 feet, and the existing 66-foot turntable was replaced with a 90-foot turntable.

Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railyard from 1912 to 1920

In the 1920s, the original turntable from 1855 was replaced with a 100-foot turntable (the original was 60 feet in diameter).

In the 1930s, DL&W began using diesel-electric engines for moving locomotives and railway cars around the yard. Because they were repaired and maintained differently, seven stalls of the roundhouse were no longer needed and were thus demolished.

In 1937, a few of the stalls were lengthened. Because of this addition, the historical section of the roundhouse at Steamtown National Historic Site is often referred to as the 1902 / 1937 Roundhouse.

Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railyard from 1920 to 1940

Once diesels replaced the majority of the steam engines in the 1950s, a huge part of the roundhouse was torn down. Left standing was an office from 1902 and 13 stalls at the rear of the roundhouse, which amounted to about a third of its original capacity. Furthermore, the turntable was removed (1970s), leaving nothing but a pit. By the time Steamtown USA moved to the facility in 1984, all that was still standing were the outer walls of the 13 remaining stalls from the 1902 roundhouse and a roof that had to be replaced.

Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railyard from 1940 to 1960

Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railyard ruins prior to Steamtown National Historic Site

When the Steamtown USA organization moved to the DL&W railyard in 1984, only the grounds were cleaned up so that it could operate its excursions. No buildings were restored or constructed. Within two years the business was in debt, and in 1986 Steamtown National Historic Site was created. The National Park Service took over the Steamtown USA locomotives and railway cars and opened the railyard to the public in 1988. In 1991, the standing sections of the 1902 roundhouse were renovated and a new 90-foot turntable was installed. Construction also began on the rest of the facility. The Visitor Center and theater were ready the following year, and the museums opened in 1995.

Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railyard from 1960 to 1995

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