San Luis Obispo County CA Archives Photo Place.....Roundhouse 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com November 25, 2006, 11:52 pm

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THE SAN LUIS OBISPO ROUNDHOUSE 
Roundhouse Avenue, San Luis Obispo 

History and Description:

The coast line railroad of the Southern Pacific was opened for traffic to San
Luis Obispo on May 5, 1894, the segment of construction between Santa Margarita
and San Luis Obispo having been completed at that time.  The brick structure of
the roundhouse serviced coal and oil-fired steam engines until the
diesel-operated engines were utilized in the early 1950's. The railroad was a
flourishing industry in San Luis Obispo.  There were 500 men employed, working
in 3 shifts in the roundhouse and adjacent maintenance shops. The schedule
consisted of 8 passenger stops at night and 4 in the daylight hours, with 10 to
15 freight stopovers. Three boilers were operated in the powerhouse to provide
the steam and air pressure needed to start the cold engines.  In I960, the
roundhouse was retired from use. At present, all that remains are the radiating
rails, the turntable, and the maintenance shops.

The building walls were of brick construction, 21 feet in height, with a gabled
wood roof and wood shingles. The bricks were hand-fired locally at the Ah Louis
brickyard.  There were 17 engine stalls, 73 feet long. In addition, there were 6
inspection pits, 3 feet deep and a 12-ton hoist outside at the southern end of
the roundhouse.  A total of 23 radial tracks extended from the turntable.  The
original turntable, 70 feet in diameter, was constructed during 1905, but was
replaced by the 105-foot turntable in 1923.  The south half of the roundhouse
enclosing the 8 most southerly radial tracks was used as a machine shop.

Sources:
H. M. Williamson, Chief Engineer, Southern Pacific Transportation Company;
         1 Market Street, San  Francisco 
San Luis Obispo County Records 
Louisiana Dart, Curator, San Luis Obispo County Historical Museum 
San Luis Obispo Southern Pacific Roundhouse Foreman and employee


Additional Comments:
Extracted from

Discovering San Luis Obispo County
by
Carleton M. Winslow


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