Steam & Excursion > The Troublesome SP Roundhouse At Coos Bay-1950!

The small 3-stall Southern Pacific roundhouse at Coos Bay, Oregon had one nasty habit that drove the crews working out of her crazy. The roundhouse, located near the bay would often be flooded for days at a time.

The crews that worked the Powers Branch commented that they would often return at the end of the day to 2-3 feet of water flooding the roundhouse that was dry when when they left in the morning. The flooding was most common in the winter months when the coastal storms at high tide would raise the water table of the area where the roundhouse was located and cause the flooding that so aggravated the crews.

This photo, taken by Bert Ward, shows the roundhouse high and dry during the calm summer days of August 1950. SP #2952 is getting ready to pull out of the roundhouse and spend another day shuttling cars of wood products on both the Coos Bay Branch and the Powers Branch.

The crews only worry as the depart is whether the roundhouse will still be dry when they return that evening.


Martin



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/14 04:20 by LoggerHogger.

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I can imagine getting partway up the hill out of town, and suddenly thinking "I forgot to leave the door open."

Roundhouse track pits were nasty enough without having to deal with water in the oil and grease!

Roundhouse with no turntable. Was there a turntable at one time? Looking at the angle of the stalls it looks like it could have been a small one with short tracks between the pit and door. Perfect to fit on a model railroad.

Interesting curved leads right into the roundhouse..."there's a prototype for everything" kind of thing.

-Tom