Nostalgia & History > I would feel really inspired showing up for work here!

Every now and then you find something that triggers some primal urge to scream why! Witness the engine facility at Keyser West Virginia in 1970. I'd like to say the place had character, but the character would be akin to Dresden after the RAF leveled it. This was what was left of a large roundhouse that once occupied the space. Looks like the wrecking ball wanted to finish the job,but ran out of fuel.  B&O left a couple of bays where the not so lucky mechanics could have air conditioning in the winter, and heat stroke in the summer. They actually still had a shop foreman here at this point in time, but I remember him telling me that the railroad wanted to close the "shop" and move the work to Cumberland. Could have fooled me! Railroads of today look so clean and sterile compared to the money lean years of the late 60s and early 70s, but, finding this shot sure makes a case for todays pristine look.

Bill Rettberg
Bel Air, MD

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The outline of the original roundhouse and all that was left in the outline are fascinating.
Bob

Gotta get it off the property tax rolls.

I read the text,then got a big shock when
I saw the picture.

Uncle Joe
Seffner,Fl.

My first assignment after hiring out on the SP as an "Engineering Aide" on the Palmdale-Colton Cutoff I was a bit taken back at the project headquarters.
It was the old Pacific Electric car shop in San Bernardino.
The construction team had a set of offices along one side, the main shop area was leased to a contractor who was modifying flat cars to transport aircraft wings.
It worked for our needs, and you could wear muddy boots inside if you had to.
I don't think I felt that I had to be inspired, but I did get a sense of deep history of the SP, we all knew it was just an economical project office.
The black and white image is from late 1966 while the project was under way.
The color image is from December of 1974 while I was passing through the area.

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