Nostalgia & History > San Jose SP Roundhouse

Here is a very early photo of the Southern Pacific Roundhouse at San Jose, CA.

Date unknown..

Photo negative by F.M. Beckett--
from "Marvin Maynard Collection"...

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Ken, that scene just makes me want to cry, considering how many roundhouses have burned or been torn down all over this country. Pave Paradise and put in a parking lot.

Weep only a little for the San Jose Roundhouse. She actually survives, although reduced to only 6 stalls. The roundhouse was taken apart and the turntable lifted by the California Trolley and Rail Corp. They are working on securing a permanent site where the roundhouse will be reassembled and once again host steam locomotives (they own 2: SP 4-6-2 2479 and 0-6-0 1215).

IIRC, someone once told me that the SJ Roundhouse briefly had some 3 rail stalls to hold steam engines off the old SPC line. Anyone know if that is in fact correct?

Z

zephyrus Wrote:
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>
> IIRC, someone once told me that the SJ Roundhouse
> briefly had some 3 rail stalls to hold steam
> engines off the old SPC line. Anyone know if that
> is in fact correct?
>
> Z

I believe I read in a book that the roundhouse once had both narrow and standard gauge tracks. That would be an earlier photo I'd like to see.
- Tony J.

The book "South Pacific Coast" has a photo showing the Lenzen Ave. roundhouse with dual-guage tracks in the stalls, if I recall correctly.

There were definitely dual-guage yard tracks next to the roundhouse (looking at a photo on p. 70 of the Feb./March 1997 issue of Finescale Railroader showing damage to the roundhouse after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake).