European Railroad Discussion > I’m not Lyon, a Seemingly abandoned roundhouse and turntable

In the Perrachi zone of Lyon, FR

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Is/was this a former Electric Roundhouse.or depot?
I can barely make out the overhad center plate.

James R.(Jim) Baker
Whittier, CA

No, it has never been an electric locomotive shed, nor have any locomotives been based there for some time.  I did a quick search on Oogle using   SNCF Lyon Perrache rotonde   and found it that it was built in the 1850's.  However, the PLM quickly outgrew it, and established the much larger facilities across the Rhone at Lyon-Mouche;  since then the Perrache facility acted as just an Annex, with coal/water supplies, etc.  When the wires reached Lyon from Paris, the electric locomotives were also shedded at Mouche*.  I imagine the turntable survived for rolling stock that might need to be turned, especially on a non-planned basis.

One interesting feature of both this roundhouse and those at Mouche [ which at one time had two tt, each fully surrounded by a circular roundhouse ]:  When they were built locomotives had not reached the dimensions to which they would grow in the 20th century;  hence the track spacing entering the roundhouses were rather close together by later standards, giving very reduced clearances between the loading gauge and the front supports of the roundhouse roof between the tracks.  Note in WrongWay's photographs most of these vertical columns have short horizontal pieces facing out parallel to the rails at about cab height on both the inside and outside.  Chains or similar were hung from these to 'remind' personnel sticking their head, or more, out of the cab, of the close clearance ahead -- a sort of 'horizontal tell tale'.

Best regards, SZ

* Per the 1960 edition of Le Materiel Moteur SNCF, which shows no locomotives or mu's of any type based there.

Yet, it looks like there is electric overhead on the three roundhouse tracks on the left end.

Yes, a number of the tracks in the roundhouse are or have been wired, and I am sure electric locos have used the facilities there.  However, as perhaps I did not clearly state, my response was to 'was this ever an electric loco depot', and my answer was 'apparently no', but I was using the French definition of Depot, which would be the location where locomotives are assigned, as I have found no evidence of electrics being based there.
However, I imagine the facilities would have been used by electrics, primarily in the period between 1952, when the electrification reached Lyon from Paris, and 1958, when the wires reached Valence, and that became the changeover point to/from steam for through trains to Avignon or beyond.  Electric locos would have been inspected/turned around -- not necessarily literally ! -- there;  note the through road of the roundhouse leads to inspection tracks/pits farther south.

Best regards, SZ

A little further browsing on French Internet sites turned up the following:

  -  [ All this is very freely translated ]  The City of Lyon's Register of Historical Places describes the roundhouse area as "... a location where 'Materiel Moteur'* is kept for short periods of time between scheduled duties."

  -  A 1972 aerial photograph shows what appears to be a CC7100 sitting at the far end of one of the inspection tracks south of the roundhouse

        * that is, not just locomotives.  Since SNCF has almost no passenger locomotives left, emu's could be there as well.

Best regards, SZ