025 Outside The RoundHouse
The Historic Sierra Railroad Shops and Roundhouse complex at Railtown 1897 State Historic Park in Jamestown is one of a very few survivors of its kind in North America. Where once you could find at least one roundhouse in every large town or city, and perhaps even in smaller towns too, most are gone today-along with, in many cases, the railroads they once served. Challenged by the growth of private automobile ownership, interstate highway construction, and the rise of air travel, many of these railroads simply went out of business.
Before anyone realized what was happening, roundhouses and shop facilities had all but disappeared from the American landscape. There were a few exceptions, of course. Today, the Historic Sierra Railroad Shops and Roundhouse complex at Railtown 1897 State Historic Park in Jamestown is one of only two remaining, fully operational original shortline roundhouse complexes in the country.
When the Sierra Railroad dieselized in 1955, it built a new shop at Oakdale, 41 rail miles to the west of Jamestown, in which to maintain its diesels. In an unusual move, however, it retained the Jamestown roundhouse facility to store and maintain steam locomotives and rolling stock for its lucrative sideline business: renting period trains to Hollywood's motion picture companies. From the time it was built until today, this facility has always done exactly what it was intended to do, maintaining steam locomotives. The Historic Sierra Railroad Shops and Roundhouse complex was sold to the State of California in 1982, becoming today's Railtown 1897 State Historic Park.
025 Outside The RoundHouse
The Historic Sierra Railroad Shops and Roundhouse complex at Railtown 1897 State Historic Park in Jamestown is one of a very few survivors of its kind in North America. Where once you could find at least one roundhouse in every large town or city, and perhaps even in smaller towns too, most are gone today-along with, in many cases, the railroads they once served. Challenged by the growth of private automobile ownership, interstate highway construction, and the rise of air travel, many of these railroads simply went out of business.
Before anyone realized what was happening, roundhouses and shop facilities had all but disappeared from the American landscape. There were a few exceptions, of course. Today, the Historic Sierra Railroad Shops and Roundhouse complex at Railtown 1897 State Historic Park in Jamestown is one of only two remaining, fully operational original shortline roundhouse complexes in the country.
When the Sierra Railroad dieselized in 1955, it built a new shop at Oakdale, 41 rail miles to the west of Jamestown, in which to maintain its diesels. In an unusual move, however, it retained the Jamestown roundhouse facility to store and maintain steam locomotives and rolling stock for its lucrative sideline business: renting period trains to Hollywood's motion picture companies. From the time it was built until today, this facility has always done exactly what it was intended to do, maintaining steam locomotives. The Historic Sierra Railroad Shops and Roundhouse complex was sold to the State of California in 1982, becoming today's Railtown 1897 State Historic Park.