Engine #66 at McDoel Wooden Roundhouse

[Ron Marquardt]

Here's an interesting photo of engine #66 at the McDoel Hillside Drive wooden roundhouse, no date but taken sometime before it burned in November of 1908.  Photo courtesy of Joe Bennett's great-neice and Society member Martha Fox.  / Ron

[Tom Kepshire]

Very nice picture Ron. Thanks for sharing it.

[Tim T Swan]

Ron, previous posters have said that there were 3 different Bloomington roundhouses altogether.  Where does this one fit in?  Where was it, in relation to the last McDoel roundhouse?   

[Ron Marquardt]

I don't believe there were three different roundhouses, I believe there were three different enginehouses and two of those were roundhouses.  There was the rectangular enginehouse uptown across from the run-thru depot, there was this wooden roundhouse at Hillside Drive, the first one at McDoel, and when this burned in 1908, they built the brick roundhouse that lasted until the end.

They had a rash of fires around that time.  In 1907 the old two story dispatcher's office and a restaurant, both on the west side of the yards at Hillside Drive, burned, then about a year later this roundhouse on the east side of the yards at Hillside burned.  / Ron   

[Tim T Swan]

Okay, a rectangular enginehouse uptown and then TWO roundhouses downtown at McDoel.  Cheeze!

But where was this first roundhouse/second enginehouse located, relative to the final brick structure we all know?

[Ron Marquardt]

This was down in the yards, about half-way between the brick roundhouse and Grimes Lane, where Hillside Drive at one time crossed the yards and was later just an asphalt path, the roundhouse in the S/E quadrant where Hillside interescted the tracks, and the old dispatcher's office/yard office on the west side in the N/E quadrant between what was later the RCA warehouses. 

I've attached a Google Earth image showing McDoel yard area, Grimes Lane, and Hillside Drive.

/ Ron

[Pete Pedigo]

When the yard was moved from downtown Bloomington a wood roundhouse was built at Hillside (South St. back then).  This is only the second picture I have seen of this wood roundhouse.  The brick roundhouse we all remember was built on south in the yard.
Pete

[Gene Remaly]

Nice photo of "rods down "

[Tim T Swan]

Okay, thanks guys!  Clear now.   /Tim, trying to stir up material for future THL Q&A's.