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| Cliff Downey shared
The Illinois Central Railroad broke ground on June 10, 1918, for a new roundhouse at Paducah, KY. The new roundhouse would have 36 stalls, each 100 feet in length. The turntable would also measure 100 feet in length and at the time was the longest on the IC (the second longest was a 92-footer at the Burnside Shops near Chicago).
The new roundhouse would replace an aging and cramped roundhouse built in 1884 by the Chesapeake Ohio & Southwestern Railroad. To give you an idea of how cramped the old roundhouse was, a 2-8-2 could barely fit inside!
Construction of the new roundhouse was plagued by problems almost from the start. The U.S. was involved in "The Great War" (later known as World War I) and concrete and steel were in short supply. And of course the IC was controlled by the United States Railroad Administration, which had seized the nation's railroads after the US entered the war.
Manpower was also in short supply. Many men had been drafted into the armed forces, and lots of men who hadn't been drafted moved into higher paying jobs in war factories. This created a shortage of construction workers through the city of Paducah. To help combat the problem, the city of Paducah passed an anti-vagrancy law on June 19, 1918, giving police the power to arrest able-bodied men who refused to work.
Roundhouse construction moved slowly ahead, and on October 15, 1918, the new turntable was lowered into the pit. Finishing touches were put on the roundhouse in late December, 1918, but the exact date that the roundhouse was "officially" opened is unknown. Afterwards the old CO&SW roundhouse was demolished.
The new roundhouse continued to service steam locomotives until early 1960, when the fires on the last IC steamers were finally dropped at Paducah. For a few years afterwards the roundhouse was used to service diesel locomotives but in November, 1963, diesel servicing was moved to a new building between North Yard and South Yard, about a mile to the south.
The last steam locomotive to leave the Paducah roundhouse was 2-8-2 1518, which had been stored inside the roundhouse while plans to put it on display in Paducah were finalized. 1518 was moved to its first display site along the Ohio River on April 22, 1964, and demolition of the roundhouse began in early 1965.
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| IRM Strahorn Library posted Illinois Central 2003 was a 4-6-0 passenger locomotive built by Rogers in 1896. She had 19 ½ x 26 inch cylinders and 69 inch drivers. With 180 pounds of boiler pressure she produced 21,922 pounds of tractive effort. Originally built as locomotive 373, she was renumbered to 203 in 1901 and then became 2003 in 1907. In 1922 the railroad again renumbered her, making her 5003 and she wore that number until her final retirement in November, 1936. This photograph, originally from the collection of C. W. Whitbeck, and now part of the Strahorn Library’s Dillon collection, was taken about 1920 but the details of the location were not recorded. Obviously it is at an important Illinois Central location since the roundhouse appears to have something like thirty-six stalls and to encompass at least ¾ of a full circle. Could it be Paducah? If anyone recognizes either the turntable or the warehouse, we’d be delighted to hear from you. The controlled chaos of a locomotive servicing shop is always fascinating. Do you suppose the gentleman standing on the turntable rim is the General Foreman? [Source: Collection of C. W. Whitbeck, Dillon collection 1252, Strahorn Library, Illinois Railway Museum. Posted by Jan Young] Cliff Downey: IRM Strahorn Library the photo was taken Dec. 11, 1918, at Paducah, KY. Construction of IC's new 36 stall roundhouse in Paducah was winding down, and a company photographer was sent to document the work. I'm not certain when the IC actually began using the roundhouse. I have a photo in my collection dated Jan. 29, 1919, from the same vantage point, and it didn't appear that the roundhouse was being used yet. Several tracks were still under construction, and steam/smoke was not coming from any of the rooftop smoke jacks.IRM Strahorn Library shared |
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| Illinois Central Railroad Scrapbook posted
In the foreground are 0-8-2 3688 and 2-8-4 8014. Both locomotives had been rebuilt at Paducah. Number 3688 was built in August, 1942, by chopping the pilot truck off 2-8-2 1568. A total of 50 0-8-2's, numbered 3650-3699, were rebuilt at Paducah from old 2-8-2's in 1941 and 1942. Number 3688 was sold for scrap in October, 1956.
2-8-2 8014 was built in October, 1926, as number 7000. The 2-8-4's didn't perform as expected and IC considered rebuilding the 2-8-4's as 4-6-4's for freight service. Only one locomotive was rebuilt before IC dropped the idea and the rest of the 2-8-4's were rebuilt at Paducah between 1939 and 1943. Number 7000 was rebuilt as 8014 in July, 1940, and was sold for scrap in 1955.
This photo, and the photo of 3651 that I posted a few days ago, were scanned from original 4"x5" negatives that I bought years ago at Antiques Cards & Collectibles in Paducah. Unfortunately AC&C is now closed but it was THE place to buy rare postcards and photos of west Kentucky towns.
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| Jim Arvites posted On January 22, 1937 the Illinois Central Railroad halts freight and passenger service to Paducah, Kentucky after the Ohio River floods the city. The Illinois Central also closes it's huge locomotive facility due to the flooding. [The distance to the river does not matter as much as the relative height. Some of the houses in the foreground have water to their roofs. More photos and information in Flood Walls.] |
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| Vintage Railroad Photos pre-1975ish posted During early January, 1937, the Ohio River began flooding. At first, forecasters and residents weren't too concerned because it is not uncommon for the river and its tributaries to flood in the winter and springtime. But this time the water kept rising, and rising, and rising. On January 22 the IC halted freight and passenger train service into Paducah. That same day the locomotive shops in Paducah closed, but the Paducah hospital remained open (however, the hospital was forced to close a few days later) The flood crest at Paducah was reached on February 2 when the flood gauge reached 60.8 feet, or 6.5 feet higher than the previous record. The flood waters receded slowly and the shops did not reopen until February 12. Partial train service into Paducah resumed on February 13 but the "Mud Line" between Paducah and East Cairo, which runs in close proximity to the Ohio River, remained closed until February 25. This aerial photo was taken by an unknown photographer at the height of the flood. The shops and roundhouse are prominently visible, while the IC's hospital is out of view from the lower left corner. Downtown Paducah and the Ohio River are at the top of the photo. Cleaning railroad property took several weeks once the water receded. Virtually every machine at the Paducah shops had to be disassembled, cleaned, lubricated and reassembled. Portable ovens were brought in to dry out electric motors and small electrical tools. Tons of debris had to be hauled away from the tracks, and countless cars and locomotives had to be cleaned. Incidentally, the flood affected not just the Ohio River but also all of its tributaries. At Gilbertsville (about 25 miles upstream from Paducah on the Tennessee River) the flood waters came within a foot of reaching the tracks on the drawbridge across the river. Creeks and streams far away from the Ohio River flooded, causing problems all across the Ohio River valley. |
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| Illinois Central Railroad Scrapbook posted We're on the roof of IC GP9 9330 at the IC's Paducah, KY, roundhouse. On the other side of the turntable is a steam locomotive without a tender, three tenders without their locomotives, and in the far background several steamers waiting to be scrapped. January 30, 1958. Sam Harrison photo, Cliff Downey collection. John Eagan And dead ahead and also to the left "cisterns" or auxilliary tenders. Don't get me started on those, they were available in brass and I've been trying to get my hands on one for ten years! |
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| Illinois Central Railroad Scrapbook posted During the 1950's, many photographers seemed to save their precious supplies of Kodachrome for subjects such as locomotives (particularly steam), and flashy new trains. Thankfully an unknown photographer had the foresight to take this shot of a seemingly mundane subject, the water tank at the entrance to Illinois Central's North Yard in Paducah, KY. The tracks in the foreground lead to the locomotive shops (off to the left). The tracks on the other side of the tank are the mainline - go right and you'll go into North Yard. Go left and you'll head to Union Station. From there you can continue onward to Louisville or turn towards the Metropolis bridge. Note the signal off to the left - track charts show that it was still there as late as 1965. I don't know when it was removed. As for the water tank I don't know when it was torn down. IC ran steam into Paducah until early 1960, and it would have been needed at least until then. Scanned from an original Kodachrome purchased off Ebay. Photographer and date not noted on slide. Cliff Downey coll. Cliff Downey shared |
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