Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Bellefontaine, OH: A Big Four Hub, Railyards and Roundhouse

(Satellite, roundhouse remnants, see more below)

(Update: see tower)
One of 26 photos posted by Tanner Wical

The 2005 SPV Map shows the northern and western spokes are owned by CSX and the southern fork is owned by IOCR --- Indiana & Ohio Central Railroad. But a satellite image shows that the IOCR track does not connect to CSX. It stops at Water Avenue.

Tanner Wical posted 30 photos.

One of 26 photos posted by Tanner Wical
Postcard
Brian Rasmussen posted
1910  CCC&StL shop complex at Bellefontaine OH.  From postcard image on "Worthpoint"
Thomas Wentzel shared

Raymond Storey posted two photos with the comment: "BELLEFONTAINE OHIO."
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The railyard is now brownland.
Satellite

According to a topo map, the roundhouse was almost a full circle. Evidently NYC already took official ownership of Big Four by 1944. I could find no traces of the railyard on the south side of town. And all but the mainline tracks have been removed from the skinny yard on the north side.
Dennis DeBruler commented on Thomas Wentzel's share
According to this topo map, we can still see some of the foundation of the roundhouse here:
1944 Bellefontaine and East Liberty Quadrangles @ 1:62,500

Paint doesn't have a widget for arcs so I made a circle and added a yellow line where there was no building to make room for the lead track.
Satellite plus Paint

2 of 3 images posted by Scott Trostel with the comment:
I am pleased to introduce my newest book. BELLEFONTAINE, OHIO, RISE AND FALL OF A BIG FOUR TERMINAL. The book is 184 pagws of the town and development of a terminal on the newly formed Big 4. From its earliest day as a stop in the fabled Mas River & Lake Erie Railroad, a second line, the Bellefontaine & Indiana built into town. Through a succession of owners, It was Melville Ingalls who brought it all together in 1889 and established the Big 4. He brought the first shops to town, along with BN Yard and a state of the art roundhouse. The shops went on to overhaul locomotives as well as construct new locomotives.. As things progressed, 20 additional stalls was added to the roundhouse. The first of three Railway YMCA,s was constructed. The depot was constructed at BS Junction to handled 20 plus passenger trains daily. As a terminal with shops it was second in size to Beech Grove. It went on to have two additional yards, Gest and East, the three were reportedly handling over a million cars a year. The Railway YMCA reported 4,000 members. It experiences a boiler explosion in the roundhouse in 1942, then in 1943 a fire consumed the roundhouse requiring 10 fire departments to contain. Then the depot burned in 1946. The terminal came to an end with the introduction of diesels and closed out steam locomotives in 1956. Avon Yard at Indianapolis took most of the business in 1961. The stockyards and icing platform were closed and only two stalls of the 39 stall roundhouse remained in operation. BS junction was closed circa 1963 and slowly Guest Yard was abandoned and BN Yard was cut back to storage, Conrail moved the crew change point and there was no need for a Railway YMCA. It has 197 photos' and 17 maps. I can be ordered at Cam-Tech Publishing. 4890 E Miami-Shelby Rd., Fletcher, Ohio 45326-9766. Price is $46.95 plus $6.00 S&h
Scott Trostel shared
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