Backshop 1: (Satellite)
Backshop 2: (Satellite)
Burned Roundhouse: (Satellite)
Freight House: (Satellite, has been removed)
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| 3D Satellite |
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| HAER WVA,2-MART,1A--10 10. INTERIOR VIEW OF WALLED-OFF SECTION OF LOCOMOTIVE WORK BAY SHOWING MASTER SCALE. - Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Martinsburg West Roundhouse, East End of Race & Martin Streets, Martinsburg, Berkeley County, WV Tim Starr posted Inside the B&O enclosed roundhouse at Martinsburg WV. At left is the "master scale." West Roundhouse is a building in the former engine and machine shops complex erected by the B&O in Martinsburg beginning in 1849. Destroyed by Confederate troops in 1861, the existing shops date from 1866. West Roundhouse was one of two identical buildings used for running repairs to locomotives. It is a sixteen-sided, brick-walled polygon covered by a bell-shaped roof over the locomotive turntable, with sixteen wedge-shaped work bays radiating from the turntable. The twin roundhouse was destroyed by arson. Dennis DeBruler: This is one of several photos of that roundhouse: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/item/wv0255/ |
According to Jim's comment below, the roundhouse we see in this photo is the ruins we see in the above satellite image.
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| Shaun Dorsey posted The Roundhouse in Martinsburg and I belive the passenger station also. Another of my Dad's photos. David Andrew Wieting: [The depot] was a hotel, but after Stonewall Jackson burned up most of the B&O in Martinsburg the hotel became the station. I believe it is still partly in use today as the station. It has been restored with additions made to it. Jim Kelling: This roundhouse burned down about 1990 (arson) but the surviving one is from 1866. Thanks for sharing the photo; I’ve never seen it from this side before. |
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| WVNC Rails posted A B&O passenger train moves through Martinsburg, WV past the west roundhouse and shops circa 1970. B&O E9A #1454 leads this westbound which at this date is probably Train #11, the "Metropolitan". Locomotives have always been the stars of the show but back in the day, the vast array of railroad owned freight cars---as opposed to leaser or privately owned today--were quite interesting in their own right. Library of Congress/HAER image Dennis DeBruler: "What makes the building [roundhouse] unique and architecturally distinctive is its total cast-iron frame of octagonal columns, struts and beams. It is one of the most significant cast-iron framed buildings in the United States. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/wv0255/ Bod Davis shared B&O Railroad Museum posted After overcoming the complications at Harpers Ferry, the B&O Railroad progressed quickly west. On May 21st, 1842, the line continuation to Martinsburg, West Virginia opened and ten days later the railroad reached Hancock, Maryland. In 1848, the railroad began expanding its facilities at Martinsburg with the aim of creating a central maintenance area along the line between Baltimore and Cumberland. The construction began with an engine shed and in 1852, the construction of a machine shop for more serious repairs was made possible by the purchase of additional acreage. At one point there also stood a Roundhouse and depot that were later destroyed. Martinsburg became a significant site for the B&O both during the Civil War and during the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. Next week, we’ll discuss the role of these shops within both significant B&O historical moments! Historic American Engineering Record, Creator. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Martinsburg West Roundhouse, East End of Race & Martin Streets, Martinsburg, Berkeley County, WV. West Virginia Martinsburg Berkeley County, 1968. Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. |
West Virginia life posted two photos with the comment:
The B&O Railroad Shops and Roundhouse in Martinsburg, West Virginia.This roundhouse is the oldest remaining domed roundhouse in the United States and possibly the world. It is a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, and the complex is also on the National Historic Landmark register.The roundhouse, constructed in 1866, was added when the shop complex was rebuilt after Stonewall Jackson's troops burned the original shops during the Civil War.These buildings were considered masterpieces in railroad architecture and structural engineering, but the brick roundhouse was especially significant. Designed by Albert Fink, a renowned 19th-century civil engineer and railroad economist, a cast iron internal framework supports this completely circular, domed structure and is considered an early ancestor to the steel framing system used in today's skyscrapers. This iron skeleton allows more than 20,000 square feet of open floor space. That is enough room for a central 50-foot turntable and 16 locomotive bays. Unfortunately, it was abandoned by CSX Railroad in the late 1980s and sat empty for many years before the complex was sold to a non-profit and restored.The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 occurred in the Martinsburg B&O Shops and is considered one of American history's most violent and widespread labor uprisings. The strike lasted for days, and strikers were killed when federal troops broke up the action. This event initiated the first national labor strike.
Randall Hampton shared
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| B&O Railroad Museum posted Moving into the 20th century, the Martinsburg facilities added the blacksmith shop, rehabilitation shop, and the saw house. The new additions supported the Martinsburg Roundhouse as the stop became a “maintenance of way” shop. From the 1930s to the 1980s, the Martinsburg Roundhouse served as a maintenance of way shop and in 1988, the Martinsburg Shops closed. In the early 1990s, one of the historic roundhouses was destroyed by an arsonist. Following the fire, the West Roundhouse was the only remaining roundhouse on the site. Today, the site is a National Historic Landmark, which includes many of the antebellum shop buildings and one roundhouse with very few architectural changes. Image from City of Martinsburg. #BORailroad #BORailHistory #BORailMuseum #BaltimoreHistory #VisitBaltimore #BaltimoreMuseums Tom Dunne shared Randall Hampton shared Nice drone shot of Martinsburg, with the MARC / Amtrak station on the near side of the tracks. NA Tower is barely out of sight, to the right. |
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| Don Wetmore commented on the above post Here's the east roundhouse in 1980 before it burned. Photo by Don Wetmore. |
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| Tom Dunne commented on the above post Federal forces cut off the rail lines from Martinsburg, equipment could not be moved by the Confederates over tracks to the Southern rail system. A plan was devised to move as much rolling stock and equipment as possible over land from Martinsburg to the southern railhead at Strasburg. General Stonewall Jackson, with the help of Capt. Thomas A. Sharp and Hugh Longust, both experienced railroad men, led the successful operation. A newspaper report from Strasburg on September 7, 1861, stated: "Fourteen locomotives, a large number of railroad cars, nine miles of track, telegraph wires and about $40,000.00 worth of machinists' tools and materials, all belonging to the B&O Railroad, have been successfully hauled overland by the Confederates." When analyzed, the task that Jackson faced was awesome. Considering the existing condition of the roads and the weight of the locomotives. Crews of teamsters, mechanics and laborers had to be assembled. So did an entire herd of horses. To lighten the load, every ounce of weight was taken off the engines - from bells and whistles to pistons, cow catchers, stacks, and cabs. The tenders were detached. The front truck wheels were replaced with improvised, extra wide, wooden wheels. The front driver wheels were removed to lighten the load. The rear drivers had to be widened and the effect of the flange eliminated which was accomplished by putting on wide wooden wheels with iron banding. Teams of forty horses were hitched together - including mules, thoroughbreds, and workhorses - and all sorts of harnesses were improvised. The feat of maneuvering turns and grades on the macadamized surface of the valley pike must have presented an incredible spectacle. Stonewall Jackson, still in his blue VMI instructors' uniform, sits on horseback in the center of the painting, viewing the path the 40-horse team will take. Capt. Sharp points out the route. I was able to see Jackson's coat and kepi at the VMI Museum with the kind cooperation of Col. Keith Gibson. Accompanying Jackson are his mounted staff members - Second Lt. Sandy Pendleton, in the red kepi and Dr. Hunter McGuire, both seen to the left of Jackson, and Maj. John Harmon, seen to the right of Jackson. Once again, Dr. James Robertson Jr. of Virginia Tech was able to help me with the crucial details. It is early in the morning of June 20, 1861. The sun is rising in the east and starts to catch the higher parts of the roundhouse and the Berkeley Hotel. The city of Martinsburg recently restored the hotel to its 19th Century condition, with minor changes. It is used today as an Amtrak Station. I chose to paint it the way it was during the 19th Century with the Berkeley Hotel sign on the building as it was during the Civil War. Jackson Commandeers the Railroad, Martinsburg, Virginia, June 1861 Artwork by Mort Kunstler... |
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| Twin City Model Railroad Museum commented on the above post The interior is awesome! |
Depot
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| Street View, Sep 2019 |
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| Mark Hinsdale posted |
Marty Bernard posted three photos with the comment: "4, 5 and 6. B&O Martinsburg, WV, May 1, 1971. Scott Armentrout photo, Bill Howes collection."
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I find it interesting that B&O covered the middle of their roundhouses.
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| Street View, Sep 2019 |
The roundhouse is now an interesting event space.
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| Raul Torres, Oct 2021 |
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| TheMartinsburgRoundhouse |
Obviously, a freight house.
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| Neil Currin, Jun 2017 |
In the next street view, Aug 2021, the freight house is gone.
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| Street View, Oct 2019 |
This topo map does not show the freight house, but it does show the spur that comes down the grade and crosses the street. It looks like the burned roundhouse also had its middle covered.
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| 1955 Martinsburg Quad @ 24,000 |
This appears to be the rectangular building that is between the two roundhouses. Given the forge, I presume this was the Frog & Switch Blacksmith Shop. So I conclude that the rectangular building that is north of the roundhouse is the Bridge & Machine Shop. [rental-rates]
They evidently sometimes move the caboose onto the turntable as a photo opportunity.
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| Dolly Fergus, Apr 2017 |
They evidently sometimes move the caboose onto the turntable as a photo opportunity.
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| 1 of 5 photos posted by Martinsburg Roundhouse Wm Whittington shared Martinsburg, WV Roundhouse. Dennis DeBruler shared Dennis DeBruler: It is a "decoration" in an event space: https://www.roundhousewv.com/roundhouserental Kyle McGrogan: Note the angled cast iron columns and rings at the various levels to support the roof. This was rebuilt and enlarged after the Civil War in 1866 to B&O Engineer Albert Fink's design. The building was based on one in Germany. There was a second one like this right next to this one , built in 1875, but it was destroyed in a case of arson before the Berkeley Country Roundhouse Authority took the site over. |
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