Shawnee, OK: Rock Island Roundhouse and Backshop

(Satellite)

Rick Shilling posted
c1910 Chicago Rock Island & Pacific Railway Roundhouse,Shops and Yard, Shawnee, Oklahoma.
Terry B. Carlson: I can't find anything in the data base. I looked on Google Earth and can't find any evidence of a RH. I have the 1896 Sanborn Fire Insurance maps and they don't show a RH. They do show the Choctaw Oklahoma & Gulf RR tracks running through town.
Richard Mead posted
From diditalpraire in Oklahoma.

Bryan Nelms: And it’s all gone…

Terry B. Carlson commented on Rick's post
This is the Google Earth Imager from 11-11-2022. Sadly, I see no visible evidence of of the RH or TT.
Location: 35°19'31.48" N 96°55'43.34" W

Richard Mead commented on Bryan's comment
The building in the middle of the photo still exists.

J Mike Wester commented on Terry's Google Earth comment
The only building left is the large building in the middle with the black roof. I believe it was used be Rock Island as a repair shop. You can see multiple entries big enough for rail cars and/or engines that have been bricked over and closed off. The rest appears gone. Area is currently being used by the city for their service area. There are two tracks remaining at the top of the yard that, I’m told is now owned by Union Pacific and leased by AOK (Arkansas Oklahoma). AOK is running grain to Shawnee Mills. AOK yard is visible in top left corner as it is today.

J Mike Wester commented on Terry's comment about an 1896 map
This is a map in the Pottawatomie County Museum and Historical Society that shows the Rock Island Roundhouse and shops. It was eventually moved to El Reno. We had another Roundhouse with the Santa Fe Railroad. The Choctaw was absorbed by the Rock Island. This would be later than 1896.

Dennis DeBruler commented Rick's post
The roundhouse was already removed when this 1955 aerial photo was taken. But you can still see the remnants of the foundation. [ARA001480020342]

Tim Starr posted
Map of the Rock Island shops and roundhouse at Shawnee OK in 1929. Locomotives, freight cars, and passenger cars were repaired and overhauled here, even having a dedicated brass shop.

Justin Gillespie: Steam engines used brass bushings and bearings, had to have a brass shop.

Tim Starr: Yes, but not every shop site had a large, dedicated building for it, usually just a room in the machine shop

J Mike Wester posted
Rock Island train yard, Round House, and Depot in Shawnee Oklahoma. 
J Mike Wester shared
J Mike Wester: The Rock Island Passenger Depot is at the top center of picture.

History's Mirror posted
At the turn of the twentieth century, the Rock Island roundhouse railroad repair station in Shawnee, Oklahoma stood as a vital center of activity for the region’s growing rail network. Operated by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, the roundhouse served as a place where steam locomotives were inspected, repaired, cleaned, and prepared for their next journeys across the plains. The circular design of the roundhouse surrounded a central turntable, which allowed engines to be rotated and directed into individual service bays. Each stall housed tools, machinery, and skilled railroad workers who kept the powerful steam engines running efficiently. The facility reflected the importance of railroads in shaping communities like Shawnee during a period when transportation by rail connected farms, towns, and cities across the expanding American Midwest. Freight cars and passenger trains arriving in Shawnee depended on this maintenance hub to keep schedules moving and goods flowing. The surrounding rail yard was often filled with boxcars, tank cars, and work crews busy switching trains and preparing locomotives for service. Smoke from nearby smokestacks and the constant motion of rail equipment created a scene that symbolized industrial progress and economic growth. The roundhouse not only supported railroad operations but also provided steady employment for local residents and helped establish Shawnee as an important rail center in early Oklahoma history.

Robert Miller: If you look at the box cars. It looks like they no longer have roof walks. If that is the case, it would have been long after steam was gone.

Aaron Kyle posted
Aerial view of Shawnee looking east from roughly Kickapoo and Main.  Notice the first train station in Shawnee along the tracks NE from the Mill.  Notice Highland extending out of town towards Seminole and the position of the bridge (upper left of photo).

Tim Bucktu: This photo was published in the 1931 Chamber “what’s happening in Shawnee” book. You can see Immanuel Baptist Church on East main and it wasn’t completed until 1929.

J Mike Wester shared

Roundhouse for Rock Island in Shawnee Oklahoma.

John Blotnick: Roundhouse looks like where the Shawnee Street Dept currently is. Part of the machine shop buildings still survive.