Monroe, LA: CPKC/IC Railyard and Backshops

(Satellite, the railyard is now used for some storage.)

Illinois Central Railroad Scrapbook And Occasionally Other Railroads posted

An unknown photographer snapped this aerial view of the Vicksburg Shreveport & Pacific shops at Monroe, Louisiana.  The exact date is unknown, but is believed to be from the late 1920's.

As its name indicates, the VS&P ran between Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Shreveport, Louisiana, and had ambitions of reaching even further west.  The VS&P was chartered in 1879 to take over the North Louisiana and Texas Railroad.

The VS&P and the Alabama & Vicksburg Railway were under common ownership, and it wasn't uncommon for locomotives and rolling stock to be swapped between the two roads.  In 1926 both the roads were leased to the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley (an IC subsidiary).  In 1959 both the VS&P and A&V were formally merged into the Illinois Central Railroad.

All of the shop buildings seen here have been razed, but many of the concrete foundations can easily be seen on satellite photos.  The old VS&P mainline was spun off to Mid-South Rail in 1986, and then in 1994 was taken over by the Kansas City Southern and became part of the "Meridian Speedway" linking KCS and Norfolk Southern.

Photographer unknown, Cliff Downey coll.

Keith Peeples: Looks like you can see the Missouri Pacific crossing in the top right hand corner.

1957/58 Monroe North Quad @ 24,000

It looks like at least one of the roundhouse pits has not been filled in.

Satellite

rail.guide

Sandusky, OH: B&O Roundhouse and Big Four/Indiana, Bloomington & Western Shops

B&O: (Satellite, the tracks came up along Warren St.)

Big Four: (Satellite, the land has been reused by the water reclamation plant.)

Tim Starr posted two images with the comment: "Sandusky, OH had two pretty unique repair shop setups in the 1880s. One was a B&O roundhouse that also served as a boiler shop, machine shop, and carpenter shop. The other was the Indiana, Bloomington and Western repair shops that had an unusual two-turntable arrangement. Both these maps are 1886."

Neo Haven: A transfer table was more common.

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The NYC tracks on the far left under the Nickle Plate tracks was the Big Four. B&O went North until it got to Warren Street, and then it followed Warren Street to the lakeshore.

    1959/60 Sandusky Quad @ 24,000

Indiana, Bloomington and Western became part of the Big Four.

WorldMapsOnline

Dunmore, PA: Lost/Erie Car Shop

(Satellite, none of this existed in 1946 so I can't get a precise location.)

Not only was the car shop abandoned in 1955 when damaged by a flood, it was at the end of an Erie branch that has since been abandoned. "The present shop is at the far end of a branch line sixty miles from the Erie's New York-Chicago main line." [nytimes]

Joseph M. Gregory posted
Erie Railroad, Dunmore Car Shops 1917 taken by Ernest Gregory.

1946/60 Olyphant Quad @ 24,000

Keddie, CA: Lost/Western Maryland Railyard, Backshop and Roundhouse

(Satellite)

When I think of Keddie, I think of the Keddie Wye. But it makes sense that the wye was named after a nearby town.

Rick Shilling posted
1946 Western Pacific Railroad Roundhouse, Turntable, Shops and Yard, Keddie, California. Eastman's original collection, UC Davis University Collection.
[Behind the roundhouse is a small backshop. Note the tank cars behind the backshop. I wonder if they had to haul water here to supply the steam engines.]

Terry B. Carlson commented on Rick's post
Keddie Roundhouse now.

What this map marks as Keddie is labeled as Cabin 26 on Goolge Maps. 

1950/52 Greenville Quad @ 62,500

Actually, Cabin 26 is in the northern part of Keddie. The town is spread out along the river. The railyard is now the light tan area near the center of this excerpt.

Satellite

The roundhouse was on the east side of the railyard.

Nov 27, 1946 @ 37,400; AR1CQ0000030181

Note that the wye had its third leg in a tunnel.

Digitally Zoomed

Commerce (Los Angeles), CA: UP East Los Angeles (UPLA) and BNSF/Santa Fe Hobart Railyards

UP Yard: (Satellite)

UP Roundhouse: (Satellite, long gone.)

UP Backshops: (Satellite, long gone.)

BNSF Yard: (Satellite)

Today, both yards are intermodal yards. Although the UP yard does have an engine servicing facility about where the backshops used to be.

Railroad Repair Shops and Roundhouses 1850-1950 posted
Layout of the Los Angeles & Salt Lake subsidiary of the Union Pacific at Los Angeles as they looked in 1927. (Railway Mechanical Engineer)

1926/1939 Alhambra Quad @ 24,000

An addition was added to the erecting shop building.

1966/68 Los Angeles @ 24,000

Jul 30, 1952 @ 23,600; AR1VP0000180011

Digitally Zoomed
Dennis DeBruler commented on the post
Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/5jDMthm7Vgr1zuX97.
Research: https://towns-and-nature.blogspot.com/2026/06/commerce-los-angeles-ca-up-east-los.html

"East Los Angeles Yard (UPLA): Situated in the City of Commerce along East Washington Blvd, this massive off-dock yard handles the bulk of domestic and international containerized cargo coming from the ports." [Google AI results]

The AI did a good job of combining information from PortsOfLosAngeles and wheree. UP's webpage is also of interest.

New York, NY: NYCTA Coney Island Yard Tower, Railyard & Backshop

Yard: (Satellite)

Museum: (Satellite)

New York Transit Museum posted four photos with the comment:

These #NYTMCollection photographs from our Yard Collection show the Coney Island Yard in 1969. They were taken by the NYCTA Construction Division and include various rolling stock, as well as views of the then-brand-new Coney Island Yard Tower, which still stands today.

The interior photos show the Tower’s relay room and yard control panel. A few years after these photos were taken, the Stillwell Avenue Master Control Panel was installed in the Tower. Today, this building is known by several names including Coney Island Yard Tower, Stillwell Master Tower, Coney Island Master Tower, and Tower B.

The Coney Island Yard is the main railroad storage yard within the Coney Island Complex, which is one of the largest transportation facilities in North America. Occupying 74 acres in Southern Brooklyn, the Complex is connected to the main #NYCsubway system on the BMT Sea Beach, West End, Brighton, and Culver Lines, and can store approximately 880 train cars combined at a time.

Have you visited the Coney Island Complex?

#TransitTrivia: Can you name all of the subway car models shown?

John Antola: This Tower B replaced the original Tower B which was demolished. It incorporated Tower A interlocking which is still there as you enter the spur. The interlocking at 86 St was reconfigured. By putting the lead onto the Sea Beach line which was off the spur track and moved down to 270 ball under the lead off the West End Line. As a kid back in that time that were building the Tower. Riding to Stillwell Ave on N Train We single tracked on E2 Track between 86 St and Stillwell Ave. It was the old interlocking and you couldn't cross between E1 and E2 Track like you do today so we picked up a pull Motorman at 86 St and we went into the yard as far as where 270 ball is today and the pull Motorman pulled the train back into E4 Track at 86 St and got off and then we went SB from E4 Track to E2 Track to Stillwell Ave.

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Gerry Louis commented on the above post
Old Tower B

The tower is near the center of this view. 

Street View, Nov 2024

The tower is on the left and the backshop is on the right.

Street View, Dec 2021

1966/68 Coney Island Quad @ 24,000

Patrick O'Connor posted 16 photos with the comment: "Signal tower at the NY Transit Museum in Brooklyn."

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Horton, KS: Lost/Rock Island Depot, Railyard & Backshop and Wood Grain Elevator

Depot: (Satellite, according to the topo map below, it was in the northeast quadrant of 1st Street and the tracks.)

Wood Elevator: (Satellite)

Fans of Rock Island Lines posted
Another of Horton Kansas depot and shops.

2x

Given the comment above about "another," I went looking for some others. That depot was big. Was this a division headquarters? And we see a backshop in the background of the photos.

Fans of Rock Island Lines posted
Believe Trent Briggs enhanced this one. Nice shot of depot and shops. Horton Kansas

A lot of the tracks were gone by 1961.

1961/62 Horton Quad @ 24,000

Street View, Jul 2024

Street View, Jul 2024