So what did the smaller roundhouses have for floors in the 1950s? Gravel? I know some had concrete pits, but I haven't been able to determine what covered the floors.
Bob, Some plans that Karl Brand provided a while back for the Chaffee roundhouse revision in 1953 indicate that the remaining stalls were to have "concrete floors." Chaffee, MO - Roundhouses/Turntables Robert Tomb also shared a circa 1968 photograph of the truncated building, exterior only. Chaffee Roundhouse in 1968 I am not sure about the other remaining roundhouses, but I'd suspect they would have been similar if they also underwent conversion to diesel-servicing facilities. Best Regards,
I think some of the older ones might have had brick or even well packed earth in some of the very small ones.
I thought I read somewhere that many roundhouses had wood block floors. Let me see if I can find it. http://cs.trains.com/trn/f/111/t/137264.aspx http://gm5-gaweb.newscyclecloud.com/news/2007-03-22/block-block-roundhouse-restores-rare-floor http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/13/p/283672/3266219.aspx#3266219 Wood blocks on end had tough end grain exposed, and would give if something heavy was dropped on them.
Many old school machine shops and heavy mechanical works had wooden block floors. Four by four and six by six square blocks, end grain up, concrete or brick below. When I worked at Marion Power Shovel in Ohio, the David Street machine shop which was built late 1800s still had the wooden floor when I was in there working in 1985. It is about five city blocks long and half a block wide. You could put heavy gearing or machine parts on the floor without scoring their finish or chipping concrete - no chasing blocks or plywood to set them down.
No problem with oil spills at Marion - saved using other preservatives I suppose. If a block was damaged or removed, maintenance would show up with a replacement and it would be summarily chiseled to fit and tamped in place. A ten ton propeller shaft makes a great tamper. The roundhouse would have had similar heavy weight stuff. The article referenced above detailing the careful restoration of a wooden block floor would have made our plant maintenance guys grin and shake their heads.
