I don't know if it is officially called a Round house but that is what the building is known as. I have heard it called the Frisco round house and the Frisco repair shop. I do not know if it is being used for anything right now. The Kansas City Southern & Burlington (I think that is the name) railroad uses the tracks leading to the building but the tracks into the building are taken up. They use it for their diesels, just to the north and west are sidings along the main track where the coal cars are sided when changing diesels etc.
The Frisco did not have a roundhouse at Pittsburg, KS it was a long rectangular engine house with two tracks and four drop pits. Richard
The photographs attached to this post are of the old KCS backshops building in Pittsburg which was torn down during the fall of 2010. This entire area has now been cleared, including the old turntable. John Chambers
I have often said that this may very well have been the only engine facility complex with an actual fountain. There was a pond at the east end of the diesel shop on the north side very near the service racks to sand and fuel the locomotives. In the midle of the pond was a spout that had water spraying out over the top of it. Nothing fancy, but to me a touch of class in an area not usually accessible to visitors.
Bob, Do you know where the diesel shop was located in Pittsburg, KS? I have a 1914 blueprint of Pittsburg, KS which shows the the old steam long house. I would assume the diesel shops were in the same area. Richard
Richard, The KCS modified the old steam backshop building to work on diesel locomotives when the KCS dieselized in the late '40's. When they closed the backshop for heavy repairs around 1975 and transferred this work to Shreveport they left the last five stalls on the east end as a light repair facility for the northern half of the railroad. This part was closed around 1995 when GE and the KCS built a shop building in Kansas City to work on the new GE locomotives they were selling to the KCS. Since that time the entire building sat empty until being torn down last fall. John Chambers
Thanks for the photo, Steve...looks like a very modeable diesel servicing facility for the modeler who is pressed for space! Best Regards,
There was a transfer table on the north side of the building and that is the only time that I have ever seen one. It was still in place and I assume still operable in the time frame that John refers to. It was a massive building and quite impressive looking.
After I saw this picture on the archive today http://frisco.org/mainline/wp-conte...e-House-on-July-20-1947-Arthur-B.-Johnson.jpg I started digging because I hadn't heard or seen of this engine facility in Pittsburg. I've looked through what maps I can find and can't locate it. Where would this have been? The landscape looks too open for it to be in the heart of downtown where the depot was.
I have approximated the engine house location on this satellite image. Pending further review for a second engine house...
Karl, I don't think that was the location. Issues with that: 1. we would be able to see the two or three tracks that include the main line of the Girard Branch. 2. The drawn track plans don't match what I see in the pictures posted, but I'm not seeing the setup any where in Pittsburg. 3. The spur that curved around to the south side of that building belonged to the Santa Fe as it came off of their yard tracks. After looking closer at the pictures tonight, the one on the archive gives a little insight. There are shadows on the right side of everything, so it has to be running NE/SW on along the Parsons Sub, not EW along the Girard Branch. There are buildings on one side and open ground on the other. The only place like that in the middle of Pittsburg was a spaghetti bowl of SLSF, ATSF and KCS trackage. I don't see evidence of any of that in the back ground in either picture. I found an aerial photo from 1958 and was able to run all over Pittsburg with it and I could not find anything that resembles what is in the picture. I'm attaching screen shots for reference. I marked the Frisco in Red, ATSF in Blue and KCS in black. The mess that is all of the yard tracks and interchanges are unmarked, but are in that barren space that I call no mans land. You can go to this website https://www.historicaerials.com/viewer and select either a topography map or a aerial photo that is movable like google maps.
I think you both are right, the photo & map Karl posted was the original location, the Archive photo was taken at the later after the Frisco & KCFS&M facilities were consolidated... If I were to bet I would say the Archive photo was taken just east of No.Joplin St. & E. Rose St. looking North to NE toward where the cell tower is now located...One thing I did notice on the 1905 Sanborn map north (or left) of the engine house is the former KCFS&M depot at 4th & Locust is listed as ATSF, maybe they sold it to the Santa Fe when moved everything to the Broadway & 2nd depot...Roger
Karl, is this a 1940s map? If so, what is the source? I could not find online. (edit. 1905, I see it now). Is there a 1940s map? Thanks, -Bob T.
There's a 1945, 50, 50, 60, 75 and 78 map if you go here and search for pittsburg ks https://www.historicaerials.com/viewer The diagrams there show that things had changed since these 1905 plats.