I remember this roundhouse from my youth. I visited my cousin in Fort Worth several times with my parents in 1946, 1950 and later. He lived in the 2900 block of 8th Ave, which wasn't that far from there.
I am looking for photographs of the roundhouse and turntable. I remember a bit of it. My dad and I walked around and through the roundhouse in the 1970s. Of course, we didn't have a camera! Thanks for any help! Chuck
Howdy Chuck, We are designing the West yard now and there are a few details we can't find. Do you recall the construction of the roundhouse? Was it wood, brick, stone? Also, I see a car repair shed on the Sanborn maps. Do you recall seeing one and if so, what was its construction? Finally, were there coal, oil, and water facilities? I sure wish I had a good photo. Surely someone has one. Since this yard was originally the Fort Worth and Rio Grand Western, I don't think it would have followed SLSF practices.
Although it doesn't have the photos you seek, this page does have a lot of info about Fort Worth turntables and roundhouses. https://hometownbyhandlebar.com/?p=759 "Fort Worth & Rio Grande – This was the Frisco’s old 8th Avenue Yard and roundhouse. I call it Frisco because the Frisco owned the FW&RG. They had a nice old rustic looking turntable and roundhouse out there that I would visit on any trip to Fort Worth. It was still there until the Frisco was merged into the Burlington Northern in 1980. After the merger 8th Street was no longer needed so the yard was closed and the roundhouse and turntable removed. The entire Frisco switching yard was ripped up as well and the land sold for commercial development." The above comment is from Steve Allen Goen, a railroad historian & author. https://texaszephyrpublishing.com/
The white truck appears to have either a 1967 or 1968 grille on it. In back looks like a Vega trunk deck which came out in 1970.
I’ve been to 8th Avenue yard many times in the 1960s and 1970s having grown up in that area. The car shop, more accurately a covered two track rip track, was corrugated metal on a steel frame similar to the car barn in Springfield. I have some slides, but they only show the sides of the shed. Interesting that the corrugated siding didn’t go all the way to the ground, but stopped about halfway down the sides.
Thanks Curtis, good to hear from you. Hope all is well. The information about the rip track is terrific and gives me what I need to build one. Of course, a photograph is always helpful, so when you get a chance. Were there any other interesting buildings on the property?
The Frisco freight house at the north end of the yard was a smallish brick structure. You can still see the foundation on google earth. It’s now a loading dock. It’s just to the south of the milk carton plant. The cool thing about it was it had big stainless steel lettering on the roof that spelled out Frisco! I always looked for that when we drove past the yard! If you have Instagram, please check out my page at Frisco_Ftwsub. My current layout models from the Trinity River bridge to the Stockyards lead. I regularly post videos and updates there.
Thanks for the Instagram link. That looks like a fun layout to operate. The Frisco freight house across the tracks from the T&P freight station was tan brick with the stainless lettering. Was there another one? Mike C
I think that might be it! If you would like a set of company track charts, I’ll be glad to share! I’ve got a complete set for the Ft. Worth Subdivision that shows all of the industrial trackage and identifies the names and numbers of all the tracks, including customer names! You are welcome to call me directly if you’d like to talk about this. I believe you would be a big help with my project as well.
Curt, is there any way we could get you to scan those Industry Schematics and post those in this sub-forum? http://www.frisco.org/shipit/index.php?forums/southwestern-div-track-charts-industry-schematics.340/ ? If not, would you be willing to loan those so they can be scanned?