Can anybody give me a background on the roundhouse located in East St. Louis next to the interstate.<p>Thanks,<br>Gerry K.<br>



hottshot65@aol.com

I had assembled quite a bit of data on that structure, but can't get to my notes at the moment. I beleive the roundhouse was B&O originally. It was built very late, and in service with an operating turntable into the late 1980s. If I can find my notes I'll e-mail you more info. Also, I have some aerial photos of the roundhouse from a couple of years ago. <p>There is an aerial photo of a near by TRRA roundhouse at the following link:<p>http://www.rypn.org/Stories/980710Welcome/Trra.jpg<p>Supposedly this RH, which had been used for car reapirs until very recently burned. Haven't been able to confirm this.<p>St. Louis and East St. Lousi are a treasure trove of really neat railroad buildings, even the the paltry remnants that remain. I think there were once over 13 roundhouses in the corridor on either side of the river. Only the B&O remains, if the TRRA is indeed gone. Still lots of neat bridges and other things to see. The wooden trestle approach to the Merchants Bridge from the east side still stands, but is derelict. It's so big I couldn't get a good inclusive photo of it even from the air.



Railway Preservation News
hkading@rypn.org

Picture of the East St. Louis B&O Roundhouse.<p>Note collapsed roof at left corner.<p>For the record, I wrote the mayor of East St. Louis a letter suggesting they preserve the site as a museum. I got no response.<p>Apparently, two or three roundhouses were demolished to make way for Riverboat Casino parking lots in the early 90s.



Railway Preservation News

hkading@rypn.org

In regards to the TRRA roundhouse:<p>It was indeed used for the rebuilding and storage of passenger cars through the mid-nineties when it, and its contents, were auctioned off. Merely days after the auction, a suspicious fire started in one of the upstairs offices and spread throughout the building. Only a very small portion of it still stands, and it is scheduled for demolition in the near future.<p>The B&O roundhouse in East St. Louis is visible from I-70 and, I would guess, will soon be no more as well. Needless to say, it's in a bad area of town (relatively speaking, anyway), and any abandoned building in that area that may be housing the homeless or be the site of drug dealing is subject to demolition by the city of East St. Louis.<p>Molly Carsten<br>Curator, Museum of Transportation<br>



Molly4006@aol.com