In an earlier post, I had speculated on the possible causes for the B&O roof collapse. I still have not heard what the cause was determined to be. Several people have mentioned the fatigue of the cast iron hangers, which support the upper ends of the trusses, yet I have not heard that any such damage to the hangers was actually observed in the wreckage.

Now I learn through an article in TRAINS that, “B&O’s 119-year-old roundhouse roof and its trusses were inspected, reinforced, and re-roofed in 1974-75.” This is an extremely interesting piece of news since it implies that the antique structure of questionable condition or undocumented engineering was brought up to a modern-day certification. I say implies, because it would seem highly improbable that the trusses were reinforced without a complete engineering analysis of what the reinforcement was intended to accomplish. The TRAINS article also states that the collapse occurred near the end of a 26-inch snowfall.

Ron Keagle


KEAGLEDESIGN@VISI.COM

As one who lives outside Baltimore City this 26 in snow fall was an alltime record for the area . It was two storm fronts that hit back to back both with large amounts of snow . Even though 26 in was listed , some places received more. Some had drifts over the 30 in mark .Many old buildings and flat roof stores had damage from the weight of the snow . It shut the area down for a week and the snow lasted for some time .The weight of this record snow fall had every one with a foof over their head worried .



keith_schell@toyota.com

> As one who lives outside Baltimore City this
> 26 in snow fall was an alltime record for
> the area . It was two storm fronts that hit
> back to back both with large amounts of snow
> . Even though 26 in was listed , some places
> received more. Some had drifts over the 30
> in mark .Many old buildings and flat roof
> stores had damage from the weight of the
> snow . It shut the area down for a week and
> the snow lasted for some time .The weight of
> this record snow fall had every one with a
> foof over their head worried

My dad, Bill Schmidt, was B&O Director of Public Relations from 1957 to 1963. The Museum was part of the Public Relations Department at that time. He recollects that the Mt.Claire Shop forces would shovel off the roofs in the shop complex (including the Museum roundhouse) after a major snow storm. Of course the Shops and the shop work force are long gone.


pjslks@ix.netcom.com

Not sure about Baltimore, but most roundhouse roofs were designed with the idea that they would be heated all winter, which would melt the snow off the uninsulated roofs. With that in mind, many were not built to withstand the kind of heavy snowloading that occurs when they are no longer heated. The Como and Hugo roundhouses in Colorado are examples: when the heat was turned off, the roofs collapsed. Likewise, if really heavy snow did occur, most roundhouses had a number of laborers to go up and shovel them off, as they also had to do with the turntable pit.



http://www.drbrantigan.com/history/roundhouse.htm
ryarger@rypn.org