BTW, i went by this roundhouse in 2001 and it is very isolated due to an active rail yard. Condition was poor too and I'm in the belief that it is wooden. Is Soo Line 2-8-2 1003 stored here too or elsewhere? Jim

Front Page-Eauclair,Wisc. Leader-Telegram.
3/10/2004 12:18:32 PM

Full steam ahead
Train enthusiasts are making a push to convince a railroad company and city officials that the Altoona Roundhouse is worth saving.
Julian Emerson
Leader-Telegram Staff

Staff photo by Andi Stempniak
The Altoona Roundhouse, part of the railroad complex near the cityÂ’s downtown, is scheduled for demolition next month. A group of residents would like to save the building, one of only a few operating roundhouses in the United States.
ALTOONA — Two local train enthusiasts hope a coalition of concerned residents and local government officials can combine forces to save a piece of history.

Charlie Schaaf, owner of Model Train Classics Plus in downtown Eau Claire, said Union Pacific Railroad has announced plans to tear down the Altoona Roundhouse later this year.

“You have a piece of history at risk,” Schaaf said. “Once it’s gone, it’s gone. It can’t be replaced.”

Randy Lambertus, Locomotive and Tower Preservation Fund president, said the railroad company notified the group the roundhouse will be demolished April 14. Part of the structure is dilapidated and not in compliance with city building codes, and railroad officials arenÂ’t willing to spend money to refurbish it, Lambertus said.

His organization has worked since last fall to secure funding to save the building, but those efforts have been unsuccessful.

“At this point we don’t have any great hopes of the building being saved,” he said.

Union Pacific did not return calls.

Saving the roundhouse, one of only a few working roundhouses in the United States, will take a combination of public pressure and eventually money, Schaaf said. HeÂ’s hoping to garner support for retaining the building beginning Thursday, when the Altoona City Council will discuss the structureÂ’s future.

Saving the building would mean spending money to fix it. With municipal government budgets stretched, coming up with dollars for that project would be even more difficult than in past years.

“We could be looking at lots of money to fix up that building, and I don’t know that we have it available,” Altoona City Council member Jeff

Manhardt said.

City Administrator Scott Rasmussen said Union Pacific officials havenÂ’t notified the city about demolition plans.

“What’s the urgency to tear this down now? That’s what we’re wondering,” he said.

This isnÂ’t the first time the Roundhouse, the oldest part of which was built in 1887, has been threatened. In 1997 Union Pacific announced similar plans to demolish the structure.

But some residents opposed the buildingÂ’s destruction, and it was left standing. Since then a group of local train buffs has used the roundhouse to refurbish old steam engines. The building houses the 2719, a restored steam engine that was used in the Chippewa Valley.

A few years ago the city paid for a study to determine whether to pay for improvements to the building. The study showed project costs could be substantial and could include potentially costly cleanup of contaminated soil at the site.

Schaaf still hopes the roundhouse can become a tourist attraction. But for now heÂ’s looking for support just to keep the building upright.

“This is a fixture in the heart of Altoona and an important part of the Chippewa Valley’s history,” he said. “That’s something we can’t afford to lose.”

Emerson can be reached at 830-5911, (800) 236-7077 or julian.emerson@ecpc.com.



Wrinnbo@aol.com

Soo Line 1003 is currently stored at the Auto Museum in Hartford, Wiconsin.

According to 2719's web site demolition of the Altoona Roundhouse is scheduled to begin April 15th 2004.

2719 web site
rich_young@afbisinc.com

This seems a tragedy, and a very unnecessary one at that. Can anyone from the 2719 group comment on how we could best help, besides donating enough to buy it? Editorials in the local paper or letters to local officials perhaps? Why is UP in such a yank to destroy it all of a sudden?

ryarger@rypn.org