I was in Tucson, AZ a month ago and stopped into the local railway museum. I really appreciated this shelter because unlike most RR museum outdoor shelters, this one was designed to allow visitors to actually stroll inside behind the fence. A good idea! A very steam-knowledgeable docent was there to open the gate and supervise visitors. He gave a cab tour and even let folks pull the bell cord. Good stuff.

Anyway, I liked this shelter.

The loco is SP 2-6-0 #1673 (website).


Southern Pacific Railroad #1673, Arizona, Tucson (31,557) by EC Leatherberry, on Flickr

That's a really nice shelter design. Cantilevering the roof off the columns evokes the feeling of an umbrella shed; the skylight reinforces the image as at first glance it appears to be the ventilation opening between separate roofs. It also lets in much needed light. The light color of the underside of the roof helps spread the light around.

If I have any complaint, it is the lack of anti-roosting spikes on the lower chord of the trusses, to prevent white stripes from appearing on the locomotive.

That skylight helps a lot. There was plenty of light inside the loco cab to see all the details. Without the skylight it would have been pretty gloomy and unwelcoming inside the shelter and up there in the cab.

Lucien -

The other thing l like about this shelter is that the posts are set back a bit from the locomotive allowing a fairly decent "wedge photograph" without the posts in the way. It's not perfect, but that, and the fact you can get inside the fence, put it above the normal "fenced in" enclosure.

Les