I've often been taken aback when architects show their renderings of proposals for old roundhouses. Invariably, they seek to yuppify and soften the industrial nature of the place with fancy brick sidewalks, gas lights, park benches and tons of plantings that seem at odds with the slop, slime, grit and oil that workers once toiled in. A few roundhouses, however, did have some minor aesthetics in a spot or two, as evidenced by this photo taken at the (still extant) PRR facility at Crestline, Ohio.

http://crestline.pennsyrr.com/burk42.0.jpg.html
ryarger@rypn.org

Remnants of the garden and fountain between the roundhouse and the CMO's office, C of G Savannah--now the Roundhouse Railroad Museum.


eledbetter@rypn.org

Second try--go to

http://www.chsgeorgia.org/roundhouse/ph ... fm?view=33


Garden
eledbetter@rypn.org

Bob, the SR was famous for its gardens and flower beds at its depots AND shops. Coster Shop in Knoxville had an extensive rose garden, and many locations had flowers or boxwood shrubs in the outline of the "SR" round logo. Quite a bit of documentation exists on this in the old Southern News Bulletin magazines that served as the company's house organ in the teens and 20s.

Why did they do it? SR was one of the first companies to do some research into the environment the employees worked in and how it affected their performance. They found that a more pleasing environment reduced accidents. Thus, a tremendous growth of flowers and plants, all over the SR.

The park across from Spencer Shops, the flagpole area at the Master Mechanic's office, etc. are good examples in N.C. Shame the shopping center came along in the 60s to replace the park.

Jim

Wrinnbo@aol.com

And a pale shadow of what it was when the CG employees had their lunch hour there every day. Somewhere there are RIGHT WAY magazine articles with photos of the garden in those times past.

dave

irondave@bellsouth.net

> Bob, the SR was famous for its gardens and
> flower beds at its depots AND shops. Coster
> Shop in Knoxville had an extensive rose
> garden, and many locations had flowers or
> boxwood shrubs in the outline of the
> "SR" round logo. Quite a bit of
> documentation exists on this in the old
> Southern News Bulletin magazines that served
> as the company's house organ in the teens
> and 20s.

> Why did they do it? SR was one of the first
> companies to do some research into the
> environment the employees worked in and how
> it affected their performance. They found
> that a more pleasing environment reduced
> accidents. Thus, a tremendous growth of
> flowers and plants, all over the SR.

> The park across from Spencer Shops, the
> flagpole area at the Master Mechanic's
> office, etc. are good examples in N.C. Shame
> the shopping center came along in the 60s to
> replace the park.

> I always thought some of the buildings at the former Coster Shop looked pretty fancy,one large building looked more like an old victorian era passenger depot.The city of Knoxville really messed up with their purchase and so called re-development of the site for an industrial park.Debris from the demolition was illegally dumped at various sites around the Knoxville area and diesel fuel and arsenic have been found in the ground water,expensive clean ups had to done at those sites like Coster.All of the proposed tenants of the former shop site have dropped out due to environmental concerns and the site will be nothing more than a vacant field.This has turned out to be more expensive for the city of Knoxville and maybe Norfolk Southern than if the Coster Shop buildings had been refurbished for other uses.

wink638@aol.com

There was a garden and even a greenhouse at the shops of the D&H in Oneonta, NY. It was a common practice to go for a stroll on a Sunday to admire the gardens and the shops. Also, let's not forget garden work around stations. The gardens in the UK are/were something else as well.

Joshua

> There was a garden and even a greenhouse at
> the shops of the D&H in Oneonta, NY. It
> was a common practice to go for a stroll on
> a Sunday to admire the gardens and the
> shops. Also, let's not forget garden work
> around stations. The gardens in the UK
> are/were something else as well.

> Joshua

The Canadian Pacific Railway roundhouse at Drake Street in Vancouver also had a garden . It featured the usual grass and flower beds and in addition there was a small lighthouse in the centre. This was perhaps a small nod to the employees of CPR"s coastal steamship fleet, although it is not verified. Old timers indicated that flower vases on the dining cars were regularly replenished from the Roundhouse Garden in the spring, summer and early fall. The garden dissappeared sometime in the early 1960s or late 1950s.


gandmferguson@shaw.ca