Age of Steam starts work on 10-stall addition

The Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum has begun construction on a new 10-stall structure, known as the East Roundhouse, following a year and a half of planning. The addition will support the museum’s expanding collection of vintage steam locomotives and rolling stock and is part of the original site plan created by founder Jerry Jacobson in 2008.

The East Roundhouse, which is being built as a separate structure from the museum’s existing 18-stall roundhouse, will include 10 tracks, an office and a storeroom. It is scheduled to be completed and in full service by 2026.

“When completed next year, the Age of Steam’s new East Roundhouse will increase our current roundhouse track capacity by 56%,” said Tim Sposato, chief mechanical officer at the museum.

Unlike the original timber-framed roundhouse, the new structure will feature a steel-framed interior, similar to roundhouses built during the 1930s and 1940s. While the back wall will incorporate composite materials with smaller windows to create an older appearance, the building also will include brick end walls, an old-style monitor roof with cupola, and electrically operated roll-type front doors, evoking the updated roundhouse designs of a century ago.

Each of the 10 new stalls will contain a 112-foot interior track, matching the length of those in the current roundhouse. The floors also will include a heating system, with hot water pumped through a web of tubing embedded in 14-inch-thick concrete, preserving both the rolling stock and the working environment.

Though the East Roundhouse will not be open to the public, it will serve as vital support infrastructure for rotating locomotives and railcars in and out of public display, offering visitors varied experiences on future tours.

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