The Conglomerate Lode

Mining emotion through photography and expression.

“The great thing about art is that it lets you see what the world feels like to someone else.”

Author unknown

Once upon a time in the west

Once upon a time in the west, not the movie, a railroad plied the pacific northwest setting up a roundhouse and machine shop in Eugene, Oregon. Well the round house is gone do to environmental concerns but the machine shop still stands.

All pictures taken by jim pykonen
Buildings on the property here was laid out in 1927 at the height of steam locomotion and an intricate part of the roundhouse was the turntable pictured. The table allowed the movement of engines into and out of the roundhouse for repairs and to other portions of the rail yard. I was pleasantly surprised to see the turntable intact and in good condition not having used in over 20 years.
This junction box is located a few yards behind the turntable, no idea what it was used for.
Having never experiencing the grounds around a roudhouse I was confused as to what the purpose of this structure well, a little research and I had the answer. As steam power diminished and diesel rose, coal no longer a source of power this tower filled the tank with diesel fuel.
On one end of the turntable is the operator shed I imagine was occupied throughout the day.
This pile of rail ties represents just a small portion of those torn up when most of the rails were removed when the roundhouse shut down and the area converted to a yard of storage of empty freight cars and engines awaiting assignment.
And now for something completely different, this is one of many drying sheds located in western Eugene, Oregon. Eugene was once home to many a sawmill but changing times reduced most properties.

jimberly

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