Today the Union Pacific demolished the former Omaha roundhouse and turntable in Mankato MN. Both were in very poor condition and were no longer in use, but it is sad to see them go as they were the last vintage RR buildings in Mankato. Mankato is located on the former Omaha/CNW between Minneapolis/St Paul MN and Sioux City IA. Unfortunately I did not get any photos.
It was such an ordinary thing for us when we were kids, I never really appreciated it. I recall as a kid my dad let us in to see them service a diesel, would have been the late 1980s some time. Now it’s been gone only a couple days and I miss it already. Something is definitely missing when you drive by on the 169 overpass. If anyone has any photos of these or other Mankato buildings I’d love to see them.
I just got back from White River Jct, VT. When I first went there about 10 years ago, my girlfriend and I were cruising around and came upon a street called Roundhouse Road. We turned down the street and at the bottom of the hill sat the former Central Vermont White River Jct yard, complete with beautiful roundhouse and turntable, although the building was in non-railroad use and the turntable out of service. On subsequent visits we would always pay the yard a visit.
The roundhouse burned (last year? 2 years ago?) and we paid our first visit to the site since the fire. While the turntable is still there unchanged, only a couple charred walls and some completely burned out automobiles remain at the site. The roundhouse had been used as a tire company and when the tires went up that was the end of it. It was indeed sad to see. Fortunately, I learned a long time ago, when you see something for the first time, take a picture. It may not be there tomorrow.