Lehighton_Man wrote:Hey Guys,
Just recently, on the LVRRHS 2007 santa train runs, i was able to have a small discussion with Ken May, and Craig(dont quite know his last name) about a certain LV related structure in Manchester.
Yes, thats right, the Roundhouse.
*snip*
Thanks,
Sean
Lehigh Valley Railroad Historical Society
Sean,
about an hour ago I started to type a reply to your note..
I started to say my usual "forget it, impossible, the building is too far gone, its a lost-cause" etc etc..
but then I stopped..deleted the message, went out to shovel the driveway and thought about it some more..
If everyone always said "forget it, impossible, the building is too far gone, its a lost-cause" etc etc we wouldnt have any railroad museums anywhere in the world!
yes, its a longshot..but anything is possible!
I still think its highly unlikely anything could be done with the roundhouse..but why write it off without really exploring the possibility?
The time to plan is while the building still stands..
Every railroad historical society that wants to form a railroad museum to display or operate historic locomotives has one major obstacle to overcome first..and that obstacle is LAND! a location..you need the space..preferably a historic railroad location.
Manchester fits the bill..especially for a LV museum!
Its on the LV mainline, a historic actual LV roundhouse still exists..in terrible shape yes, but its there.
As for "middle of nowhere" I disagree..
the location is actually quite good!
a few easy miles direct from a Thruway exit, between Rochester & Syracuse..and lots of people travel the Thruway going from the North East to the Mid West..tons of tourist traffic travels on the Thruway.
IMO its a better location than the existing Rush/Industry museum or Wellsboro, PA..and those societies do fine..
(well...maybe not Wellsboro at the moment! but you get the point)
So IMO Location in the state = good.
site itself = good
existing historic structures = good.
relevance to LVRR = very good.
drawbacks:
roundhouse is a derelict..very bad condition.
site cleanup.
would require tons of money..
but so does every other museum!
somehow many museums manage to find the money.
its not easy, but it happens.
As for site cleanup..if Steamtown did it, (which they clearly did)
then Manchester can be cleaned up too!
I dont think the DL&W from 1880-1960 was any more environmentally responsible than the LV!
Scranton was probably actually worse than Manchester..
much bigger shop facility.
As for the building..IMO the roof is a lost-cause.
not worth sinking any money into it..
This is an idea I just came up with while shoveling the driveway..picture this:
The existing West wall of the roundhouse:
Is in fairly decent shape, and its the original "end" of the roundhouse.
The existing east wall:
is in far worse shape, and its not even the original wall..
part of the east side of the roundhouse was removed, and the existing east-end is not the original end of the roundhouse ..its basically just a patch job.
Gut and demolish the entire structure except for the existing west wall, 5 stalls of the round back wall, and 5 stalls/doors of the front wall.
now you have one side, 5 front stalls, 5 stalls of back wall, and no roof.
just three standing walls.
Build a new replica east wall, and build an entire new roof from scratch.
IMO building a new roof would probably be cheaper, and result in a better quality roof, than trying to renovate the existing roof.
The result is a solid 5-stall roundhouse, with a solid roof and 75% of the walls being original to the structure.
LV Diesels will still be available in the coming years..
CP wont run the GP38-2's forever..could get one of those.
A few U-boats are still out there.
and A&M still has the C420's..
and Manchester is still on live-rail..locomotives could be moved by rail directly to the museum.
Imagine 3 stalls inside the roundhouse containing a repainted LV GP38-2, U23B and Alco C420..all in Cornell Red.
Under a roof, under lock & key, very well protected.
the remaining open 2 stall area inside the roundhouse becomes the new LVRHS museum! displays, open meeting space in the presence of full-size locomotives, lots of wall space for photos/maps/charts.
During open days the 3 front stall doors can be opened to display the locomotives..the other two stall doors leading to the museum space perhaps sealed up and non-opening.
The remaining outdoor space at the former eastern end of the roundhouse is now available for outdoor static displays..more locomotives, caboose, freight or passenger cars..whatever..
all can have radial tracks off of the turntable.
Yep..its a big dream!
but if no one dreams, nothing will ever happen.
IMO my 5-stall restoration idea is much more practical and obtainable than trying to renovate the entire roundhouse as it stands right now.
The roof alone would be just too unrealistic.
keep what is savable and usable (some of the walls) and gut the rest..
thanks,
Scot