Thought you’d find this interesting. From “History of Coles County, 1879”. Concerning the Big Four Shops.
From a statement of the Master Mechanic regarding their capacity and operations, the following items are taken:
The machine shops are 110x204 feet, with eight repair pits. The power-room, 40x50 feet, adjoins this building. The store room is also adjoining, and is 40x60 feet in size. The car shops are 85x204 feet in size, with six repair tracks, and, with the machine shop, get their power from an 80-horse power engine. The blacksmith shop is 50x150 feet, has sixteen fires and is furnished with one 1,500-pound steam hammer. The boiler shop is 50x80 feet, and has three repair tracks. The paint shop is 44x228 feet, and has two repair tracks. There are 21 stalls in the roundhouse. It is furnished with one of Greenleaf’s Machine Works turntables. The transfer table is 27x180 feet, and connects with the tracks leading into the different shops. The tank and oil room is 40x60 feet, has four water-tubs, with the capacity of 60,000 gallons each, filled from a reservoir one-half mile south of the works. The buildings are all of brick, with slate roofs, save the paint shop, which is frame.
All are heated by steam save the paint and blacksmith shops. The shops in their arrangement ar unsurpassed in the West, and turn out nothing but the best work. Over two-hundred men are employed here, in addition to nearly one-half that number employed in the repair shops in Terre Haute and East St. Louis. The monthly payroll at Mattoon is about $23,000, the material used each month costing about one-half that sum. The money distributed at these shops is in measure nearly all spent in the city.
A picture of the roundhouse can be found here:
http://home.mchsi.com/~rankin/big4.html
Please read the entire site. We are trying to save the Depot in Mattoon which is to be torn down.
From a statement of the Master Mechanic regarding their capacity and operations, the following items are taken:
The machine shops are 110x204 feet, with eight repair pits. The power-room, 40x50 feet, adjoins this building. The store room is also adjoining, and is 40x60 feet in size. The car shops are 85x204 feet in size, with six repair tracks, and, with the machine shop, get their power from an 80-horse power engine. The blacksmith shop is 50x150 feet, has sixteen fires and is furnished with one 1,500-pound steam hammer. The boiler shop is 50x80 feet, and has three repair tracks. The paint shop is 44x228 feet, and has two repair tracks. There are 21 stalls in the roundhouse. It is furnished with one of Greenleaf’s Machine Works turntables. The transfer table is 27x180 feet, and connects with the tracks leading into the different shops. The tank and oil room is 40x60 feet, has four water-tubs, with the capacity of 60,000 gallons each, filled from a reservoir one-half mile south of the works. The buildings are all of brick, with slate roofs, save the paint shop, which is frame.
All are heated by steam save the paint and blacksmith shops. The shops in their arrangement ar unsurpassed in the West, and turn out nothing but the best work. Over two-hundred men are employed here, in addition to nearly one-half that number employed in the repair shops in Terre Haute and East St. Louis. The monthly payroll at Mattoon is about $23,000, the material used each month costing about one-half that sum. The money distributed at these shops is in measure nearly all spent in the city.
A picture of the roundhouse can be found here:
http://home.mchsi.com/~rankin/big4.html
Please read the entire site. We are trying to save the Depot in Mattoon which is to be torn down.
