LV Manchester roundhouse

FYI, Scot, there are 2 more stalls, than would be in a 180 degree roundhouse! 28 stalls, would be a half circle in that roundhouse. Sure would make a great location, for a museum, or restoration group, with all that real estate available.........

GA, in addition to the various structural and environmental woes listed on other threads, there really is not much real estate left any more. the RIG factory next door recently announced they will double their size (not a rail user), and the reconfiguration of the ONCT yard area will take a bit more. Unless the right person gets really lucky in the Powerball, it will be the wrecking ball instead.

I'm not sure if it's the same factory, up in the old yard, but if they need a car ONCT has in the past been known to spot it for them right on the mainline -

The customer which occasionally loads from the ONCT main at Manchester is A&K Railroad Materials Inc. It's ironic that a dealer in rail, ties and other track material does not have their own siding, but the present arrangement has worked fine for about as long as ONCT has been there.

About 15 years ago there was a brief attempt at transloading a bit farther west, at the concrete firm. The outside customer hired the cement folks to use their cranes to unload gons and place the material on trucks. Things did not work out and after a while it was discontinued.

Rochester Insulated Glass (not a rail customer at present) is expanding their plant at Manchester. The new addition is to the west of their parking lot and the forest has been cleared from the old LV transfer platforms. They are huge concrete docks but are slowly but surely being hammered apart. Anothe piece of the old LV will soon be history.

Very sad to read about the final demise of the LCL facility at Manchester.

What is the present status of the roundhouse and engine service office building? Read some time ago that they, too, were scheduled for demolition.

There has not been any demolition "scheduled" on the roundhouse, but once the various environmental issues have been dealt with it's extremely likely that's what's in store. I have not heard any specific timeline for the red tape to be finished.

Has anyone ever heard why exactly the LV kept the Manchester Roundhouse straight through 1976?
did they keep engines in it? I have never seen any pics of diesels peeking out of the stalls..
I cant see any reason why the LV would have kept the building..

the Sayre roundhouse was torn down about 5 minutes after the last LV steamer went cold!

We know the Manchester roundhouse was used *after* the LV..late 70's and into the 80's as some kind of warehouse, rails removed and a new concrete floor was poured.

but what was the purpose of the roundhouse from 1950-1976?

thanks,
Scot

As far as I know, the Manchester roundhouse was indeed used for diesel inspections and servicing through March 31, 1976.

-otto-

Otto Vondrak wrote:As far as I know, the Manchester roundhouse was indeed used for diesel inspections and servicing through March 31, 1976.

-otto-

thanks Otto,
yeah, I guess thats the only obvious reason they would have kept it..
I never knew anything like that was done in Manchester?
I assumed all loco servicing would be done in Sayre only..
interesting..

Scot

I'm only assuming, since I've seen photos of LV (and PRR) diesels congregating around the engine service area, under the former coal tower, etc etc. I'm sure BR&P and others can fill us in, but Manchester was the next largest operations center after Sayre and before Tifft Street, so I'm only assuming that some functions of engine service and repair took place in the roundhouse after the end of steam. Otherwise, why keep it standing?

[split from LV Boxcars thread -omv]

The Manchester engine service area and roundhouse remained very active up until the yard was closed as a classification point in August, 1969. I believe that there were at least two and possibly more switch jobs on until that time. This power was serviced at Manchester as well as the power from trains that were being classified in the yard. If recall is anywhere near accurate, there were at least two stalls in the roundhouse used regularly up until 08-69. After that the MR-1 and RM-2 local power was serviced at Manchester until 31 March 1976 as was, on occasion, the power off the Geneva local. The last electrician working at Manchester was a man by the name of Garret Smith. Mr. Smith would park his Hudson (Hornet, I think) in one of the roundhouse stalls when he was working.

From what i know, i believe that the roundhouse'es size actaully shrunk, as the latest map, from 74' i think, only showed 4 tracks going into the roundhouse, as those being the last tracks.
It might've been an inspection area, not too sure. But i can look into it.
(i am a member of the LVRRHS)
Hell,
the naples branch backs my property!!

At least one of the last active roundhouse stalls at Manchester had a pit, so inspections of traction motor brushes and other items were possible.