Historical Marker The grounds were formerly
a maze of train tracks. They have all been removed.
Date taken - October 2009. Photo by Charles B.
Close-up of an interesting part of the structure.
CharlesB writes additionally; "It is an established fact
that President James Monroe spent a day in Rouses Point and saw the location as
strategic to U.S. border defense. He suggested that a large brick and mortar
fort be built there - the future Fort Montgomery.
Kabs
writes: "The roundhouse wasn't built for hosing anything down. In fact, most
railroads, the D&H included, didn't bother to wash their steam locomotives.
Every so often, maybe they'd go over them with a mop soaked in kerosene to make
them shine, but that's about it. Roundhouses were built in the steam era as a
way to store and maintain the locomotives, as well as repair and prepare them
for their next trips. Other buildings on the site would be a coach shop, which
was used to repair passenger stock, a coaling tower which was used for fuel,
water tower for water, and in some cases a freight house where less than carload
items were sorted and shipped out."
Russ N. writes: "And the reason that so many roundhouses are now abandoned is
that diesel engines need much much less repair than do steam engines. When the
steam engines went away, so did the roundhouses. I have some photos of the
roundhouse in Watertown:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/russnelson/sets/72157608138338285/ There's also
a ton of information on roundhouses in New York State:
https://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=128&t=68802&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=150