THE CRESTLINE ROUNDHOUSE PRESERVATION SOCIETY

The Crestline PRR Engine House

When the tracks were first laid through here, the PFtW&C RR built their first roundhouse and shops across Thoman Street from the "Big Four" crossing. These facilities included a full circle brick roundhouse with a 75' turntable (originally 60'), car shops, tin shop, boiler shop, machine and blacksmith shop, and yards. By the time of the First World War, the Crestline facilities were about twenty years behind the rest of the Pennsylvania RR's other major facilities. This is was especially true of most of the Lines West facilities.

With the huge up turn in traffic, the Crestline facilities were hard pressed to keep up with the demands. By this time, the railroad was also acquiring larger locomotives, in particular, the N-1s (2-10-2) and the L-1 (2-8-2). These engines were too long to negotiate the approach to the roundhouse, so the curves had to be broadened. At the same time these alterations were being made, the PRR designed a completely new engine terminal, with the approval of the United States Railroad Administration.

The Pennsylvania RR contracted the Austin Company of Cleveland, Ohio to undertake the complete construction of the new facilities. Construction began in 1918. The new facilities included a 30 stall roundhouse with a100' turntable and an over head traveling crane that had a 15 ton capacity, powerhouse, fan house, ash pits with gantry crane, inspection pits, 700 ton coal dock, 1200 ton sand storage facility, oil house, machine shop, office and service building, two 50,000 gallon water tanks, enlargement of the yards (which included westward and eastward receiving and classification yards, with a west bound hump), and other items necessary to support the operations. In 1918 dollars, the PRR's estimate was $1,450,000 while the Austin Co. estimated $1,250,000. Due to cost overruns, delays and additions, the final amount was $2,651,825, nearly twice the original estimate! The new facilities were completed and opened in 1920.

As a Division Point facility, between the Eastern and Ft. Wayne Divisions (mile post 189 from Pittsburgh), this was an important and busy terminal. According to standard PRR practice, all engines that came through Crestline were shopped at the roundhouse. Engines were assigned to a particular division, so those from the Eastern Division and the Ft. Wayne Division received class 3, 4, or 5 repairs before making the return trip. Engines requiring class 1 or 2 repairs were sent to Columbus, Canton or Altoona.

The roundhouse has often been referred to as a "USRA design", but it is actually a true PRR design. I have documentation from both the PRR and the Austin Co. that clearly gives the PRR the design credit. It is known as a "PRR Co. Western Lines, Type A Engine House", according to the original blueprints. There were several other locations on the PRR where this design was also used. The roundhouse in Crestline is the ONLY extant roundhouse of this design in the U. S.

The Crestline roundhouse was unique and important to the PRR. Since the roundhouse contained an overhead traveling crane, the normal smoke hoods could not be used, as they would be in the line of travel for the crane. To exhaust the engine's smoke, an unusual design was employed. Located between every other stall was a smoke jack that had arms that could be placed over the engine's stack. Large fans in the fan house (located between the roundhouse and the powerhouse on the east side) would take the smoke from the engine, and through underground conduits, take the smoke to the fan house where it would then be discharged via the 150' tall smoke stack. This same smoke stack also expelled the smoke from the powerhouse boilers, of which there were three. In the late 1940s, or early 1950s, the stack had a 10' extension added to it.

Due to the geographic location of Crestline, it was the home terminal for many of the large duplexes and experimental steam engines of the 1930's-40's. To the east, you run into the Appalachian Mountains, while to the west, there was the "Ft. Wayne Racetrack", where the terrain is fairly flat and straight. Not only was the location the reason for stabling these engines here, it was also because of the top quality of the mechanics. These engines were the S-1 (6-4-4-6, the only one of its class) high-speed passenger duplex, the T-1 (4-4-4-4) high-speed passenger duplex, the Q-2 (4-4-6-4) heavy freight duplex, and the S-2 (6-8-6, the only one of its class) high-speed passenger steam turbine engine. Also during this time, the turntable was lengthened to 110' to accommodate all these huge engines except the S-1, which was over 146' long. This engine was turned on a "wye", located just west of the roundhouse. Crestline became the graveyard for many of the T-1s and Q2s, and later, in the 1960s, many of the Baldwin "Sharks" died here also.

After WWII, Crestline continued to be an important repair facility for the new diesels. A war surplus Quonset building was erected just south of the roundhouse for diesel repair. Virtually all repairs to the diesels would be done here. When heavy diesel repairs were done, the diesels were taken into the roundhouse to utilize the overhead crane or the drop pit. Stall #30 was lengthened as a diesel parts warehouse, adding onto the extension built in the early 1940s to house the S-1.

By the 1960's, the PRR had built a new facility near Pittsburgh, the Conway facility. As a cost reduction decision, the operations at Crestline were scaled back, transferring the work and employees to Conway, until the roundhouse was finally closed at the time of the formation of the Penn Central in 1968. Penn Central sold the roundhouse to a local dog food company. The roundhouse has seen several private owners since then, including one man who was a scrap dealer. During his ownership, the roundhouse was gutted of all removable metal items, including the turntable, overhead crane, powerhouse boilers, machinery in the machine shop, and even a few leftover pieces of rolling stock.

Before the roundhouse was closed, and up to the present, it has seen little or no maintenance. As the years ticked by, the condition of the brickwork has suffered greatly. The smoke stack was torn down over a seven-day period ending Oct. 12, 1982. This was done on the order of the Crawford Co. Health Department and the State Fire Marshal for safety reasons.

Today, the roundhouse sits by itself as the sole reminder that this was once the lifeblood of Crestline, and a bustling PRR servicing facility. The outer masonry continues to deteriorate, and portions of the walls have fallen to the ground. However, the steel framework is still mostly in good condition, but it is threatened as time passes.

I have often thought that the Crestline roundhouse is the "forgotten" PRR roundhouse. But fortunately, there are some people who have not forgotten. On April 23, 2002, a small, yet dedicated group of people, gathered in Crestline to form the Crestline Roundhouse Preservation Society. These people are enthusiastic about saving and preserving the Crestline roundhouse. The C.R.P.S. is quite fortunate to have a sympathetic and interested owner (who purchased it to house his business and fix up part the warehouse as his living quarters), and the support of the City of Crestline. Earlier this year, the City released a "Feasibility Study" that they commissioned, looking at the entire property on which the roundhouse sits, and the surrounding acreage.

The C.R.P.S. has elected officers and a Board of Directors, and has adopted a Mission Statement and By-Laws. They are currently exploring incorporation with the State of Ohio and will be applying to the IRS for tax-exempt status under IRS 501(c)(3). The ultimate goal is restore the roundhouse and establish a museum. This is several years down the road and many dollars away. To this end, they are exploring the availability of grant monies and other avenues of aid. As I write this, the only work that has been done there recently has been the cleaning up of debris, and mowing around the roundhouse in the fall of 2001.

Many questions have to be answered, and many volunteer hours will be needed to reach this goal. If you would like to help with this monumental task, or simply help by becoming a member, you are most welcome to join the Crestline Roundhouse Preservation Society. Please contact Matt Link for membership information, and what you can do to help. The success of the preservation effort will depend largely on the involvement of the members and volunteers.

If you would like to learn more about the Crestline engine facilities, please visit http://crestline.pennsyrr.com. Here you will find more of its history and lots of photos from the past and present, including some construction photos. Most of the photos on this site have never been previously published. Please bookmark this site, as there are up-dates and new material added from time to time.