The Age of Steam Roundhouse Museum,

Sugarcreek, Ohio Sugarcreek is a village in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. It includes the community formerly known as Shanesville. The population was 2,220 at the 2010 census. It is known as "The Little Switzerland of Ohio." In the center of town stands one of the ...

, United States, is a museum roundhouse housing steam and diesel locomotives, passenger cars and other railroad equipment.

History

The roundhouse was built by Jerry Joe Jacobson, former CEO of the

Ohio Central Railroad System The Ohio Central Railroad System is a network of ten short line railroads operating in Ohio and western Pennsylvania. It is owned by Genesee & Wyoming Headquartered in Coshocton, Ohio, the system operates of track divided among 10 subsidiary r ...

(OCRS). In October 2008, Jacobson sold his interest in OCRS to

Genesee & Wyoming Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W) is an American short line railroad holding company, that owns or maintains an interest in 122 railroads in the United States, Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, United Kingdom and formerly Australia. It operates ...

, including the track, modern equipment, and most of the workshops and depots. Jacobson kept a collection of vintage steam and diesel locomotives, other old equipment, and a depot at

. He bought 34 acres in Sugarcreek and began constructing a roundhouse to house his collection. The roundhouse building was completed in 2011 and all of the steam locomotives, along with a few other select pieces of rolling stock in Jacobson's collection, were moved inside the roundhouse that same year. It was the "first large roundhouse built in the United States since 1951," with the previous building being

Nickel Plate Road The New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad , abbreviated NYC&St.L, was a railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. Commonly referred to as the "Nickel Plate Road", the railroad served parts of the states of New York (state), Ne ...

's roundhouse in its Calumet Yard. As of 2012, the Age of Steam Roundhouse's website outlines its goals as: :* Preserve the steam locomotives, historic diesels, passenger cars, and other railroad relics in the collection of Jerry Joe Jacobson. :* Build a full-scale, operating, and realistic roundhouse and back shop to overhaul, repair, and maintain Jerry’s rolling stock. :* Operate the steam locomotives on freight trains. :* Display railroad heritage for future generations. The project was paid for by Jacobson and his wife, Laura. They set up an endowment to support the museum. Architect F. A. Goodman says the building is 48,000 square feet and of "solid masonry walls" and "heavy timber framing". It has 18 stalls, each of which is large enough for a locomotive and its tender. The Goodman company says the roundhouse is one of the largest heavy timber structures in America.

Steam locomotives

Diesel locomotives

Train cars at the Age of Steam Roundhouse April 2022 3

ALCO The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969. The company was formed by the merger of seven smaller locomo ...

EMD

Fairbanks-Morse Fairbanks, Morse and Company was an American manufacturing company in the late 19th and early 20th century. Originally a weighing scale manufacturer, it later diversified into pumps, engines, windmills, coffee grinders, radios, farm tractors, fee ...

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

References

External links

Official website
{{coord, 40, 28, 44.44, N, 81, 39, 58.88, W, scale:10000_region:US, display=title Buildings and structures in Tuscarawas County, Ohio Heritage railroads in Ohio Rail transportation preservation in the United States Railroad roundhouses in Ohio