Roundhouse

Roundhouses were unique circular building used to inspect, clean and repair a steam locomotive at the end of an operating cycle and make it ready for the next trip. At one time there were more than 3,000 roundhouses in North America: today fewer than 200 remain. The first Canadian Pacific roundhouse on this site was built at a lower elevation in 1897. By the 1920s a completely updated facility was required to complement the new Union Station. The John Street roundhouse was built by the Anglin-Norcross Company and opened in October 1929. On the west side of the roundhouse is the machine shop annex used to house power-driven machinery for locomotive repairs., John Street employed the innovative Direct Steaming Process whereby the steam used to move the locomotive was pumped directly into the engines from the Central Heating Plant at the foot of York Street. Since there was no fire raging in the boiler, this reduced pollution and created a more pleasant work environment for employees. Following the retirement of steam locomotives in 1960, the roundhouse was used exclusively for diesels, except in the 1970s when three steam locomotives were restored here for excursion service. The CPR closed the roundhouse in 1986 and it was declared a National Historic Site in 1990. The Toronto Railway Heritage Centre occupies stalls 15, 16 and 17 and the machine shop.