Roundhouse Point

Roundhouse Point. Once Housed Locomotives. , This recreation area was once the site of Fort Peck's railroad roundhouse., More than 60 miles of track was laid to carry supplies and materials to Fort Peck Dam's various construction sites. Fort Peck needed a place to perform the maintenance required to keep its locomotives in good running condition., The locomotive engine house, often called a roundhouse, was located here. When the roundhouse was in operation, it was not isolated on the strip of land you see today. Dredging operations cut the area around it, creating a peninsula in the Missouri River., Field boulders and quarry stone were hauled by train from Snake Butte Quarry 130 miles away to cover the upstream face of the dam. A 12-mile spur was built from the Great Northern Railroad line near Harlem, Montana, to the quarry., U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. , Notice how far from shore Roundhouse Point was before the area was dredged to make fill for the dam. May 1934., U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. , The peninsula you are standing on was created when dredges dug around the existing railroad station. Roundhouse Point, shown here in 1938, after most of the dredging had been completed., U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. , The locomotive engine house, fuel oil storage tanks, and refueling tanks in the railroad yard, August 1934., U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. , The last trainload of rock left Snake Butte for Fort Peck Dam, August 15, 1939.