Evanston Roundhouse

The Evanston Roundhouse is more than a collection of brick and mortar; it is a cathedral of the industrial age, a monument to the brute force of steam, and the very reason the city of Evanston, Wyoming, exists today. To understand the Roundhouse is to understand the soul of the Union Pacific Railroad and the grit of the people who tamed the high desert of the Mountain West.

The Birth of a Railroad Hub (1868–1911)

In the late 1860s, the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) was racing westward to meet the Central Pacific in a bid to complete the First Transcontinental Railroad. As the tracks pushed into the southwestern corner of the Wyoming Territory, the geography presented a formidable challenge. To the west lay the rugged Wasatch Mountains; to the east, the vast, wind-swept plains.

Evanston was established in 1868 as a tent city before the tracks even arrived. Once the rails were laid, it became clear that this location was a strategic necessity. Trains heading west needed extra power to push over the steep grades of the Wasatch Range, and those coming east needed maintenance after the grueling climb. By 1871, the UP had established a machine shop and a wood-framed roundhouse.

However, the early 20th century brought a revolution in locomotive size and power. The original wooden facilities were no longer adequate for the massive steam engines that were becoming the standard. In 1912, the Union Pacific decided to transform Evanston into a primary division point, beginning construction on the massive brick complex that stands today.

Architecture of a Giant: The 1912 Powerhouse

The current Evanston Roundhouse was completed between 1912 and 1914. It was designed to be a state-of-the-art "hospital" for steam locomotives. The facility was built in a semi-circular fashion, eventually encompassing 28 stalls.

The Turntable: The Center of the Universe

At the heart of the complex sat the 80-foot turntable (later expanded to 100 feet to accommodate larger engines). This massive rotating bridge allowed workers to point a locomotive toward any of the 28 service bays or turn an engine 180 degrees to head back out onto the main line.

The Machine Shops

Connected to the Roundhouse were the Machine Shop, the Woodworking Shop, and the Powerhouse. These weren't just repair bays; they were manufacturing centers. If a part broke on a locomotive in the middle of Wyoming, the men in Evanston didn't order a replacement from back East—they forged, cast, and machined it right there. The smell of the facility was a permanent cocktail of coal smoke, hot grease, ozone from the welding torches, and the sharp tang of cooling iron.

The Human Element: A Melting Pot of Labor

The history of the Roundhouse is inextricably linked to the diverse workforce that kept the gears turning. Evanston was a true melting pot, perhaps most notably for its significant Chinese community.

The Anecdote of the Joss House

One of the most poignant stories of the Evanston yards involves the Chinese laborers who lived in "Chinatown" just north of the tracks. They were essential to the railroad’s maintenance and operation. They built a Joss House (a traditional Chinese temple) near the Roundhouse, which became a cultural anchor.

There is a local legend of a shop foreman in the 1920s who was notoriously gruff but fiercely protective of his "Roundhouse gang." When tensions rose between local residents and the immigrant workers, he reportedly stood at the edge of the yards and informed the crowd that if they wanted the trains to move, they’d better leave his mechanics alone. This mutual respect, forged in the heat of the forge, defined the social fabric of the town.

Life in the "Pits"

Working in the Roundhouse was incredibly dangerous. Men worked in "pits" (concrete trenches beneath the locomotives) allowing them to work on the undercarriage. Imagine standing beneath a machine weighing hundreds of tons, dripping with scalding water and oil, while hammers rang out around you in a deafening cacophony. It was a place where a man’s worth was measured by his ability to read the "language of steam."

The Peak and the Transition (1940s–1950s)

The Roundhouse saw its busiest years during World War II. As the Transcontinental Railroad became the primary artery for moving troops and supplies to the Pacific Theater, Evanston worked 24/7. The "Big Boys" - the largest steam locomotives ever built frequently rolled through or near the facility.

However, the very technology that made the Roundhouse a marvel eventually led to its decline. By the late 1940s, the Union Pacific began transitioning from steam to diesel-electric locomotives.

  • Steam engines were temperamental divas. They required constant water, coal, and intensive mechanical tinkering. The railroad needed a roundhouse every few hundred miles.
  • Diesel engines were workhorses. They could run thousands of miles with minimal maintenance and didn't need to be turned on a turntable to reverse direction.

By 1952, the fires in the Evanston steam shops began to cool. The UP moved much of its maintenance operations to larger hubs like Salt Lake City or Cheyenne. The Roundhouse was largely shuttered as a locomotive facility in 1971, though parts of the yard remained in use for freight car repair until the mid-1980s.


From Rust to Restoration: The Modern Era

For nearly two decades, the Roundhouse sat as a "silent city." Windows were broken, pigeons nested in the rafters, and the once-vibrant brick grew dark with soot and neglect. To many, it was an eyesore; to others, it was a ghost of a golden age.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the City of Evanston made a bold move: they took ownership of the complex. Instead of tearing it down, they saw the potential for a world-class community space.

The Restoration

The restoration was a Herculean task. Tons of contaminated soil (the result of a century of oil spills) had to be removed. The massive leaded-glass windows were painstakingly replaced. Today, the Roundhouse serves as a stunning event center and municipal office complex. It is one of the only remaining complete roundhouse complexes in the United States, earning it a spot on the National Register of Historic Places.

The turntable still works today. During local festivals, you can see it rotate - a silent, smooth revolution of several hundred tons of steel, a reminder of the days when Evanston was the mechanical heart of the American West.


Interesting Tidbits & Folklore

  • The "Bear River" Mystery: Workers often claimed the ground beneath the Roundhouse was haunted by the "spirit of the rails." In reality, the vibration of passing freight trains on the main line often caused tools to dance on workbenches, leading to ghost stories among the night-shift apprentices.
     
  • Economic Anchor: At its peak, the Union Pacific employed nearly half the adult population of Evanston. “If the railroad caught a cold, the town got pneumonia,” was the local saying.
     
  • The Chief Washakie Connection: Chief Washakie of the Shoshone tribe was known to frequent the Evanston area and had a complex relationship with the railroad. He recognized that the "Iron Horse" changed the world forever, and he often interacted with railroad officials near the yards.

Bibliography

  • Athearn, Robert G. Union Pacific Country. University of Nebraska Press, 1971. (Focuses on the economic expansion of the UP through Wyoming).
     
  • Klein, Maury. Union Pacific: Volume II, 1894-1969. University of Minnesota Press, 2006. (Detailed technical history of the transition from steam to diesel).
     
  • Stone, Elizabeth Arnold. Uinta County, Its Place in History. Laramie Printing Co., 1924. (Provides the "on-the-ground" local history of Evanston's founding and the early wood roundhouse).
     
  • National Register of Historic Places. Nomination Form: Evanston Union Pacific Railroad Complex. U.S. Department of the Interior, 1985.
     
  • Uinta County Museum Archives. Oral Histories of Railroad Workers 1920-1950. (Secondary source references for the "Life in the Pits" anecdotes).