The building was first put into use in June of 1913, and was originally a 10 stall roundhouse. At a later date, an additional 5 stalls were built on the south side, bringing it's total capacity to 15.
This roundhouse was one of two located on the CN main line from Calgary to Saskatoon in Alberta. The other was located in Drumheller.
When the building was abandoned, it was used as a cattle auction mart for a number of years, and some holes were knocked through the main walls for animal access. Later, the building was abandoned once again, and a man from Hanna has been planning to restore the building as a museum.
This shot is taken from the main road going into Hanna, and shows the building from the west. The power house is on the left side of the building. The original building is in white, while the 5 stall extension is on the right.
Here is the 5 stall extension to the building.
This is a multi-shot view of the east side of the roundhouse... showing the turntable; which allowed locomotives to be rotated so they could enter different stall in the building, or be switched to different tracks, and the 15 pairs of doors which allowed locomotives and other equipment access to the roundhouse. The original section is to the right, and the extension is to the left.
Here is a shot of the turntable, along with a flatcar. The turntable allowed locomotives to be transfered to different tracks, or to enter individual service bays in the roundhouse.
Looking at the turntable to the north... you can also see a number of BC Rail cars and Federal Government Grain hopper cars.
This shot shows some details of the turntable pit. The rail is what the turntable rotated on.
These two shots are taken on the north side of the roundhouse.
This is the SE corner of the building, and you can see part of the roof is missing through the large hole in the door.
These three shots are taken in the SE area, and the NW section of the building. It is much cleaner than the first time I saw the inside several years ago.
Hopefully, something will be done, because if this building is lost... another piece of Alberta Rail History will be lost forever.
