ROUNDHOUSES ON THE EAST SIDE

LOCATION OF PROVIDENCE & WORCESTER AND BOSTON & PROVIDENCE ENGINEHOUSES

The following 1875 map shows the semi-circular P&W roundhouse and the adjoining square B&P enginehouse. The B&P entered the Union Station over the route built by the P&W and used it under a joint ownership arrangement which is reflected in the close proximity of the enginehouses. The facilities stood about where the new Amtrak station stands. They were located at the foot of the hill on which the Rhode Island state house was constructed starting in 1895. The maps below show the original location of the P&W and B&P facilities but I do not know if the enginehouses shown in the maps or photographs were the originals constructed when the railroads built the Union Station on the Cove in 1847-48. A map of Providence in 1856 suggests they are the originals although I have seen photographs that show unidentified buildings that could be fully enclosed roundhouses dating to an earlier time.

The Providence & Worcester Gaspee Street Roundhouse on the Providence Cove c.1870

1882 Map of the Gaspee Street Facilities on the Providence Cove

Boston & Providence 46 "J. H. Wolcott" on the Gaspee Street Turntable. The B&P Enginehouse is on the right

and the Providence & Worcester Roundhouse is on the left.

"Wolcott" was built by the Rhode Island Locomotive Works in 1879 and was retired as New Haven class D-3a number 1872

VIEW FROM THE BOSTON & PROVIDENCE ENGINEHOUSE - 1887

B&P 50 "Isaiah Hoyt" was built by Rhode Island in 1882 and retired in 1919 as NYNH&H D-11 1917.

Engineer Bill Taylor and Fireman G.C.Dustin. Notice the shed in this and the above photograph. See maps above.

The P&W's Gaspee Street Roundhouse (left) and shops as seen from the foot of the hill on which the Rhode Island state capital building would be built. To the extreme right is City Hall and in the right center are the towers of the first Union Station located on the Providence Cove which will soon be filled-in to provide space for the new Union Station and team yards

Providence & Worcester 16 "Harvey Chace" is at the Gaspee Street Roundhouse about two years before the facility will be closed. The adjoining B&P enginehouse can be seen on the right; it was a smaller structure than the P&W roundhouse because the major B&P facilities were in the Boston area.

"Chace" was built by the Rhode Island Locomotive Works in 1886 and was retired in 1917 as New Haven class D-8 1850