I have shown a lot of people around the Roundhouse over the last few years, some general visitors, some who have a Railroad connection and some with specific reference to the Turntable rebuild.
We think it was a single pour, I would wage a reasonable sum the the original construction is still there, covered now in concrete.
The timber baulks were set in the wet concrete and then adjusted for height and the ring rail attached. Hardly any of the original wood is left and the concrete has degraded. In some places large rocks were used as filler, presumably because they were short on concrete. The timber baulks varied in size.
All the timber around the pit has gone, a long time ago, 8x12's so not cheap to replace. Looks like once they were in place concrete was placed to hold them.
The bridge, well there is nothing on it to know where it came from, not of the replacement type where we have photos but it is the right length.It could be the one that was pulled out in 1908 but nobody knows.
Soil tests were carried out and I have never seen a sign of drainage issues. We think we know where the drain was, but there is no sign of a significant outfall so it seems that the limited moisture mainly drained into the sub surface.
The pit fills up with snow in the winter as the Roundhouse is not there to stop the snow being blown in, nor the tall fence that replaced it. There are signs of a steam ring that would have been used to de ice the pit using steam from the stationary boiler.
Leighton has mentioned that when the bridge was bolted back together it was done wider that the original railroad bridge. We are not certain what the original bearing was, the bearing stone has a number of attachment points, presumably the replacement used different fittings so it was not a case of taking the old one off and bolting the new one on.
The presumption is that the bearing was narrow and attached near the top, the parts we have are wider and would be much lower.
All I know for certain is that making it work again will not be simple, quick or cheap. For example you can not easily replace the timber baulks as they were set and adjusted with wet concrete. Going to be very labour intensive.
George dug out all the debris that had blown in over the decades last summer, used a shovel and wheelbarrow, really no other way to do it, took him a week.Not sure I know anybody else who would have done that. It was a lot of material.
So a large project and we have a limited season, but with the resources it can be done.
