Old Roundhouse - Plainville, MA
Posted by: 
NorStar
N 42° 00.109 W 071° 20.437
19T E 306155 N 4652628
This roundhouse, originally built by the Old Colony Railroad, now owned privately, was originally used for that purpose from 1892 to 1938.
Waymark Code: WMEKTE
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 06/10/2012
Views: 5
In Plainville, along West Bacon Street, there is a sign on the south side of the road is a green sign, which states that there is a roundhouse at this location. The roundhouse is visible through the trees behind.
The sign - missing some letters - states the following:
"Old Roundhouse
The roundhouse was used to store locomotives from February 1892 to July 1938."
The driveway to the building is located about 100 ft to the east of the sign. As this is now private, and there is a 'No Trespassing' sign along the wall on the side facing the driveway, the only unobstructed view is from the driveway. Glimpses of the building on the other side can be seen through the trees near the sign. There is one photo, posted on two sites that shows the front of the building.
The building is brick and has four bays, plus another compartment set back on the left side of the building.
One site stated that this was once for the Old Colony line along the 'Wrentham Branch', which later became part of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. One branch went northeast to Norwood, MA. Today, portions of that branch are missing, including all the track around the roundhouse.
Sources:
NERail Forum (Plainville Roundhouse-This is a photo of the bays):
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visit link)
Plainville Public Library (History of Plainville - Note: Author seems to think that the roundhouse was in front of the highway garage pictured - just about every other source believes that this is thr roundhouse - this site also has a picture of the bay side of the building):
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visit link)
Another document on the same site has a more complete historical account - there is a paragraph about the roundhouse):
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visit link)