A sepia toned reproduction of a Bisbee Mining & Historical Museum photograph in postcard form of the railway’s round house in 1890. The photograph was taken by C.S. Fly. The back caption on the top left reads: “ROUND HOUSE – 1890 Presented by the Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum. Steam locomotives were turned around on this platform for return trip out of Bisbee. The photograph is from the Douglas collection and the postcard is from the Burl Schweikart Collection.

The round house was a special building for storing and maintaining train engines. A turntable was in front to align the engine to the particular track it needed to travel on. A number of the older roundhouses had to be torn down and replaced when new engines came with larger, more powerful designs. Many of today’s roundhouses are either refitted to serve other purposes, left abandoned, or torn down. The newer trains powered by electric and diesel don’t need as much maintenance comparted to the old coal engines. Though the golden era of rail has long since passed, rail-based transportation of freight still claims about 28% of the market and can move more while emitting fewer emissions. ---- The expansion of the railways was pivotal to Bisbee’s development. For new arrivals into town the train provided a far faster, smoother mode of transport as compared to horse or mule drawn stagecoaches. It accelerated the flow of ore outgoing ore and incoming flow of people and product into town. The Copper Queen Consolidated Mining Company built their own railway that laid thirty-six miles to reach the town of Fairbank. The Arizona and Southeastern Railroad Company incorporated on May 24th, 1888 and Ben Williams served as its president. The main line was laid out by El Paso & Southwestern that laid 1,100 miles of train tracks. The train depot in front of the Phelps Dodge Mercantile Warehouse was the gateway for new visitors to Bisbee. In the area were the train depot once stood are three flag poles bearing the American, Arizonan and Mexican flags.

2018.23.8