09/27/2026
Perryville -- This roundhouse was built in 1918. Of course Perryville was already a busy railroad town and there would have been earlier facilities but in that World War I era a great deal of expansion took place.
In 1920 the PB&W Railroad started a project to provide new, greatly expanded facilities at Perryville, according to research done by Richard Hall, a railroad historian. The company had acquired land from the American Ice Company and demolished buildings on those parcels. When completed, there were new coal, sand, and ash facilities, along with a turntable, a four stall roundhouse, and a machine shop. There were also tracks for servicing and storing locomotives and and storing and unloading coal, sand, and ash cars (notes of Richard Hall).
During World War II, the county experienced an enormous economic boom and the increased activity included railroad operations in Perryville. When the war started, the yard had been closed for about eight years, according to the Havre de Grace Republican newspaper. But Perryville was becoming a “thriving railroad town again.” With ever-increasing activity, three train crews were working out of the “one time closed roundhouse, machine shop, and a dozen sidings.” Work trains were also running out of the terminal and there were extra engines for emergencies at the roundhouse, with steam up at all times. (Havre de Grace Republican).
As steam locomotives disappeared from the line, the roundhouse and turntable became obsolete and by the 1960s it was being used for storage. The old round house was demolished in Dec. 1994.
