CONCORD, N.H. — The Bartlett Roundhouse, built in 1887 for the storage and repair of locomotives, has been named to the National Register of Historic Places.

The building was designed so that a 56-foot turntable in front of it could guide trains into the six separate repair stalls, where crews could perform maintenance.

Locomotives kept at Bartlett assisted trains over the steep grade to Crawford Notch. In addition to carrying tourists to hotels and boardinghouses in the White Mountains, they also transported a wide variety of freight, including lumber, pulpwood, cedar ties, telephone poles, limestone, ice, sulfur, coal, paper and manufactured goods.

The Maine Central Railroad Company, the final owner of the Bartlett Railyard, ran its last passenger trains in 1958 and the Roundhouse then ceased being used as a service facility.

The roundhouse was one of 35 on the Boston and Maine Railroad, a handful of which still exist in various forms in New Hampshire. Two stalls were lengthened in 1913 to accommodate larger steam locomotives and two other stalls were removed around 1950 as train transportation declined. Windows were added after each of these renovations to provide additional natural light.

Segments of rail survive in each of the stalls and train track with sidings and switches is still located north of the building.

The building was listed on the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places in 2008.

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