Kingsport Enginehouse

Kingsport Engine House

Kingsport Engine House May 1958

Kingsport had a single stall wooden engine house located at the southern apex of the wye. A locomotive usually stayed overnight in the enginehouse and received light servicing. Ephraim Hiltz was enginehouse caretaker for many years.(1) The first enginehouse and a locomotive parked for the night burned in the early 1900s but both locomotive and enginehouse were reconstructed. In another mishap, a locomotive failed to stop inside the enginehouse until the pilot smashed through the south wall. The lower portion of the wall was rebuilt but left a reminder of the accident in the repaired section of newer, unpainted shingles on the south wall.(2) The enginehouse was demolished after the Kingsport Line was closed, although the concrete inspection pit remains and now forms the floor of a small garage in Kingsport.

References and Footnotes

(1) Cora Atkinson, Kingsport by the Sea (1980) page 11. This book also contains a rare photograph of the interior of the enginehouse with Hiltz sitting on the pilot of DAR locomotive No. 21.

(2) Fire and accident information from discussion with Leon Barron 1997.

Gallery

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  Ephraim Hiltz inside the Kingsport Enginehouse with locomotive No. 21, circa 1915.

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  Kingsport Engine House May 1958.

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  Kingsport Enginehouse from the north east showing lane crossing, 1958.

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  Kingsport Enginehouse from the north east, 1958.

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  Kingsport Enginehouse from the north east showing surrounding landscape, 1958.

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  Kingsport Enginehouse north end facing the engine doors from the wye track, 1958.

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  Kingsport Air Photo showing the enginehouse in the centre of the photo at the south end of the wye, July 27, 1945.

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  Paul Bushnell's scratchbuilt HO model of the Kingsport Enginehouse, 2012.