Bluford - Railroad

Bluford had at least 2 depot buildings. The first was a classic old style, small town depot. It had a freight room, the station agent's office in the middle, with a bay window so he could see down the tracks, and a passenger waiting room. The Southern RR had 2 passenger trains that had regular stops in Bluford. A "Noon Train" and an "afternoon train" The noon train went east and arrived between 11:30 and noon. The afternoon train went west about 3:30 p.m.

Buildings not pictured:

The Round House:

The "Round House" was actually a complex of three systems that included a building, in a quarter round configuration, where the repair and servicing of steam engines was done; a circular pit housing the turntable, where engines could be turned to face any direction; and twelve sets of tracks used for parking the engines. The building was shaped like a quarter of a pie, and at the pointed end of that quarter pie was the turntable. It was 237 feet from the ceneter of the turntable and the start of the roundhouse building.

Machine Shop & Boiler Room:

The Machine Shop was the next building east of the Yard Office. It was 42' wide and 148.5' long. The boiler room was in the south 68' of the building and the machine shop in the north 80'. The floor of the machine shop had a unique pattern of wood pieces placed on edge. The wood blocks were about 3" high, 3 3/4" wide, and 6 to 8" long. The boiler room contained 3 "huge" boilers, which faced west toward the 3 coal bins. The boilers were connected to the 195' smokestack by a metal flu. Steam was produced to run air compressors, and to provide hot water & steam for cleaning and maintenance equipment

Mechanical Dept. Wash Room:

This was located about 50' north of the Yard Office. There was a fire hose building north of it.

Repair Track Complex:

The Repair Track "Rip Track" was seperate from the other yard buildings and was somewhat of an independent operation of it's own, not directly concerned with the operatins going on in the yard.

Shanties:

There was a car knocker shanty south of the yard office and west of the tracks that went to the coal bin ramp of the boiler room. It was about 12'X40'. The section crews also had pads to park their motor cars there. Along the north end and south end switching leads were the switchmen's or checker's shanties. The yard clerks stayed in those and kept track of the cars, as they were moved from track to track. The shanties had a water cooler, a heating stove, and benches. The switchmen could get a bit of rest there when the trains were pulling in or out, and had the switching lead blocked.