Canadian Pacific Railway Roundhouse

The Canadian Pacific Railway Roundhouse at 181 Roundhouse Mews in Yaletown, Vancouver, British Columbia, is a heritage railway building constructed in 1888 as a repair and turning facility for CPR locomotives. The turntable and the circular arrangement of engine bays allowed locomotives that had arrived from the east to be turned and serviced before the return journey. After the CPR's Vancouver yards were redeveloped in the 1980s for Expo 86 and the Concord Pacific lands, the roundhouse was preserved by the City of Vancouver and converted into the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre, which opened in 1997. The most important object on site is Engine 374, a steam locomotive built in 1886 that pulled the first scheduled transcontinental passenger train from Montreal into Vancouver on 23 May 1887. After service ended in 1945 the engine was displayed outdoors, then restored by volunteers in the 1980s, and for Expo 86 it ran again. It is now housed in a glass pavilion in the Roundhouse, with interpretive panels about the arrival of the railway. The site is a national historic site of Canada because of its association with the CPR, which linked the Pacific coast to the rest of Canada. The turntable is preserved alongside the building, and the structure retains its heavy timber frame and the stone and brick elements typical of railway architecture of the period. The Roundhouse operates today as a community facility with exhibition space, studios and performance areas, so it is not a conventional museum with a single narrative, but the pavilion gives a chronological display focused on a single locomotive. Entry to view the engine is free, and a visit usually takes 20 to 45 minutes. The site is a short walk from Yaletown and the seawall.