What is "Roundhouse"?

The reason we called "roundhouse" for the fan-shaped garage was mainly because European and American steam locomotives repairing garages are always round.   The roundhouse offers burning coal and other equipments for steam locomotives to repair and maintain.

However, because of the space is not enough, in order to be able to  maximize the benefits of the garage in the limited area Japan was the first to use the fan-shaped maintenance garage(half of the round garage), which was the origin of  the fan-shaped garage.  Then, Taiwan continued with this design.  So,  from the bird's eye view, the shape of Changhua roundhouse is similar to an unfolded fan.  However, for it's functions of a garage, we still call it Changhua "roundhouse".

Changhua roundhouse, located on the No.1, Sec. 1, Zhangmei Rd. in Changhua city, belongs to Taiwan Railways Administration Changhua department, which lies behind the Changhua train station.   It is the most biggest maintenance center of locomotives in central Taiwan.  Therefore, the location and existence of Changhua roundhouse is very important.