The shops were originally constructed in 1904–1908 by the
Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St Louis Railway (the "Big Four"), servicing a network stretching across the Midwest into
Illinois,
Indiana,
Michigan, and
Ohio. The facility was used as the company's repair shop for steam locomotives and passenger and freight cars. The facility passed to
Penn Central Transportation in 1968 when the NYC merged with the
Pennsylvania Railroad. Penn Central declared bankruptcy in 1970. On September 20, 2002, an
F2 tornado hit the shops, damaging Coach Shop 3, which was going to be torn down after the tornado; it had been used to overhaul
Superliner passenger cars until 2000. In the early hours of May 2, 2021, two storage buildings on the site were destroyed by a fire. ==Gallery==