@edgarblythe,
I'll save the Happy Birthday for September...
...but...
...I remember the thing in town that used to be called "the round house." It was actually just an area where locomotives were driven...and turned around on this huge carousal kind of thingy.
I haven't thought about that in ages...but it came to mind the second I read your "switch yard" comment.
I'm gonna try to find a picture of it, although I am not sure how even to start looking.