Railroad Turntable, 1887-1983

What survives at the end of the line is a machine worked by hand. The turntable's timber deck, fenced with red-painted rails, spans a shallow circular pit ringed by a curved running rail, and a geared hand crank on the platform at one end swung the whole bridge, so a crew could turn a locomotive with muscle alone. The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy line reached Burwell in 1887. The Garfield County Historical Society held a dedication at the turntable on June 23, 2018, and the town counted 1,087 people in 2020.

What the plaque says

Railroad Turntable 1887-1983 Burwell began as a post office named The Forks in 1875. The town was incorporated as a village and changed its name to Burwell in 1884. Three years later, the newly-incorporated Lincoln & Black Hills Railroad laid track from Central City to Burwell. The L & BH planned to build all the way to South Dakota. The grade was constructed as far north as Butka in Rock County, but no tracks were laid beyond Burwell. The turntable was built here instead. It allowed steam locomotives to be turned around to make the return trip. Although the railroad was owned by the L & BH, it was leased and operated by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. The CB & Q bought the line in 1908. The railroad was a big factor in furthering the development of the North Loup Valley. Eventually, greater numbers of automobiles, trucks, and buses lessened demand for the railroad. The last train left Burwell in February 1983. The tracks were taken up and only the turntable was left as a reminder of the railroad era. Garfield County Historical Society Nebraska State Historical Society, 2017

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Hartsuff State Historical Park — 7.3 mi
  A small infantry post of 1874 in the North Loup valley, built of local lime concrete on the raiding road between Lakota and Pawnee country, and kept nearly whole by eighty years of farming.

More markers nearby

• Garfield County — 0.4 mi
• The Easter Blizzard of 1873 — 1.2 mi
• The Pebble Creek Fight — 1.2 mi
• Kamp Kaleo — 2.4 mi