Kruhové výtopny (Železniční depozitář Národního technického muzea) / Roundhouses (National Technical Museum Railway Depository)
The large railway compound served as a passenger and freight railway station and a marshaling yard at the same time. It contained lines of three railway companies: The Ústí – Teplice line (ATE), used for transporting coal from Duchcov and Most, started operation on 8 October 1870, the Buštěhrad line (BEB) on 4 February 1871 and the Duchcov – Podmokly line (DBE) on 19 December 1872. The ATE and BEB companies built their common railway station and the station building (no. 594) was constructed by a Chomutov constructor Joseph Dausch in 1869–1870 according to the project of the BEB main civil engineer, Josef Chvála (1826–1872). With a length of 132 meters, it was one of the largest buildings of the company’s network.
Preserved until today is also a neighboring DBE half-timbered station building (no. 636).
The compound also included technical facilities, with workshops and two roundhouses, which is an ensemble that can be found in just a few places in the Czech Republic: Břeclav, České Budějovice, Česká Třebová or Prague-Vršovice. The exact years of construction of the two roundhouses are unknown. The roundhouse located closer to the station building (lot no. 3946) contains 22 tracks 29 meters long and it was probably built around the First World War, with construction adjustments carried out in the 1960s. The locomotive shed (lot no. 3947/1), situated to the west, contains 24 tracks 23 meters long and it was most probably built between 1929 and 1930. It was damaged by bombing during the Second World War; a timber roof constructed at that time collapsed in the 1980s, with the new roofing to be installed in 1993–1994. In 1931–1933 a new boiler house was constructed among the roundhouses by the Hádl & Hájek construction enterprise from Roudnice nad Labem. However, it was demolished due to poor condition in autumn 2021. The compound originally included three smaller depots; only one of them (no. 591), built in 1870, has been preserved.
Since 2006 the roundhouses have been rented by the National Technical Museum as a railway depositary for its collection of rolling stock. Six years later the museum purchased the whole complex. Visitors can find a hundred unique historical vehicles, from steam, diesel, and electric locomotives to the saloon, passenger, and motor cars in an authentic setting. It is the largest railway stock collection to be found in the Czech Republic. In the upcoming years, the National Technical Museum plans a complete reconstruction of both roundhouses in order to meet the current standards for the preservation of museum objects.
