Between 1895 and 1928, as American engineering technology and railway management practices were introduced into China, some railways built or operated with American participation established engine houses and associated servicing facilities at major stations, locomotive depots, and line terminals. These facilities were used for the storage, inspection, repair, and routine servicing of steam locomotives, and were often grouped with turntables, coal stages, water towers, ash pits, and repair shops to form complete locomotive servicing areas.

In the United States during the same period, engine houses were generally built in two principal forms: rectangular engine houses and fan-shaped roundhouses. Rectangular sheds were more common at smaller locomotive facilities, while fan-shaped roundhouses were better suited to the concentrated storage, turning, and maintenance of larger locomotive fleets, and became a characteristic feature of major American locomotive depots from the nineteenth to the early twentieth century.

This contrast can also be seen in related examples in China. The Zhuzhou–Pingxiang Railway once had a 12-road fan-shaped roundhouse at Anyuan, while the engine house at Foshan on the Canton–Samshui Railway was a two-road rectangular shed. These examples show that the size and form of an engine house were determined primarily by traffic volume, locomotive allocation, and servicing requirements, rather than by any single fixed “American architectural style.”