[3] In 1905 a back shop was opened in Spencer, enabling the facility to overhaul 10 to 15 locomotives at one time.

Most shops had not yet adopted electricity for tools and machinery, so they were still powered by a system of shafts, pulleys, and belts.

[6] Throughout the 1940s and early 1950s, Southern Railway used the Spencer Shops as its main repair facility for diesel locomotives on eastern lines operating in the Carolinas, Virginia, and Georgia.

The workforce decreased into the 1970s and was confined to conducting minor repairs and refueling for diesel locomotives operating out of Spencer Yard.

The rest of the Spencer property, including the car repair shed and oil house, was handed over two years later after the shops were closed.