During the Civil War, the railroad that terminated at Johnsonville included a turntable for rotating locomotive engines. The turntable was a large circular pit with a stone outer base. Located in the middle of the pit was a central pivot made of iron and wooden timbers that supported a single section of track called a bridge. As trains arrived empty from Nashville, rail cars were uncoupled and left at the supply warehouses along the bank of the Tennessee River. The engineer backed the locomotive onto the turntable bridge. A rail running around the floor of the pit supported the ends of the bridge when a locomotive entered or exited. Two men pushed on gears to swing the bridge on the central pivot, turning the engine until the locomotive faced in the opposite direction for the return to Nashville. Constructed in late 1863, Johnsonville's turntable now retains only the outer stone base and pivot foundation. In 1890, the Civil War era railroad bed was raised by the Nashville Division of the Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Railroad, making the right side of the turntable inoperable.