[N&W] Re: Class J cab/can someone explain this?

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I remember in the mid 60's going past a big hobby shop on rt 125, which was 
west of Portsmouth on US 52.  This was on the way to a local state park 
that was then called Roosevelt Lake.  I just remember a comment from my 
father saying that there was a huge layout in there and I would have loved 
to see it. I think there might have been a mention of a cab of a "Pow Tan" 
in there. I think Bussa was it's name.  My memory is foggy but it was a 
white and yellow cinderblock building, one story and large and it had some 
type of railroad signal out in front.  But I believe this hobby shop was 
closed by the mid 60's, something about a death.  I can't recall.

A.J. Gemperline
___________________________________________________________
Gary - The cab at the Bussa Hobby Shop was not a wooden mockup built by an
individual, but was a full-size J cab built in Roanoke Shop.
EdKing

 > In addition to this cab mock-up, there was a full size,wood representative
 > J cab built by a private individual in Portsmouth, Ohio as a back drop for
 > his N&W model train layout. This cab was mainly the back head of the
<snip>
 >
 > Gary Rolih
___________________________________________________________
The cab was traded in exchange for a cab ride on the 611 in 1986 (I believe)
was moved to Roanoke in a gondola, then shipped to Birmingham, where all the
usable hardware was stripped, and the shell sat outside the steam shop until
the auction in February, 1995. As I recall it was sold to someone in North
Carolina.

It was built by the railroad (don't know if it was at Roanoke or Portsmouth)
and donated to Chester Bussa for their model railroad display. The "N&W
Junior Railway" was first featured in story with photos in the N&W Magazine,
October, 1948. A second article was published in the Magazine in September
1952. This article mentions the J cab as well as the exit to the building
made from "the rear platform of a dismantled Norfolk and Western business
car." In the 1952 article, the J cab can partially be seen in one of the
photos. I seem to recall at least one other image of it in the Magazine, at
the time.

Ken Miller
___________________________________________________________
Good Morning,

The cab in question is one of TWO built by the N&W Roanoke Shops about the
time the last three J's were built.

Both were All STEEL. The only wood used was in the seats and arm rests and
interior lining and related areas as was used in locomotive cabs. Neither
cab was made of wood.

One was used an a small office in the Shops. It had a smooth, flat steel
backhead. I believe it was painted solid black. I am not 100 % sure.

The other - the one pictured - was built for and given to the Bussa Model
Railroad at
Friendship, Ohio, about 8 miles west of Portsmouth along the banks of the
Beautiful Ohio River.

Neither cab was built as a "simulator" as stated.

The floors were flat, not stepped as per usual N&W practice. The floor of
the cab in Southern Ohio was covered with raised diamond, non-skid
material. I will assume the Roanoke "Office Cab" was also covered with this
material.

The Ohio cab had a smooth, two-piece - there was a bolted seam horizontally
across the center - , sheet metal backhead but included
virtually all of the
correct gauges, valve handles, Franklin No. 8 Modified Fire Door, a No.
L-8-PA
Pedestal
Automatic Air Brake Stand and Valve with S-6 Independent or Locomotive
Brake, authentic cab seatboxes, all windows were correct and operating, and
the roof vents
operated.

Departing from N&W practice, ALL handles in the Ohio cab were chrome plated
and I must
say this presented a truly beautiful scene.

This cab had the boiler back head badge plate No. 390, also chrome plated,
the same number as
that of course assigned to the last Class J, No. 613. The cab was painted
black with the
correct gray/green interior color and the No. 600 was incorrectly placed
under the cab-side windows in the center of the red band, which was outlined
in the correct shade of Deluxe Gold in the interest of impressing the
public.

This cab was wood-lined as per N&W standard practice. I do not know if the
shop cab was wood-lined or not but I would assume it was

Mr. Bussa was a close friend of the late Mr. Harry C. Wyatt, a top official
of the
N&W at that time. My Wyatt had also given Mr. Bussa the end of a caboose,
the end of an open observation car, a semaphore signal and many other N&W
artifacts. I was told why Mr. Wyatt was so generous with Mr. Bussa but as I
cannot prove what I was told, I will not relate that here.

The overhead "Grapevine" throttle lever supposedly was to be use to operate
trains on the main line of the layout but I was told this was never
accomplished. I know it was never used in this manner on my numerous trips
to the Friendship, Ohio layout. And alter I could find NO evidence of the
throttle having any additions to work a rheostat or other control device for
model trains.

As it was, the cab was built into one side of the layout allowing visitors
to enter the new layout room through the cab. Many a young boy, and several
fathers for that matter, sat on the seatboxes and pulled the throttle. I
know I was guilty of that opportunity to "run" a Class J, little realizing
that many years alter I would in fact get to pull the throttle of the 611
and the 1218 on several occasions. AND get paid for the pleasure!
as related late in this message. I never told any local officials but I
would gladly have made those steam trips without pay but they never asked
and I didn't offer.

The first Bussa O Semi-Scale layout was on the small side and was written up
in
the October, 1948 issue of the Norfolk And Western Magazine.

The next Bussa layout was, also O Semi-Scale, enshrined in a new addition to
the original building,
was a very large model railroad and depicted many local scenes from the
Scioto Division of the N&W.  At the time it was a pretty nice layout but by
today's standards, it was rather poor. However, the
overall effect for the general public was tremendous.

This layout was featured in the September, 1952 issue of the N&W Magazine.

The N&W PR Dept. also issued a special brochure based on the Sept. '52 issue
article.

Mr. Bussa had scratch built models of an N&W Class J and a Class A, well
over 100  N&W hopper cars, many N&W box cars of all styles and a complete
Powhatan Arrow. A Hines  Lines USRA
0-8-0 was lettered N&W and a couple of Varney 4-6-0's were on the roster.

Buildings included the Portsmouth, Ohio Scioto Division
Headquarters/Passenger
Station (still standing and quite possibly soon to be used as a new jail
for Scioto County), the huge Kenova, WV bridge over the Ohio, a small
representation of the Portsmouth Hump Yard and many others.

Mr. Bussa passed away on Easter Sunday, 1958, the very day my older son was
baptized in our Methodist Church here in Portsmouth. Members of the Bussa
family attempted to maintain the layout but it soon fell into dis-repair,
complete with large holes in the roof and ceiling.

Various cars, locomotives and builder were sold off. I bought several of the
engines, cleaned them up and resold them. A local physician purchased the
Class A model and I believe a Gentleman from the Cincinnati area bought the
J.

The huge Kenova bridge, made of sheet metal and steel code 125 rail,
eventually ended up on a Lionel Hi-Rail layout owned by a family in
Ironton, Ohio I think it is.

The layouts and buildings were eventually torn down and replaced by a
commercial automobile valve manufacturing firm.  At present, a hardwood mill
occupies the site.

One of the Bussa daughters, Mrs. Doris Born and her husband Jack, sing in
the tenor section of the Scioto County Festival Choir with yours truly.  I
am
also the Assistant Administrator of this community choir. In continuing my
ability in the use of words, I am also the publicity person of the choir.

I authored a feature article on the layouts and J cab in the Winter 1991,
issue of O Scale News. That feature covered both the Bussa O Scale model
railroads and
included was a special sidebar on the origins and details of the cab in
question. Also shown was the exterior of the building with caboose end on
the front door and semaphore signal located close in the parking lot, Mr.
bussa himself standing on the observation car platform.

Copies of this issue quite possible are available from the
publisher, Mr. Thomas Nixon, Gate IV Publishing, P. O. Box 51, Elmhurst, IL
60126-0051. You will have to contact the publisher for prices and shipping
charges.

Whatever became of the cabs?

I have NO idea of the cab in the Roanoke Shops but the Bussa cab was
purchased by a local woman from the Bussa family as a birthday present for
her husband. The cab was stored at his local cement mixing plant and Ohio
river Docking Company but before he could utilize the cab for his own model
train layout, he drowned in the Ohio River in an unfortunate
accident.

This cab was then purchased, for the miserly sum of $ 250.00 by an
individual from the Chillicothe, Ohio area but the cab remained on site here
in Portsmouth. The local cab was never moved to the Rushtown, Ohio area
as stated.
The first time Class J No. 611 visited the west end of the N&W, I took Mr.
Don Purdie, the Crew Chief  of the 611 crew,  to view the cab and he almost
fainted at the sight. He and I then went back to Mr. Robert Claytor's
private car and informed him of the cab. The next morning, I was the Pilot
Engineer on the 611 on the run from Portsmouth to Bellevue, Ohio and during
that trip, Mr. Claytor and I discussed the cab.

As I personally knew the present owner, Mr. Claytor asked me to arrange and
handle the details for the Norfolk Southern to purchase the cab from that
individual which I did. The cab was sold to the NS for princely sum of $
250.00.

The cab was then moved to the NS steam shops in Irondale (Birmingham),
Alabama and parts used on both the 611 and Class A No. 1218.  The next trip
I made on the 611, the right hand half to the Franklin No. 8 firedoor was
indeed thereon.

A few years later I made several PAID trips on the 1218 between Portsmouth
and Columbus and Bellevue, Ohio. Upon close inspection of the left hand half
of the Franklin Firedoor revealed it was in fact from the Bussa cab.

I have NO idea of whatever became of the cab when the steam shop at Irondale
was eliminated.

Such is the saga of the TWO extra N&W Class J cabs. I do hope I have
not forgotten anything pertinent to the story and if anyone can add further
details, it will be appreciated.

Tom "N&W" Dressler

----- Original Message -----
From: "N&W Mailing List" <mailing-list at nwhs.org>
To: "N&W Mailing List" <mailing-list at nwhs.org>
Sent: Thursday, August 15, 2002 9:29 PM
Subject: Re: Class J cab/can someone explain this?

 > > Can anyone explain this?  Not only the cab, with all the gauges, but the
 >  > paint scheme?
 >  > http://www.train-sim.com/dcforum/DCForumID3/11447.html
 >
 > This is the J cab that Roanoke built for the Bussa Hobby Shop, near
 > Portsmouth, OH. It is featured in one of the N&W magazines from the era.
 > They had a big O gauge layout. Hobby shop no longer exists, and I forget who
 > got the cab. Tom Dressler knows more about this than I do. Jim Nichols
 > ___________________________________________________________
 > This cab was specially built for a model train display layout (O-gauge
 > scale) that was out in the country west of Portsmouth.  It was an elaborate
 > display, and Tom Dressler can tell you more about it.  But the N&W was
 > persuaded to build a full-size J cab for them and paint it as shown.  I
 > visited this layout when I was in Portsmouth in the early 1960s - the cab
 > was still in place there.  The original proprietors had passed away, as I
 > recall, and it was no longer open to the public.
 >
 > EdKing
 > ___________________________________________________________
 > I have forgotten the details, but this was a simulator cab built in the
 > Roanoke Shops.
 >
 > In addition to this cab mock-up, there was a full size,wood representative
 > J cab built by a private individual in Portsmouth, Ohio as a back drop for
 > his N&W model train layout. This cab was mainly the back head of the
 > locomotive and was full size and accurate. The impressive layout was
 > written up in the N&W magazine in the late forties or early fifties. The
 > layout moved from Portsmouth to Rushtown, Ohio across the Scioto River from
 > Portsmouth in the late 60's. What happened to that layout is not known at
 > this time.
 >
 > Gary Rolih
 >