The Hilltopper

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

I remember riding the Hilltopper from Washington to Christiansburg. One 
trip was in the summer of 1979. I thought the other trip was in the spring 
of 1980, but two people have mentioned it stopped running in the fall of 1979.

The train was one coach and a cafe car. The coach was at most 2/3 full 
leaving Washington and less than 1/2 full after Petersburg. There was 
almost as many crew members as there were passengers. The station in 
Roanoke was an Amshack. The western terminus was at Catlettsburg, KY around 
1:30am with a 6 hour wait for a connection with the westbound Cardinal. 
Thus I never rode it west of Christiansburg.

Harry, I do not recall operating in reverse from Richmond to Secoast.

Ron Davis