Boaz Siding

[NW Mailing List]

A lot of people have given good info on the former location of Boaz Pusher Siding on the N&W east of Vinton, VA.  This is a summary of the verified information:
  a.. The turnout lay just to the west of Bridge 96, which is a 16-foot concrete slab bridge that I observed to have (Mile Post) "254.02" paint stenciled on one wing wall.
  b.. The pusher siding lay to the south of the eastward main track and the turnout was trailing point eastward.
  c.. There was a crossover just east of Bridge 96 to allow light pushers returning westward to cross over to the eastward track and then enter the pusher siding.
To show the present-day venue where the pusher siding was located, I have attached an aerial view from Roanoke City's Geographic Information Service (GIS) of that location taken when a westbound train of high-cube box cars happened to be on the eastward track (another view would show the diesel units just east of Berkley Rd.).  North is at the top of the view.   Some of the features mentioned by others are seen, viz., one of the soccer fields, the large parking lot and the narrow private driveway between the soccer field and the railroad.

Almost half a century of vegetation growth obscures the former location of the siding.

Gordon Hamilton


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: NW Mailing List 
  To: NW Mailing List 
  Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2007 9:25 PM
  Subject: Re: Boaz Siding


  Actually, everyone is more or less right.  The soccer fields do belong to Roanoke County; however they are located within the city limits of Roanoke.  A similar situation exists in the Cave Spring area where Hidden Valley Junior High School, which my son attended, is located within the Roanoke city limits but is part of Roanoke County's school system.  I know about the soccer fields because my son participated in Roanoke County rec league games there.  This is a situation that is peculiar to Virginia because it is the only state where cities are totally independent from counties and expansion of city boundaries by annexation (which hasn't been permitted for a couple of decades) could surround facilities and infrastructure that counties weren't willing to give up.  Deals were cut whereby counties, like any other entity, could retain ownership if not governance.

  Sam Putney
    
    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: NW Mailing List 
    To: NW Mailing List 
    Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2007 10:52 PM
    Subject: Re: Boaz Siding


    Gordon and Harry,

    You guys are right and I was wrong. 

    The City and Vinton are interleaved through that part of town. On her way to work, my wife goes from the County, to the City, to the Town of Vinton, then back into the City! It's crazy!

    I've always thought the soccer fields near Boaz Siding were Roanoke County fields, but I may be wrong. I suspect that east of Vinton, the City does not reach south of the tracks. And as you said, where were the boundaries back when? 

    Ron Davis

    At 10:10 PM 8/1/2007, you wrote:

      Ron,
       
      I don't know about that hand-drawn track plan that you attached or what the City of Roanoke boundaries were in 1950, but a January 1, 1987, track chart shows that going east from Vinton the railroad crosses from Vinton into the City of Roanoke at about Mile Post N-254.8, passes Boaz (and Bridge 96) at about Mile Post N-254.1 and crosses from the City of Roanoke into Roanoke County at about Mile Post N-253.6, putting Boaz in the current boundaries of the City of Roanoke.
       
      Maybe the question is whether Boaz was or is in the City of Roanoke.
       
      Gordon Hamilton


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