Is "Parent Company" a Misnomer?

NW Mailing List nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
Wed Oct 24 18:10:13 EDT 2007


Right, Dave, there was some 130# PS rail in the westward
main track until 1984. N&W renewed the rail in the
eastward main track between Poe and Suffolk 1971-75, but
the westward main track east of MP 66 still had jointed
rail. The track handling the most tonnage got the
welded rail first.

There was even some "head free" rail in spots from
Portlock to Waverly. "Head free" rail is shaped like
a triangle. I'd never taken an interest in the stuff until one
Sunday afternoon when returning from home to Roanoke.
Along US 460 near MP 55 (between Wakefield and
Waverly), there was an eastbound coal drag halted.
on the east track. From the highway, one could see
hoppers not exactly upright, yet nothing fouled the westbound
main track. There was a chunk missing in the 132# CWR
and the engineer had managed to get things stopped
without a pile - up, although some wheels were on the
ground.

It was one of those Sundays when Mr. Claytor had Eng 611
on an excursion train to Petersburg. Sure enough, the
psgr extra passed the coal train as if everything were all
right, up tight, and outta sight. That's when I took a look
at the track chart and found it was running on 130# head-
free rail rolled in 1930.
Harry Bundy



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