Southern Steam - Monroe - "Old 97" et all

[NW Mailing List]

It's amazing the things you can learn by reading these
postings. Many of the words to the song about old 97
were previously either lost or unknown to me and are a
fascinating piece of long-gone history and thanks for
passing along the link for the song and the associated
data.

As for Southern steam, while records are scant as to
when it disappeared from this region, certain clues
can in fact be taken from surviving data and that is
the coal and water facilities retirements.

By careful research and interviews, it has been
determined that probably the last Southern mainline
steam-powered PASSENGER operations between Washington
and at least Monroe ended sometime between the
Christmas Holiday season of 1951 and the first quarter
of 1952. Steam powered work trains continued much
longer, into late Summer or Autumn 1952. One or two
steam switchers are known to have been resussitated
for a few weeks during the Christmas Rush in the
Southern yards in Alexandria.

Coal facilities were removed from service with
Weyburn, some 70-odd miles north of Monroe being the
last to be retired. Water stations likewise were
retired in the same period but here's an interesting
factoid to history; a few water stations were retained
on a stand-by basis at least as far south as Orange
because the C&O requested (and presumably paid for
that service) as they possessed trackage rights into
Washington via the Southern mainline.

I have been told that via a reputable source that
Remington, Va. was the final water station to be
retired and even that was not until very late in the
steam era.

C&O presumably had ceased steam passenger operations
into Washington, DC around the same time as Southern
EXCEPT they ran one excursion I think it was on
Saturday, June 6,1953 bringing "Yellow Belly" Hudson
#490 out of retirement for this one trip for the
Washington, DC Chapter, NRHS and the trip operated
DC-Charlottesville-DC RT that day, via Gordonsville,
obviously coming north a day or so before.

Where they got coal or water has been lost to
historical trivia unless any of our readers may know
of definitive information in that regard. This trip
was well-documented in the media of the day.

I asked a knowledgeable source of Southern Railway
operations why was Monroe the engine change location
and was told due to the grades coming out of Lynchburg
plus undoubtedly, even back in the 1890's or earlier
when Monroe was created, the lands were less expensive
5-7 miles north of the Hill City. The two long bridges
north of Lynchburg over the James and Tye Rivers were
much lower when Monroe was created and the grades were
not lessened until the WW1 era.

When the double-tracking of the Southern Mainline was
done in various stages, many curves and kinks as well
grades were "fixed" and coming thru Lynchburg was one
of many of them. Just a few miles south of Lynchburg
at a place called Lawyers Crossing on the old
alignment was where Southern's president, Samuel
Spencer was killed in a rear end collision on
Thanksgiving morning 1906. The locale has changed the
exact alignment for part of the double-tracking of the
1916 era straightened this out and that old location
is either a dirt access road or country road of some
sort today. Also further south near Danville, the old
alignment was changed somewhat and the last remnants
were not removed where Stillhouse Trestle was once
located until 1935 when the "Lima Branch" as it came
to be known was permanently removed. There is a marker
next to the Highway where the old railroad trestle
once was.

Bob Cohen

 ------------------------------

> Message: 2

> Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 12:22:40 EDT

> From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

> Subject: Re: Monroe, VA Southern and N&W steam

> To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org

> Message-ID: <c25.23511a5e.345762d0 at aol.com>

> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

> 

> I expect the ending of the steam facilities in

> Monore was extended beyond other places on the

Southern because of N&W's steam engines coming and
going on the three joint Southern-N&W passenger
trains.

>  

> Aubrey  Wiley

> ------------------------------

> Message: 3

> Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:05:56 -0400

> From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

> Subject: Re: Monroe, VA

> To: "NW Mailing List" <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

> Message-ID: <s725dac3.052 at smtp.nara.gov>

> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

> 

> Thanks for all the responses. I had hoped to find

> some abandoned structures in Monroe, but no such

luck.

>  

> Jim Kelling

> 

> >>> NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

> 10/29/2007 11:30 AM >>>

> 

> JK:

>  

> Timetables on hand indicate Southern had coaling

> facilities at Monroe in 1949, but they were gone by

1956. Remember, Southern was dieselized in 1953.   

>                                                     

>   Harry Bundy> ------------------------------

>    

>   My resource material is at home and I'm on the

> road, so I can only give you an overview. Others

> will I'm sure fill in the details.

>    

>   This line is of course the former

Washington-Atlanta main line of the Southern Railway.
In days gone by it was all double track but now mostly
single track with passing sidings in the area you'll
traverse. In addition to the trains via Greensboro and
Charlotte, trains via Lynchburg, Roanoke, and Bristol
used this line as far south as Lynchburg, where they
switched to the N&W. Monroe, VA, north of Lynchburg,
was the northern end of the division that began in
Spencer and also the actual engine change location
between N&W and Southern power for the trains via
Bristol.

>    

>   This line can lay claim to being truly "fabled in

> story and song," as it's the route chronicled in the

> song "Wreck of the Old 97". 

>

http://www.blueridgeinstitute.org/ballads/old97song.html

>  (Until I researched this web site I didn't know

> there were ten verses; I'd only heard verses three

> through six and ten before!) Reciting (or singing

> if you're up to it) the lyrics as you traverse the

> locations mentioned in the song might be

entertaining for your patrons.

>    

>   Dave Phelps


Gary, for what its worth, as the song (wreck of 97)
says, the train was late and trying to make up time
on 1903 track which took a different route north of
Danville from the current track. The old route came
into Danville west of present line and made a sharp
turn north of the Dan river where it left the trestle
just short of the river. I believe the station is
close to original location. Ron Hash

> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

> 

> 

> Gary,

> 

> The Southern/N&W passenger trains (Tennessean,

> Birmingham Special, Pelican) were powered by N&W

> steam engines into Monroe until December 31, 1957,

> or there about. All Southern steam was gone about

> five years before. 

> 

> In the early 1960's, the roundhouse (or at least

> part of it) and sand tower were still standing. At

> this time Monroe was the division point between the

> Washington and Danville divisions and serviced 18

> passenger trains daily and about ten freights. A

> railroad YMCA was also located there and served

> great hamburgers and milk shakes. 

> 

Monroe today is gone. The entire yard and buildings
were removed in the 1980's. Montview, just south of
Lynchburg, was upgraded a bit and is a busy
interchange between the former Southern, N&W, and C&O.

> 

>    Ray Smoot 

> 

> -----Original Message-----

> From: nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org on behalf of

> NW Mailing List

> Sent: Mon 10/29/2007 12:15 PM

> To: NW Mailing List

> Subject:To my Southern friends

>  

Gary the line was single tracked in places shortly
after Southern gave up its passenger service. However
that is coming to an end as beginning at Hoskins,
north end of High Point double tracking has begun.
This project will go to Hilltop just south of Pomona
Yard in Greensboro. Have a good time. Cal Reynolds.

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