N&W in 1904 -- Smallpox

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REMOVAL OF TERMINALS FROM KENOVA TO PORTSMOUTH CAUSED BY QUARANTINE
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Town Officials Went So Far as to Bar Out Trainmen, Even Denying Them Supplies and Right to Eat There, and Railroad Was Forced to Take Drastic Measures
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    Great and general surprise was created in railroad circles Thursday by an order transferring the Norfolk and Western railway terminals form Kenova to Portsmouth.  The order was effective at once, and by Friday night the terminals had been established at East Portsmouth.  The long cuts of empties standing on sidings at East Portsmouth were hurriedly moved to the Norfolk and Western yards west of North Chillicothe Friday morning and everything cleared for the removal of all necessary equipment from West Virginia.
    Almost one hundred and fifty trainmen are now at Portsmouth.  These comprise thirty crews.  They are temporarily quartered in the Armstrong property, which is later to be converted into railroad Y. M. C. A. building.  Men began work fitting up the house with beds, cooking utensils and all other necessities and by night it had been transformed to a large sized hotel.
    The cause of this sudden move on the part of the railway company is due to the action of the town of Kenova quarantining against Williamson, Ceredo and other nearby towns in which smallpox is prevalent.  The town officials went so far as to bar out trainmen and even denied them supplies and the right to eat there because they had passed through towns infested by the disease.  The steps taken by the authorities there have forced the railway company to adopt prompt measures in order to protect its interests and those of its employes.  One hundred and forth-eight of the railway company's shop men are under quarantine at Kenova.  For the present only train crews will be moved to Portsmouth, but eventually the entire railroad population of the town, numbering considerably over five hundred, will go to Portsmouth.  All crews, including the Columbus end, will henceforth stop over at Portsmouth.  The new arrangements will not affect the Norfolk and Western's time schedule any, at least not for the present.

Bluefield Daily Telegraph
November 11, 1903

[Does this mean that Kenova, instead of Portsmouth, was the main crew change point on the Scioto Division before this quarantine?  Think of 500+ N&W employees at Kenova before the quarantine!  A later newspaper article reported the death from smallpox of two N&W employees at Kenova.]

Gordon Hamilton
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