Radford bridge

[NW Mailing List]

Here's a map from the VT site that shows the first part of the old route:

http://spec.lib.vt.edu/imagebase/04DLA/screen/01MAP0828031058.jpg



Mike Brown

NW Mailing List wrote:

> Sure is nice to get all this expert info on the old ROW. Must have 

> been a typo in the "Class J" book photo caption on page 5. It said 

> 1887, but it's an excellent photo of the curved bridge.

>  

> And it is (was?) Northside Flower Shop where the old ROW (Rt. 600) 

> meets Rt 11 there Charlie. (Also, it was Carl Long whose name I was 

> trying to remember.)

>  

> And Bruce's GIS photo

> -------

> The better view is via the Pulaski County GIS site, with the aerial photo

> layer turned on.

> See http://www.netgis.pulaskicountyva.gov/pulaski/index.php You can 

> zoom in

> even

> closer with better resolution, to the point where you can check out the

> westbound train

> with empties. With the view zoomed in to where the scale reads 1320, it is

> easy to see

> Crosstie Lane in Parrott. There is an interesting triangle in the property

> lines there, which

> seems to indicate where the original line came off the river. I've 

> posted a

> PDF of the

> view on my website, see

> http://filebox.vt.edu/users/bharper/nwrwy/OldMainLine2.pdf

>

> Bruce in Blacksburg

> -------

> shows where the old ROW meets the "new" cutoff to Walton all right. 

> Just off the bottom edge of the

> pdf file photo is Back Creek, just like Bud said.

>  

> Now, I just wonder if anyone knows how "Schooler Hill" got it's 

> name...? Old family name maybe?

>  

>  

> Thanks for all the info, gentlemen.

> Vince Albert.

>  

>

> > Message: 1

> > Date: Tue, 3 Jun 2008 12:41:54 -0400 (GMT-04:00)

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

> > Subject: Re: Radford bridge

> >

> > Thanks, Bud, for the additional info. I knew you would have it! Was 

> I right, or close, concerning the flower shop?

> > Charlie Long

> >

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

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

> > >Sent: Jun 2, 2008 11:55 PM

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

> > >Subject: Re: Radford bridge

> > >

> > >This reply probably addresses a couple of mailing list items.

> > >

> > >In the early 1880s, a line began at the west side of the New River 

> that would extend to open up the Pocahontas coalfields. The first load 

> of coal was dispatched in March 1883 eastward to Norfolk. Trains 

> leaving Radford for coalfields proceeded westward across the New River 

> bridge on the Bristol line [at the present site], then would reverse 

> direction to proceed to Bluefield. The shelf visible today near the 

> west side of the bridge is where this line began. The eastbound trains 

> from Bluefield had to reverse direction to continue east toward 

> Radford and beyond. Obviously this was a very awkward and expensive 

> way to send and receive trains over the New River line.

> > >

> > >In 1888, a new curved bridge was completed, next to the Bristol 

> line bridge. The curved bridge created a wye. Trains leaving Radford 

> for the Pocahontas region could now proceed across the new bridge 

> without having to reverse direction that was previously required. The 

> line followed the current road now known as Hazel Hollow Road to the 

> highway bridge then curved to the left following a side of the draw to 

> a point that today is Route 600 or Belspring Road. As a boy I remember 

> the old highway followed the old RR road bed until the new four-lane 

> road was completed in 1949 when a new highway bridge was built 

> connecting Radford and Fairlawn. The original road bed continued 

> upgrade to about where the golf driving range is today and this "hill" 

> was known as Schooler Hill. The line then descended down to Belspring 

> in the vicinity of Back Creek where it progressed westward along the 

> New River like today.

> > >

> > >The hill was a real operational challenge since it rose 78 feet per 

> mile eastbound and 86 feet per mile westbound and was about 11 miles 

> in length. To reduce grade and reduce operating expenses, the new N&W 

> Ry began building a new low-grade line from what is now known as 

> Walton to Belspring. The new line reduced grades to 11 feet per mile 

> eastbound and curves from 14 to six degrees, and was shorter by 4.3 

> miles. It went into service on October 11, 1900 and the Va. General 

> Assembly authorized the N&W to abandoned the old line on February 15, 

> 1901.

> > >

> > >In the archives there is a folder of correspondence about the 

> disposition of the old New River curved bridge. I do not have copies 

> of this file but most of it was dated about 1904-5 and I believe in 

> 1905 there is a document about a portion of the old bridge being used 

> on the Galax line which Robb Fisher referenced below. I do not have 

> any information about when the line was stopped being used but 

> railroads, the N&W not being excepted, tend to get rid of something 

> when approved for abandonment, especially something as costly as using 

> the Schooler Hill line.

> > >

> > >The N&W said that savings for using the new line was greater than 

> the interest to pay for the new construction which included the 3500+ 

> foot Pepper Tunnel and a bridge across the New River at the tunnel. 

> The line was certainly out by 1907 and the Jamestown Exposition.

> > >

> > >Bud Jeffries

> > >

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

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

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

> > >Sent: Monday, June 02, 2008 3:15 AM

> > >Subject: RE: Radford bridge

> > >

> > >

> > >>

> > >>> [Does anyone know when this wye track and the second bridge were 

> fully

> > >>> abandoned?

> > >>> Was everything taken out of service with the completion of the 

> Walton/Cowan

> > >>> line? Or

> > >>> was this piece kept in service for a while, which could explain 

> how the

> > >>> Exposition

> > >>> specials served Radford -- run forward from Walton to Radford, 

> cross the

> > >>> river and

> > >>> turn on the New River wye, then run forward back through Radford 

> and on out

> > >>> of town.]

> > >>> Bruce in Blacksburg

> > >>

> > >>

> > >>

> > >> Bridge 802 (IIRC) was completely abandoned before 1908... it was 

> reused on the North Carolina branch (where it crossed over US 52).

> > >>

> > >> Robb Fisher

> > >> RFDI

> > >>

>

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

>

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