1958 - N&W Men Bemoan Steam's Departure

[NW Mailing List]

Were Harry J. Waldron and Harry J. Walrond the same guy?

Ed King
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From: "NW Mailing List" <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
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Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2008 12:01 AM
Subject: Re: 1958 - N&W Men Bemoan Steam's Departure



> The engineer Harry J. Waldron, mentioned in this Roanoke Times article, is 

> pictured on the 2184 in my revised edition of N&W: Giant of Steam on page 

> 3.

>

> Bud Jeffries

>

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

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

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

> Sent: Friday, July 18, 2008 10:44 PM

> Subject: 1958 - N&W Men Bemoan Steam's Departure

>

>

>> Roanoke Times - July 19, 1958

>>

>> N&W Men Bemoan Steam's Departure

>>

>> "I was on this engine when it first came out back in 1940." Harry J.

>> Walrond, Norfolk and Western engineer remarked last night as he sat

>> in the cab of No. 602, a Class J steam locomotive.

>>

>>   Walrond felt blue, because it was the last night - perhaps forever

>> - for steam locomotives to pull passenger trains on the N&W.

>>   The N&W announced Thursday that it is leasing diesels from two

>> other railroads, and is taking out of passenger service 14

>> streamlined Class J steam locomotives. They are not being retired,

>> but they are out of passenger service for the present.

>>   Walrond was waiting in the hot, black cab of No. 602 - waiting for

>> the Powhatan Arrow to arrive from Bluefield. Then he would hook on to

>> the Arrow, No. 26, and pull it to Crewe, 130 miles away on the line to 

>> Norfolk.

>>

>>   "I don't believe there's a railroad in the country that ever had a

>> locomotive to compare with one of these in steam." Walrond remarked.

>> "I hate to see'em go. If they'd keep these up, there's not a diesel

>> that would stand a chance."

>>

>>   Walrond said he's been railroading 32 years. He was fireman on No.

>> 602 when it was young back in 1940.

>>   Walrond's fireman, Berkeley Breedlove of Blue Ridge, didn't have

>> much to say. He's a youngster in railroading, been firing only 32 months.

>>

>>   But A. M. Via, conductor of the Powhatan Arrow on its run to Crewe

>> last night, felt sad, too.

>>   "Well, like everybody else," he observed just before he waved to

>> the engineer, "I'm sorry to see'em go. Railroading doesn't seem like

>> railroading without steam." Via added that he thinks railroaders

>> would get used to diesels and like them when they know them better.

>>   The Atlantic Coast Line's purple and silver locomotives look odd

>> on the N&W right-of-way. N&W railroaders have already coined a name

>> for the ACL color scheme: They call it "polkberry juice".

>>   A foreman said they had quite a job mixing paint to simulate the

>> ACL purple, but they finally did. They painted out "Atlantic Coast

>> Line" and painted over it in silver letters "Norfolk & Western".

>>   The Pocahontas that pulled out for Radford last night was the

>> first passenger train on the N&W main line to be pulled all the way

>> from Norfolk to Cincinnati by diesel.

>>   J. L. Bradley was the engineer. He's been operating diesels

>> before, but the ACL engine was unfamiliar one to him, and he looked a

>> bit skittish as he yanked on the control and big "polkberry" colored

>> machine began to rumble.

>>   Steam will continue to pull many of the freight trains on the N&W

>> for perhaps two and a half years. Then it will be the end of the line

>> for them. The N&W announced in June it would buy 268 diesel units in

>> the next 30 months. They are to begin arriving in the fall at the

>> rate of 12 to 15 a month.

>>

>>

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

>>

>> - Ron Davis, Roger Link

>

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