N&W in 1908 -- Big Stony

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Bluefield Daily Telegraph
September 18, 1908

WILL PENETRATE RICH UNDEVELOPED SECTION
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Gang of Fifty Men Leave Roanoke to Work on Big Stony Extension

    Roanoke Times.  A gang of fifty men left here yesterday for Big Stony, from which point they will be taken to the point where the work of constructing the Big Stony extension is being prosecuted.
    The Big Stony Branch, which belongs to the Norfolk and Western system, has been completed to Interior, a distance of fifteen miles, and the work of building an additional track of twenty-three miles is being pushed ahead vigorously.
    This road is intended to penetrate the Potts Creek country, a rich and largely undeveloped section.
    Over in the Potts Valley there are said to be great deposits of iron ore of unusually good quality.  As a rule the iron ores in this part of the world do not rank with those from some other sections, such as Lake Superior, Cuba, etc., but the ore from Potts Valley is said to contain a splendid percentage of iron.
    The Virginia Iron, Coal and Coke Company is largely interested in this Potts Creek ore field, and by means of the extension that the Norfolk and Western is now constructing they will be able to secure a large and valuable addition to their source of supply.
    The Big Stony  road encounters a considerable grade in crossing the mountains between Interior and Potts Creek.  The highest point to be reached is 2,800 feet above sea level.
    Potts Creek lies close to the border line between Virginia and West Virginia.  At one point the new road penetrates West Virginia, but in the main it lies within the Old Dominion.  Potts Creek flows in the direction of Clifton Forge, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad is now engaged in constructing a branch line up the creek.
    A large force of men are at work on the Norfolk and Western extension, and it is expected that the proposed line will be completed some time next spring.
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Gordon Hamilton
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