Midvale - August 19, 1969 A.D.

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As Gordon mentioned, it took several days for passenger service on the Southern to be restored, via detours over the N&W Shenandoah Division.  I was working at AF Tower on the RF&P that summer when traffic on the Southern came to a standstill.  I concluded my relief operator job when Steve Takacs, the usual second trick operator, advised that Train 29-41 would detour over the Harrisonburg Branch to Riverton Junction, then down the Shenandoah Valley to Roanoke.

Train 29-41 departed Alexandria at its usual time at about 11:45 PM.  Baggagemaster McCauley and Relief Conductor Paul Campbell ran on that trip.  Since I knew both of them, I rode in a vestibule with the top-half door just about all of the way.  I think we reached Front Royal around 3 AM.  Paul picked up a Shenandoah Division employee timetable at Shenandoah and gave it to me.

Daybreak came around Stuarts Draft.  I think there was about 40 miles of 10 mph slow orders, mostly along the James River and north of Lithia.  We reached Roanoke around noon.  I assume the train that usually split at Monroe was done at Roanoke, with 29 back-tracking to Lynchburg and 41 continuing to Bristol.

The Northbound 38-42 was to depart at around 2 PM, I think, which was the first train back to Washington, DC.  I rode it northbound after walking around Roanoke a bit, which was my first visit to the city.  We reached Alexandria around 2 AM as I recall, so I had been up for about 26 hours.

It's 10:04 PM as I write this.  I'd have to check OS sheets I kept from that summer, but 40 years ago tonight I was probably working at AF.  Where have four decades gone?

Good night,

Frank Scheer
f_scheer at yahoo.com