N&W in 1910--Huge rocks

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-----Original Message-----
From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
To: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
Sent: Wed, Sep 30, 2009 1:53 pm
Subject: RE: N&W in 1910--Huge rocks



Would anybody care to speculate how dangerous it was to travel by rail "back in 
the day". I've seen so many articles (thank you Gordon and others) now about 
train wrecks, malicious vandalism, fights, shootings, etc. Was train travel just 
that much more dangerous in general around 1910, or was it the areas served by 
the N&W railroad resembled the "Wild West"? Or maybe it was that so many more 
people traveled by railroads?

Mike Weeks
Greenville NC


Mike:

Sabotage existed on the N&W beyond 1910.  On April 21, 1932, No 4 Eng 133

passed a "clear" signal at the west end of Union (Ohio) middle track, entered

a switch lined to the middle track and turned over.  Investigation revealed

that someone had manipulated the bond wires so that the reversed turnout failed

to shunt the signal.   C&O's Limeville Bridge crosses over N&W east of 

Portsmouth.  During World War II, a Nazi sabotage group had targeted that

structure for demolition (along with Horseshoe Curve and others).  Whether or

not N&W would have been affected, I can't say.  U-boats had put the demolition

party ashore near Jupiter Inlet, FL and on Long Island, but they were discovered.

                          Harry Bundy  



    



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