"Takin' Twenty with the Virginian Brethren"

[NW Mailing List]

Last night I had the pleasure of "Takin' Twenty" with nine of the Brethren 
and Friends of the Virginian Railway. We signed a Birthday card for 
Virginian Brakeman and Conductor Ken McLain. Ken spent most of his time 
with the VGN RWY at Sewalls Point, and after the merger in 1959, felt that 
the N&W was not for him, so he went to work for GE. Ken is our "joke man" 
and supplies written Internet jokes for the Brethren to enjoy at each 
session. He and his wife own several properties and Ken spends most of his 
time "looking after his rentals". "Mac" turned 83 on Monday.

Recently I got an email from John Walker, Jr. of Norfolk, VA whose father 
"Johnny" Walker was a VGN machinist at Princeton. He was interested in 
where to find a G-4 T-Shirt, and I told him about our shirt man, Dal Cook 
of Lexington, NC. John grew up and went to school with our own Lloyd Lewis 
and was in the same Scout Troop. John remembered "watching the Railway 
Express workers unloading and loading stuff to and from the train to the 
express building". None of the Brethren knew VGN Machinist "Johnny" Walker.

Passed around was the last two Roanoke Chapter NRHS newsletters, "Turntable 
Times". The Nov-Dec issue highlighted a tribute to Elbert Miller who passed 
away Thanksgiving and an article by Kenney Kirkman "N&W takes over VGN 
Anniversary". The Jan-Feb issue has a photo of the old N&W station at Paint 
Bank on the cover. Also passed was a Wharton Separk photo off railpictures 
of an original Norfolk Southern train re-routed through Raleigh 10-14-73 on 
the old Seaboard Coast Line.

There has been a lot of discussion on this and the N&W site recently about 
"comsumption" and TB. Gibby Davis remembered when the TB Sanitarium was 
built at Catawba, VA in 1952. Gibby said "I've got a shed built from the 
lumber used for the concrete foundation at the Catawba Sanitarium". He 
recalled the old Catawba Valley Line right- of-way which is now part of 
State Route 311 which goes from Salem over the Catawba Mountain to the 
Sanitarium. "For a long time, the N&W brought coal for the hospital to the 
end of their spur at Thompson Memorial Drive and transferred it at their 
tipple to trucks to take it over the mountain".

I brought my latest Antique Shop purchase for "Show and Tell". It is a 
foundry pattern that was used to make Virginian Railway Trust Plates, two 
at a time. I have posted a photo of this unique VGN artifact on this site 
under "Skip's Photos". I wondered where the VGN actually made these plates. 
I contacted Russell McDaniel who told me that the VGN did not have a 
foundry in Princeton. Some of the Brethren suggested that they were 
possibly made in the Walker Foundry in Roanoke. Anyone out there have any 
information on where these Trust Plates may have been made, using my pattern?

The ebay report this time includes the following: 1945 VGN Timetable for 
$27.05; 1913 VGN pass for $15.50; Slide of VGN Steam engine and an Atlantic 
and Danville box car $22.72; Slide of EL-2B #127 went for
$29.99, and a 1948 VGN Annual Report sold at $23.49.

Wis Sowder brought old newspaper clippings showing two Roanoke County 
Sheriff's Deputies being killed by moonshiners with photos of the corpses 
still in the police car. The chase probably crossed the Virginian Railway 
tracks at Jefferson or Franklin in Roanoke on their way to the "Wettest 
County in the USA"...Franklin County, VA.

The "Jewel from the Past" like one in VGN Yardmaster Rufus Wingfield's 21 
jewel Elgin, B. W. Raymond that he got for $35 and a pint of "Three 
Feathers Whisky" is from April 1, 2004: VGN Clerk Jimmy Whittaker "told of 
a Virginian employee using his wife's annual pass to transport her (in her 
casket) from Roanoke to Princeton in a VGN box car". Russell "Slick" Inge, 
VGN Trainmaster said "the Virginian Railway routinely carried caskets for 
no charge".

Frank Breedlove, VGN Brakeman and Conductor always has colorful comments 
for our waitress, Princess. He was discussing his order of Captain Morgan 
shrimp when I asked a question that our friend Bob Cohen sent me recently: 
What disease did the "cured" ham once have? Without any hesitation, Frank 
replied "It must have been Swine Flu!"

Time to pull the pin on this one!

Departing Now from V248,

Skip Salmon

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