"Takin' Twenty" with the Virginian Brethren by Skip Salmon

[NW Mailing List]

Last night I had the pleasure of "Takin' Twenty" with eight of the Brethren 
and Friends of the Virginian Railway. We signed a Happy Birthday card for 
Bill Daniel, whose father was a carman on the VGN and his grandfather, 
George Daniel was Superintendent of the VGN New River Division. Bill was 
born on Valentine's day 1952. He brought his granddaughter, Kinsey and 
grandson Kenan, with him last night.

I got several responses from last week's NS form SS2010 "Hurt Feeling" 
report, from other rail lines, individuals and one power company wanting a 
copy...

Passed around were the Fall 2009 NRHS Bulletin and the January/February 
"Biz NS". The "Biz NS" was mainly about the health and wellness of NS 
employees with "Take a powerful path to a healthier lifestyle" article 
highlighting Mary Pitman, NS Manager Health Promotions. I asked the 
Brethren if the VGN had anything like this and Rufus Wingfield replied "we 
didn't even have a magazine". Jeff Sanders remembered when the WellNS 
Program began, large coolers of Gater-Aide were available to employees on 
hot summer days...

The ebay report this time includes the following: 1939 VGN Timetable for 
$36.08; 20 small photos of VGN steam engines for $26.11; Slide of 2-8-2 
#442 at Victoria for $20.51; Slide of EL-2B #127 $15.49; Photo of 1924 VGN 
wreck at Artsville, WV for $18.27 and a VGN short globe lantern serial 
#K3208 for $280.76.

I told the Brethren about my regular Sunday afternoon watching of NFL 
football with the TV sound on "mute", and listening to "Back to the Blue 
Ridge", a bluegrass program on PBS radio. Last Sunday while watching the 
prelude to the Super bowl(WHO DAT), the blue grass show started with a very 
early version of "The Wreck of the Old 97". When the song got to the verse 
that normally says "It's a mighty rough road from Lynchburg to Danville, 
and lies on a three-mile grade", I heard something different. Originally, 
the line was "and Lima's on a three-mile grade". I asked the Brethren about 
this, and Landon Gregory had a very interesting story. As a teenager, he 
lived about a half-mile north of Danville, on State Route 41 near a road 
crossing on the old Southern Railway at the bottom of the White Oak 
Mountain grade called Lima (named after the bean?). He told of working for 
a tobacco farmer near the very spot in the song. His Dad ran a small store 
at Lima. The Southern line was moved later to where the NS line is today. 
Our own Landon Gregory, former VGN operator, wrecked his Dad's 1931 Model A 
Ford into a tree stump on the old road bed pretty close to where ex-N&W 
engineer Steve Brody was "whittling"(trying to make up lost time) and 
probably first realized he couldn't make the curve...

The "Jewel from the Past", like one in Frank Breedlove's Hamilton model 
992B, 21 jewel gold pocket watch, purchased in 1955 from the Southern Pawn 
Shop in Roanoke for $30, is from May 3, 2004: "Slick" Inge told of Bob 
Graham, VGN engineer, telling him about a fireman who was making his first 
run, west out of Roanoke on the VGN. When they went over the high bridge at 
Kegly (Blacklick Bridge) the fireman said "this is my last trip here. I 
don't like floating from mountain top to mountain top". He had to be 
carried back to Roanoke by automobile.

NOTE: If you would like for your gold "Railroad Approved" jeweled 
pocketwatch to be featured in a future "Jewel from the Past", let me know 
by email at gkholine at cox.net. I need the brand, model, number of jewels, 
and anything interesting about the purchase or a story relating to the watch.

Glen McLain told about a farmer being pulled over by a state trooper for 
speeding. As he was writing the ticket, flies began buzzing around the 
trooper's head. The farmer said, "Having trouble with circle flies there, 
are ya?" The trooper stopped writing and said "Well yeah, if that's what 
they are. I never heard of circle flies". The farmer says "circle flies are 
common on farms, circling around the back end of a horse". The trooper 
replies "are you trying to call me a horse's ass?". "Oh no, officer, I have 
too much respect for law enforcement officers to even think about 
that....hard to fool them flies, though".

Time to pull the pin on this one!

Departing Now from V248,

Skip Salmon

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