NW-Mailing-List NEW RAILROAD PROPOSED FOR FLOYD COUNTY

[NW Mailing List]

Did the N&W have ventilated box cars to transport barrels of apples back in 1910? 



Al Kresse 


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Today's Topics: 

   1. N&W in 1910--New connection (NW Mailing List) 
   2. N&W Class J's and Lynchburg, VA (NW Mailing List) 
   3. "Takin' Twenty" with the Virginian Brethren by Skip Salmon 
      (NW Mailing List) 


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Message: 1 
Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:51:35 -0500 
From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> 
Subject: N&W in 1910--New connection 
To: "3N&W Mailing List" <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> 
Message-ID: <63B699AA1EE2442396CF2A00765B1E38 at DellVostro> 
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" 

Bluefield Daily Telegraph 
October 5, 1910 

NEW RAILROAD PROPOSED FOR FLOYD COUNTY 
------ 
Short Line Will Penetrate Rich Section of the Country 
------ 
AN AERIAL TRAMWAY WILL ALSO BE BUILT 
------ 
Will Develop Arsenic and Zinc Mines And Will be of Great Advantage to Farmers of the County 
------ 
ROANOKE CAPITAL WILL PROBABLY BACK ENTERPRISE 
------ 
    Capitalists are investigating the feasibility of constructing a narrow gauge railroad from Shawsville, Va., to the foot of the mountain near the Floyd county line, and the establishment of a power plant at that point for operating an aerial tramway back into the mountains where valuable mineral deposits lie dormant. 
    In this section is located what is said to be the only arsenic mines in the world, valuable timber, and it is also a great fruit growing country.  It is therefore the development of these industries which is attracting capital. 
    The proposed road will start at Shawsville, a station on the Norfolk and Western railway, and will be about nine miles in length.  It will be necessary to build two miles of aerial tramway from the end of the proposed narrow gauge railway in order to get into the rich resources which will be developed. 
    Floyd county has no railroad within her borders although many attempts have been made to locate a line and the people of that county will no doubt generally welcome a road, even though it should be a narrow-gauge, for this would enable them to market their products and give them an outlet to their resources, something which they have for a long time felt the need of. 
    Besides this valuable arsenic mine, zinc deposits have also been located in that section of the county, and among the farm products apples are grown very extensively.  One farmer, it is said, sold from his crop 1,500 barrels of apples during the past season. 
    The Virginia Arsenic Mines Company, which are located on Copper Hill, in that section, would, it is believed, reopen their plant on a more extensive scale should this connecting line be built.  It is understood that considerable Roanoke capital is back of the project to build the road and aerial tramway. 
------ 
[Floyd County is the next county south of Montgomery County, where Shawsville is located, and Floyd County never got a railroad.] 

Gordon Hamilton 
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Message: 2 
Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:55:46 -0500 
From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> 
Subject: N&W Class J's and Lynchburg, VA 
To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org 
Message-ID: 
        <540e48701003101755u4782d46fl605cd01206d73ad4 at mail.gmail.com> 
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 

Regarding the "J" class of N&W power at Lynchburg and Monroe. 

Let me expand even a little further from what Ken Miller has so 
eloquently stated here, if I may regarding the N&W power being 
serviced by Southern. 

The Monroe yard and servicing facility was created by Southern some 7 
rail miles north of Lynchburg, ostensibly to eliminate having to yard 
and service engines in the bottom land near the James River. It was a 
mighty tough climb heading both north and south out of Lynchburg on 
the original alignment which wasn't really superceded until all the 
double-tracking in the area in the 1910-1920 period. The old Southern 
line between the Montview region and the present connection near the 
long-closed Island Yard on the James with CSX is THAT original 
connection southward, built by the Baltimore & Ohio RR in the 
1872-1874 period as they extended their Washington City, Virginia 
Midland & Great Southern line between Lynchburg and Danville. It is 
still a 1.5-2% climb southward and was similar crossing the James 
River on the old Orange Bridge originally constructed by the Orange & 
Alexandria in 1860, just in time for the 4 years of internal strife. 

For about 20 years, from 1912 until 1931/1932, both the new line of 
Southern using its new Kemper Street station (opened October 31,1912) 
and the old line using old Union Station continued to be used until 
there were just a couple of local Southern passenger trains stopping 
there. If any of our dedicated readers can fill in the exact date when 
the old line ceased as a through route, it would be greatly 
appreciated. I know it was sometime between mid-1931 and mid-1932 but 
haven't quite nailed it down yet. 

Southern placed its main coal facility (Weyburn), some 75 miles north 
of Monroe onto an emergency only status in early April 1952 and that 
pretty well signalled the end of mainline steam passenger operations 
on the line for Southern, although it is possible a few were used. 
Steam freights and work trains powered by steam continued for another 
six months, such that the coal bin which had nearly 400 tons in it in 
April had "dwindled" to something around 250 tons about 6 months later 
when Weyburn was closed completely. 

Meanwhile, the Tennessean and other name trains of Southern via 
Bristol to Washington, DC continued with N&W power from Bristol to 
Lynchburg and then to Monroe via steam and the J's powered them until 
December 31,1957 when they converted to thru Diesel operation for the 
entire trip. The coal facility was then no longer needed for Southern 
at Monroe after that date and today, there is little remaining of that 
once busy railroad yard. It's just another unremarkable wide spot on 
the railroad. 

Bob Cohen 


> ------------------------------ 

> 

> 

> I have seen a few color and B&W photos of J's coming from Lynchburg, VA and arriving in Roanoke, the caption of the photos states that the J's serviced at Lynchburg by Southern ?RR crews were not as well keep (shined up, polished). My question is, was Lynchburg all Southern RR crews, and no N&W men there to tend to the N&W Locos like the way they would in Roanoke or Williamson, ect. Also these photos were when Steam was still king on the N&W. I know that in the later years they did't tend to the Locos like they used to, which is a shame in it's self. Thanks in advance. 

> ------------------------------ 

> 

> The Class J would be used on the Southern through trains between 

> Bristol and Lynchburg. The N&W crew would run the train and 

> locomotive to Monroe, just north of Lynchburg where the Southern had 

> a yard and locomotive facility. The Class J would be cut off the 

> train, replaced with Southern power and continue north. The J would 

> be turned and serviced and go back out on the next scheduled run 

> through train back to Roanoke. The servicing done was as minimal as 

> possible to keep costs down. I remember seeing some correspondence 

> regarding the amount of coal to be added at Monroe and what the 

> Southern charged the N&W for the coal and water at Monroe. 

> 

> Most service on the Class J was based in Roanoke, which was the base 

> of the operation. This eliminated service costs at places like Monroe 

> or Cincinnati, where it was not at an N&W facility or N&W people to 

> handle the work. On the Southern run through trains, a fresh J would 

> be put on the south (west) bound train fresh at Roanoke, then run to 

> Bristol, be turned, serviced, and come back, stopping at Vicker 

> taking on coal and water, eun on to Roanoke, taking water at the 

> station in Roanoke, then run on to Monroe where they would be turned, 

> take water and coal, if necessary, then return to Roanoke where it 

> went to Shaffers Crossing for full service, including washing. ?You 

> can see a lot of that story in "Modern Coal Burning Steam 

> Locomotives" the film made for the N&W in 1944. 

> 

> Regarding keeping them clean, the Js were washed at Roanoke, but it 

> did not take long for the soot and dust to accumulate. 

> 

> Ken Miller 

> 

> On Mar 9, 2010, at 11:18 PM, NW Mailing List wrote: 

> 

>> I have seen a few color and B&W photos of J's coming from 

>> Lynchburg, VA and arriving in Roanoke, the caption of the photos 

>> states that the J's serviced at Lynchburg by Southern ?RR crews 

>> were not as well keep (shined up, polished). My question is, was 

>> Lynchburg all Southern RR crews, and no N&W men there to tend to 

>> the N&W Locos like the way they would in Roanoke or Williamson, 

>> ect. Also these photos were when Steam was still king on the N&W. I 

>> know that in the later years they did't tend to the Locos like they 

>> used to, which is a shame in it's self. Thanks in advance. 

>> 

> 

> Ken, 

> 

> ? Thanks for the email, could't ask for a better response. 

> 

> 

> 

> Subject: Re: N&W Class J's and Lynchburg, VA 

> Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:49:46 -0500 

> To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org 

> From: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org 

> 

> The Class J would be used on the Southern through trains between Bristol and Lynchburg. The N&W crew would run the train and locomotive to Monroe, just north of Lynchburg where the Southern had a yard and locomotive facility. The Class J would be cut off the train, replaced with Southern power and continue north. The J would be turned and serviced and go back out on the next scheduled run through train back to Roanoke. The servicing done was as minimal as possible to keep costs down. I remember seeing some correspondence regarding the amount of coal to be added at Monroe and what the Southern charged the N&W for the coal and water at Monroe. 

> 

> 

> Most service on the Class J was based in Roanoke, which was the base of the operation. This eliminated service costs at places like Monroe or Cincinnati, where it was not at an N&W facility or N&W people to handle the work. On the Southern run through trains, a fresh J would be put on the south (west) bound train fresh at Roanoke, then run to Bristol, be turned, serviced, and come back, stopping at Vicker taking on coal and water, eun on to Roanoke, taking water at the station in Roanoke, then run on to Monroe where they would be turned, take water and coal, if necessary, then return to Roanoke where it went to Shaffers Crossing for full service, including washing. ?You can see a lot of that story in "Modern Coal Burning Steam Locomotives" the film made for the N&W in 1944. 

> 

> 

> Regarding keeping them clean, the Js were washed at Roanoke, but it did not take long for the soot and dust to accumulate. 

> 

> 

> Ken Miller 



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Message: 3 
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 08:57:28 -0500 
From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> 
Subject: "Takin' Twenty" with the Virginian Brethren by Skip Salmon 
To: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> 
Message-ID: <4B98F6C8.4090702 at vt.edu> 
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed 

Last night I had the pleasure of "Takin' Twenty" with 13 of the Brethren 
and Friends of the Virginian Railway. Attending for the first time was 
Monty Looney, retired from N&W/NS Accounts Receivable, who worked with our 
Ronnie Victory, son of Cornbread Victory. He told us that Ronnie was known 
as "Goucher" in the General Office Building, which was a surprise to us. Of 
course the Brethren had fun trying to figure out why... 

I passed around Casey Thomason's photo from railpictures.net of the 3 NS 
C40-9Ws, units 9874, 9632 and 9522, involved in the January 12, 2010 
trestle fire in Alabama. In this event, the engineer did not survive, but 
two other crew members jumped into the stream below and were rescued. To 
see the photo go to: 
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=316728 

Also passed was a group of photos sent to me by John Snidow, showing over 
300 GM vehicles damaged on the CP in their Oshawa Rail Yard when two loaded 
tri-levels "got loose" and rolled through the stop blocks and into the new 
truck parking lot. This prompted one of the Brethren to recall when 
"Cornbread" Victory let two loaded coal hoppers "get loose" and they rolled 
"softly" into the side of a VGN passenger train sitting in the station in 
Roanoke. 

Also shown was my latest ebay purchase, a Norfolk Southern Police yellow, 
black and white badge patch with "Railroads" on it, with a silver star near 
the bottom. 

For "show and tell", I spread out on a table the contents of one of the MRE 
(Meals Ready to Eat) dinners currently issued by our military, and being 
used as emergency food in places like Haiti, during earthquake rescue. This 
meal was a surprise to most of the Brethren who served in WWII and Korea, 
and were issued C-Rations. This meal had beef ravioli, beef snacks (jerky), 
chocolate pop tart, cookies, crackers, cheese spread, coffee, lemon-lime 
drink, hot sauce (tiny glass bottle), spoon, salt, pepper, artificial 
creamer, toilet paper, chewing gum, towelette, long handled spoon, matches 
as well as a Electrolyte Flameless heater that uses about 1/3 cup of water 
to heat up the meat or beverage. (No cigarettes are included now.) Ruf 
Wingfield and Wis Sowder remembered the little cans of fruit cocktail that 
they used a "P-38" can opener to open. Ruf said that the meat in the cans 
had about an inch of fat on top and the crackers "were like bricks" in the 
C-Rations. This display drew a crowd and also displayed was the list of 
menus for the 24 different meals available in this series of MREs. Scotty 
Scott ordered a #16 "Chicken Fajita" 
from this menu when our waitress, Princess, took our orders... 

The ebay report this times includes "Virginian Railway Handbook" for 
$35.51; Photo of VGN MOW car ("Dixie"?) for $12.55; VGN check of 8/27/14 
for $10.05; Slide of VGN 2-8-2 #430 for $11.49; 8X10 photo of Pacific #213 
under the wire in Roanoke for $11.49; and a 1957 VGN Annual Report for $18.51. 

The jewel from the past is like one in Jim Blackstock's Hamilton 992B, 21 
jewel watch given to him by his Dad, Peter Blackstock, N&W Norfolk Division 
passenger conductor on trains 3 and 4 is from June 17, 2004: "Jimmy 
Whittaker, VGN call boy, told of once being pressed into road service. It 
was a Christmas Eve and all of the available crews were called. Am empty 
coal hopper train still needed a fireman. A call went out for volunteers, 
and Jimmy was made a fireman on a westbound, Roanoke to Mullens, pulled by 
a EL-2B set". 

Billy Daniel brought for "show and tell" a recent purchase of his. His Dad, 
who was a carpeck on the VGN, had a Hamilton 992B "Railway Special" and 
Bill always wanted one like it. Recently he found one in a local jewelry 
store and purchased it. Landon got his book to see when it was made (by 
looking up serial number). When the back was removed from the "like new" 
gold gem, no one could make out the tiny serial numbers. Bill's 
granddaughter Kinsey, who had a ballet lesson later last night, and had 
just show us how she could dance on her toes, immediately read out the 
numbers "0425542". This of course led us to a discussion on how old all of 
us were getting. Someone told Ruf "you are so old that I bet you list your 
zone improvement plan code on return addresses in Roman Numerals..." 

Time to pull the pin on this one! 

Departing Now from V248, 

Skip Salmon 

__._,_.___ 



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