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

[NW Mailing List]

Last night I had the pleasure of "Takin' Twenty" with seven of the 
Brethren and Friends of the Virginian Railway. We signed a Happy 
Birthday card for VGN clerk Wister Sowder, who will be 84 on Saturday. 
Wis is now a gentleman farmer who raises fruits and vegetables and sells 
them at the Farmer's Market in Salem. Wis lives on a farm, nestled in a 
hollow at the bottom of Bent Mountain, just below the Blue Ridge 
Parkway. Some of the locals consider this area the south end of the 
Shenandoah Valley and Wis the "Mayor of Poages Mill". As an ironic 
connection, the author of the famous book that the TV western "The 
Virginian" was made from, is Wister Owen...

We talked a lot about last Thursday's celebration at the Roanoke Chapter 
NRHS meeting for the 100 year anniversary of the opening of the VGN 
Passenger Station in Roanoke. Attending the meeting and sharing their 
Virginian experiences were the following: Greely Wyatt, Electrical 
Foreman at Mullens; Russell McDaniel, Master Mechanic at Victoria; 
Raymond East, VGN Fireman and Engineer; Wister Sowder, VGN Clerk; Frank 
Breedlove, VGN Brakeman and Conductor and Landon Gregory, VGN Operator 
and Dispatcher. I brought a photo of the special cake with the Station's 
photo on it that we enjoyed at the meeting, for the rest of the Brethren 
to see. The Chapter members were really impressed when Raymond East told 
of firing old #4, the last VGN Steam engine left, that is now in the 
Virginian Museum of Transportation. Landon Gregory read to the group a 
morning report that he made as operator in 1958 at Victoria to the VGN 
brass in Norfolk, telling about train movements, bad orders, and general 
information to bring them up to date.

To answer a question by George Weber of the NC Transportation Museum in 
Spencer, where a storm damaged some buildings recently, I asked the 
Brethren if they recalled a hurricane or storm disrupting service on the 
VGN. Landon Gregory remembered that in 1958 while working as operator at 
South Norfolk "MO" Tower , the eye of a hurricane came with an "enormous 
stillness" followed by a furry that lifted the roof off a nearby 
building. He said that all of the relays in the tower "started 
chattering and track indicators went red which meant that all signals 
were knocked out". Raymond East told of high winds causing much arcing 
when the electric locomotives passed through the yard.

The Jewel from the Past like one in Kersey Harper's Hamilton 992 
"Railway Special" with gold chain, bought from a 90 year old engineer, 
is from July 22, 2004: "A discussion of the runaway at Kopperston was 
made and all pointed to Russell McDaniel for the answer. Russell who was 
at Kopperston after this happened to investigate the runaway, stated 
that the Trainmaster loco had No 24 RL air brakes. The accident was 
caused by the blockage of air from the "bail off" feature when a valve 
stuck causing the brakes not to function properly. He said that he 
thought it was unit #55 which was just out of the FM factory. Note: This 
incident prompted a "recall" of all FM Trainmasters in service. McDaniel 
lead the investigation and discovered the cause and passed it on to 
Fairbanks Morse. Maybe Toyota could use his expertise now...

Ebay sales this time include: VGN 2-10-10-2 etching $17.77; 1925 VGN RWY 
Electrification booklet $26.25; Original slide of 1960 FM #151 with 
hopper train and motor car in foreground at Salem Connection $76.00.

Kersey Harper was assigned one of the Virginian Contract Supervisor jobs 
from the 1959 merger and was tin shop supervisor in Roanoke Shops. He is 
a very quiet man who possesses a dry sense of humor and is known in 
Roanoke as quite an avid golfer. He told us about an old school that was 
torn down near where he lives, and the discovery of a skeleton in a 
cloak room. Nearby the bones was a trophy with the inscription: "Hide 
and Go Seek Champion, 1931"....

Time to pull the pin on this one!

Departing Now from V248,

Skip Salmon

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