"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. I mentioned to the 
Brethren about the new header photo on this site showing "downtown" 
Victoria when she first became a rail town. I passed around a copy of 
the September 27, 2010 "Richmond Times-Dispatch" article about "Hopeful 
signs in Victoria as town gears up for fall festival", this weekend. 
Greg Elam is to be commended for providing the Richmond paper 
information for this piece. "I've told people recessions come and 
recessions go, but we've been in a recession for 50 years," said Greg 
Elam, a member of the Town Council who led the acquisition of the 
caboose for the town's park, and remains its caretaker". I'll add that 
Greg had a hand in everything associated with, and the securing of, the 
Rail Park, including the low sided Virginian gondola that the Roanoke 
Chapter NRHS donated. If you can make it to Victoria this Saturday, be 
sure to give Greg a big thank you for his untiring and faithful service 
to the cause!

Also passed around were the Summer 2010 "NRHS Bulletin" and "Trains 
Locomotive 2010, The magazine of today's motive power", which featured 
the NS 999 battery powered locomotive.

I mentioned to the Brethren that I spoke to John Euton at the last 
Motive Power Supervisor's breakfast about doing an article on the slug 
that was made from a Virginian EL-C shortly after the merger. John 
worked on this project and gave me some information and will give me 
more, as I do the research. The pantograph stripped EL-C was modified 
with electrical equipment to be connected to a Virginian Trainmaster for 
remote power for yard service. John said that this set-up worked well at 
the Shaffers Crossing hump. More on this later.

The Jewel from the Past is from September 16, 2004: Communications were 
discussed, and it was clear that the operating department of the 
Virginian Railway did not have radios until almost right before the 
merger with the N&W. They then only had the heavy portable type in the 
cabs and the signal went from the cab antenna to a small one when they 
left the caboose. Cabooses were equipped with an antenna in the center 
of the cupola for road communication. Locomotives had a permanent one. 
Hand signals during daylight, and lanterns at night, were the primary 
means of communication before the radios were used. With trackside train 
signals at only a few locations, and train orders and good watches being 
used for meets, a constant vigil was required for a safe trip".

I showed the Brethren the first day cover that the Big Lick Stamp Club 
issued last Saturday at their meeting to celebrate the 100 anniversary 
of the VGN Station in Roanoke. Several of the Brethren bought this VGN 
collector's item. I purchased some of these covers along with protective 
sleeves and had the Grandin Road Post Office place the cancellation on 
them. This makes this item an instant piece of history and is already a 
collectors item for VGN memorabilia collectors. The Club also placed 
their cancellation on them which shows the Station, Mill Mountain with 
Star, and a VGN Steam locomotive in the background, on the ones I 
purchased. I am selling them as a fund-raiser for the Station. Contact 
me off line if you want some. At the Show I handed out the Station 
flyers and had one avid stamp collector make a substantial contribution 
to the Restoration Fund.

 From last week's report I got a question from the N&WHS mailing list 
asking "Did military movements unload at Sewalls Point, which was 
adjacent to the Naval Air Station and ship piers?" Wis Sowder and Glen 
McLain, who were clerks at Sewells Point and Norfolk, do not remember 
ever seeing or hearing about troops being unloaded at Sewells Point. 
Both also commented that even though there were no unloading platforms 
at the coal piers, the Army and Navy could have unloaded troop trains there.

Landon Gregory and Frank Breedlove grew up on farms that produced 
tobacco. Both remembered the VGN hauling the "baskets" in box cars from 
Brookneal, Kenbridge, Leesville and Altavista. For about twenty minutes, 
the two Virginian veterans discussed the fine points of raising, 
weeding, bug killing, harvesting, curing, packing and auctioning 
tobacco. Both agreed that "cured" meant no moisture in the leaf. Most of 
the "VGN" tobacco was bright leaf cigarette type which was flue cured 
(heated in barns to remove moisture) versus the Lynchburg "dark" 
type(N&W) that was used for cigars and pipes. Frank Breedlove said that 
he remembered George Daniels, a car inspector, who chewed all the time. 
Frank said "for the first several years I thought he had a growth on the 
side of this cheek before discovering he chewed". Landon Gregory said 
that you could tell if a person was "level headed" if the tobacco juice 
came out the same, on both sides of his mouth!"

Time to pull the pin on this one!

Departing Now from V248,

Skip Salmon

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