"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. There was a weather 
forecast of snow, so some stayed home.

Passed around for the Brethren to peruse were the N&W (and VGN) 
Historical Society magazine "The Arrow" and their "The Commissary" a 
catalogue with many Virginian Railway sale items, books, CDs, and other 
rail materials. Also passed around were the latest "NRHS Bulletin" and 
"NRHS News"

The Jewel from the Past is from January 27, 2005: "Jimmy Whittaker 
remembered starting with the VGN in 1950 and his daily pay was $9.99. He 
was going to high school at the time and worked the swing shift, 
daylight Saturday and Sunday; second shift Monday and Tuesday; and 
midnight on Wednesday, and graduated from Jefferson High School while 
"calling" crews for the VGN. 'Slim' Sowder also remembered that back 
then 'there were no holidays and it never rained or snowed on the 
railroad'. They recalled in 1955 when the VGN went to a 5-day work week, 
a lot of the 'old timers' didn't see how they could make it, but with 
the increase in daily pay, they made out OK. 'Slick' Inge remembered 
that at the Navy Yard near Sewell's Point, during the war, help was hard 
to keep, so a paymaster paid off every day in cash and usually in $2 
bills. He said some days a whole crew would get paid and their lanterns 
would be collected the next day, when they went over to the Navy Yards 
for higher pay.

Passed also was a list of the ex-VGN FM Trainmasters that were converted 
to N&W "Slugs" with their new numbers. I was also able to show the 
Brethren an original VGN EL-2B "Operators Manual". The 6800 HP EL-2Bs 
were numbered EL-37 and 38 as #125; EL 39 and 40 as #126; EL 41 and 42 
as #127 and EL 43 and 44 as #128. These 150'8" streamliners were 15'6" 
tall with the pantographs down and weighed 500 tons. They had 38 notches 
(now diesels have 8) in the controller and they had a separate 
Excitation Handle controlling traction and dynamic 
braking(regenerative). These giants also had an elaborate system of 
traction motor cut-outs that the N&W never had on GP and SD units.

In response to Abe's inquiry showing the great aerial photos of the 
famous VGN wreck location, west of the Hardy tunnel in 1933, I say yes, 
it would make a great addition to this site. Also you can still reach 
the spot where the VGN had a Station in Hardy, VA. It is about 8 miles 
east of Roanoke on State Route 24. Watch for "Old Station Road" and take 
a right and go under a short rail trestle. An immediate left past the 
trestle will take you to the spot of the station. Several years ago I 
was asked by Greg Elam if I could take him to the site of the wreck. 
Greg's grandfather, Marshall "Motorcar" Foor was the fireman on VGN MC 
2-8-2 #472 and stayed aboard, and survived the crash into a big rock 
west of the tunnel. I took Greg and Aubrey Wiley to the tunnel and 
crossed the private property of a friend of mine to the sight of the 
wreck. When Greg saw the scar on the bank of the Roanoke River where his 
grandfather survived, it was a very emotional event for him and myself. 
To see a photo I took that day of the Hardy tunnel, go to:
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=96219
Greg is the caretaker of the VGN caboose #342 and low gon at the 
Victoria Rail Park. Aubrey has an account of the wreck with photos on 
his web site.

For "Show and Tell" Landon Gregory brought a silver spoon and knife 
marked "VIRGINIAN" that a friend of his gave him. What a friend! If any 
of you happen to have a fork marked similarly, please respond to Landon 
so he will have a set. Any plates, cups, butter pats, saucers, other 
silver marked for our fallen flag out there????

This Saturday at the Virginia Museum of Transportation will be "Trains 
Lover Saturday". Rail artist Andrew Fletcher from California will be 
there and the Roanoke Valley Model Engineers HO Club will have an open 
house. They have a layout in the basement of the VMT and this is one of 
the rare times that the public is invited to observe their operations. 
The entrance fee Saturday has been lowered to $5 and the gift shop is 
offering a 15% discount.

I have been asked why I close each of these reports with "Departing Now 
from V248". The Whitethorne District milepost #248 is the closest old 
VGN milepost to my home, so I close with this. It is located just under 
the Peters Creek bridge that crosses the old VGN north of Lee Highway, 
Brandon Ave. I have posted a photo on this site under "Skip's Photos" 
that I took last Saturday of an NS coal train approaching MP V248. This 
train had about 100 "Top Gons" similar to the thousands of coal cars 
that have already rolled past this very spot marked "VIRGINIAN"...

Time to pull the pin on this one!

Departing Now from V248,

Skip Salmon

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