Randolph Street Interlocking - pre-1950s

[NW Mailing List]

To the best of my recollection, the W-S line going north in the vicinity of 
Randolph Street had an extremely sharp curve and crossed the eastward main 
freight line used by Norfolk Division trains on a crossing equipped with 
movable points.  It then continued on to a switch connection with the 
westward main.  Thus southbound W-S District trains had to move thru a 
facing point crossover east of Jefferson Street, then to the switch leading 
to the W-S District, over the movable point crossing of the eastward main 
line and around the sharp curve.

This arrangement continued with the "new" Randolph Street Tower until about 
1956 when the Hunter Viaduct was built.  At that time the W-S route was 
realigned with reduced curvature and a switch leading off the eastward main. 
The movable point crossing was removed.  The old facing point crossover east 
of Jefferson Street was replaced with a trailing point crossover so that 
northbound W-S District trains could have access to the westward main.

Louis Newton
--------------------------------------------------
From: <nw-mailing-list-request at nwhs.org>
Sent: Monday, July 18, 2011 12:00 PM
To: <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
Subject: NW-Mailing-List Digest, Vol 71, Issue 21


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> Today's Topics:

>

>   1. Re: Regarding: No Lost Battalion Post. (NW Mailing List)

>   2. Re: Rural Retreat, VA station update (NW Mailing List)

>   3. Re: Randolph Street Interlocking - pre-1950s (NW Mailing List)

>   4. Virginian in 1911--Hales Gap Tunnel (NW Mailing List)

>

>

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

>

> Message: 1

> Date: Sun, 17 Jul 2011 09:47:29 -0400

> From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

> Subject: Re: Regarding: No Lost Battalion Post.

> To: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

> Message-ID: <4E22E7F1.7010908 at ix.netcom.com>

> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

>

> On 7/16/2011 9:30 PM, NW Mailing List wrote:

>> Sorry, that post was meant for a different group.  Somehow the two N&W

>> email addresses got included.

>>

> (dnip)

>

> Keep making that error!  The photos were interesting and I look forward

> to seeing more.

>

> Take care

> Bill

>

> -- 

> ==  Scale Model Railroad Products  ==

> == Manufacturer - Retailer - Importer ==

>

> Bill&  Diane Wade

>

> B.T.S.

> RR 1  Box 141A

> Belington, WV  26250

>

> Phone: 304-823-3729

> FAX: 304-823-2901

> http://www.btsrr.com

>

> We wish you Fair Winds and Following Seas.

>

>

>

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

>

> Message: 2

> Date: Sun, 17 Jul 2011 11:42:53 -0400

> From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

> Subject: Re: Rural Retreat, VA station update

> To: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

> Message-ID:

> <CACXV1aiQe4ghiaH5UhAy7pMGbnSBM92=09muLWGD_vG_U-aZnw at mail.gmail.com>

> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"

>

> I guess this mean I really need to hurry up and get off my butt and go

> railfanning down there in the next couple weeks to get a shot of a train 

> at

> the station before it moves.

>

> Nathan

>

> On Sun, Jul 17, 2011 at 1:00 AM, NW Mailing List

> <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>wrote:

>

>> RR depot move in the works

>>  By Staff

>> Published: July 15, 2011

>>

>> By AMANDA EVANS/Staff

>>

>> The whole process has been like a slow-moving train, long and black.

>> And Jack Weaver has decided to leave the station, figuratively speaking.

>> He?s finally pulling up his stake in trying to preserve the train depot 

>> in

>> Rural Retreat.

>>

>> ?My love for it is the only reason it?s still here,? Weaver said.

>> This isn?t the first time Weaver?s threatened to demolish or move the

>> depot.  This struggle over ownership, property rights and historic

>> designation has been going on for years.

>>

>> It appears, though, he?s as serious as he?s ever been.

>>

>> He?s already paid more than $30,000 in advance to have the depot moved, 

>> he

>> said. Within the past week or so, crews have begun digging earth from 

>> under

>> the decrepit building, supporting the structure with steel beams.

>> The only hang-up now, Weaver said, is waiting to meet at the end of next

>> week with engineers to discuss the feasibility of moving electrical and

>> telephone lines along West Lee Highway so the tall building can be moved 

>> to

>> the property he owns just a few miles away.

>>

>> Once he can get the details from the engineers, the move will begin

>> promptly, hopefully in August.

>>

>> It will be moved in two parts, Weaver explained, the long narrow part and

>> then the square front section.

>>

>> ?If, for whatever reason, it can?t be moved,? Weaver vowed, ?it will be

>> destroyed.?  Salvage crews will take any usable pieces from the depot and

>> reuse them in historical restoration projects.

>>

>> Even if the town were to acquire the land before Weaver finished moving 

>> it,

>> he isn?t sure he?d consider selling it to them at this point.  The legal

>> battle for ownership in 2009 and 2010 left a sour taste in his mouth.

>>

>> After a heated public hearing in 2009, the town decided to condemn the

>> depot in an effort to try and restore it, which is what many

>> people?including Weaver and council members?ultimately wanted to see 

>> happen.

>> The action of the government seizing land under the guise of eminent 

>> domain

>> was ruled illegal by Judge Josiah Showalter in Wythe County Circuit Court 

>> a

>> year later.

>>

>> ?The Town of Rural Retreat cannot condemn this property for historical

>> purposes,? Showalter wrote in his ruling.  He deemed the building 

>> Weaver?s

>> personal property that ?can be removed/transported anywhere or relocated 

>> to

>> another place.?

>>

>> Weaver, who has owned the building since the late 1980s said he might

>> consider selling the depot if the town agreed to pay him for everything 

>> he

>> has invested in the building, which Weaver said totals about $135,000. 

>> It

>> was appraised at $6,000 at the time, according to Wythe County tax 

>> records.

>> Weaver declined the town?s offer of $30,000 for the depot in March 2009.

>>

>> What it really comes down to, Weaver said, is being sick and tired of

>> bureaucracy.  For years, he said, he?s been trying to determine if the 

>> depot

>> is eligible for an official historic designation since he doesn?t own the

>> land it sits on.  Norfolk Southern Railway Corporation owns the 0.3 acres 

>> of

>> land the depot sits on, leased on a year-to-year basis at $660 per year.

>>

>> He?s also trying to get a guaranteed mortgage to restore the depot.

>>  Letters, e-mails and phone calls to state officials, elected leaders and

>> department heads requesting guidance and clarification have largely gone

>> without answer.

>>

>> And he?d love for the town to get historical tax credit for the building,

>> he said, but he?s not going to just give them the building.

>>

>> ?The red tape is entirely around the depot,? Weaver said.

>>

>> So that?s why Weaver said he?s finally come to these measures?move the

>> building onto his personal land to begin an herbal winery business or

>> demolish the building and take his herbal winery business plan elsewhere.

>> ?After two decades, I?m ready for [the depot] to go out or down.?

>> Amanda Evans can be reached at 228-6611 or aevans at wythenews.com

>>

>>

>> Source:

>> http://www.swvatoday.com/news/article/rr_depot_move_in_the_works/10663/

>>

>> As of: July 17, 2011

>> ________________________________________

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>

>

>

>

> -- 

> Nathan Simmons

> trainman51 at gmail.com

> http://www.t-51.org

> KI4MSK

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> Message: 3

> Date: Sun, 17 Jul 2011 14:18:52 -0400

> From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

> Subject: Re: Randolph Street Interlocking - pre-1950s

> To: "NW Mailing List" <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

> Message-ID: <5FAB488210674960BDCA7089841430DB at LenovoG550>

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>

> Abe:

> The new interlocking at Randolph St, completed in 1950, replaced the old 

> one which was built 46 years earlier (1905).

> Glenn

>

>

> From: NW Mailing List

> Sent: Saturday, July 16, 2011 11:13 PM

> To: N&W Mailing List

> Subject: Randolph Street Interlocking - pre-1950s

>

>

> Does anyone know if a print exist of the "old" Randolph Street Tower's 

> interlocking in Roanoke?  By "old," I mean the interlocking when it was 

> handled by armstrong levers and mechanical linkage, before the circa-1952 

> (?) "modern" Randolph Street "all relay" interlocking.

>

> Also looking for the date the original interlocking was constructed there.

>

>

>

> I conjecture that the old, mechanical interlocking handled just the 

> switches to the Shenandoah Division and perhaps a crossover or two at the 

> station, with switches at the west end of the station, Henry Street, and 

> perhaps also the east end of the station, handled by switch tenders.  What 

> I have not figured out is how the tracks off the Punkin' Vine were worked.

>

>

> -- abram burnett

>

>

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> Message: 4

> Date: Sun, 17 Jul 2011 22:11:46 -0400

> From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

> Subject: Virginian in 1911--Hales Gap Tunnel

> To: "4VGN Ry Yahoo Group"

> <VirginianRailwayEnthusiasts at yahoogroups.com>, "3N&W Mailing List"

> <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

> Message-ID: <18738785A76C4690BF94712EC826CA24 at DellVostro>

> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

>

> Bluefield Daily Telegraph

> December 9, 1911

>

> HALE [SIC] TUNNEL REOPENED

> ------

>    The Hale Tunnel on the Virginian Railway, which caved in about three 

> months ago, has been opened for traffic.  During the time that the tunnel 

> was closed for repairs the Virginian Railway used the Norfolk and Western 

> tracks connecting at Big Stoney Junction and running to Kelleysville 

> [sic].  In order to prevent future cavings of tunnels the Virginian 

> Railway has entered into a contract for the lining with concrete of a 

> number of tunnels on the line.  The work will take several months.

> ------

> [As reported in a previous posting of a BDT article, the tunnel collapsed 

> on August 14, 1911.  A Virginian track chart gives the tunnel name as 

> "Hales Gap" and the west end of the detour as "Kellysville."]

>

> Gordon Hamilton

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