B&O-N&W at Shenandoah Jct.

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In Baltimore_and_Ohio at yahoogroups.com, "bandoray" <raygrant1 at ...> wrote:

The photo for August 2011 (as in now) O Winston Link Calendar (Miss August??) is one of his typical night time photos at Shenandoah Jct with streamlined N&W K2a 4-8-2 #128 in front of the station (pointed east) with B&O #7 (Shenandoah) westbound behind the station. There is an overfull mail cart in the background by the eastbound B&O main which is waiting for something not soon, maybe #10 at 435 am (or maybe a mail train- somebody help).

A check of my 1954 Official Guide shows N&W #2 (eastbound?) due at Shenandoah Jct. 1250 am and leaving at 100 am. Curiously B&O #7 departs the Jct. at 1250, so the connection is little odd. By the way the Guide lists "the Jct." as a coupon station. What does that mean?



B&O-N&W at Shenandoah Jct.  was Re: Bachmann EM-1  (B&O LIST)
Posted by: "R.N. Nelson" rnnelson1 at verizon.net   wbaerr2
Fri Aug 12, 2011 6:35 pm (PDT)

A coupon station sold interline tickets which were coupons attached together. One coupon would be on the issuing road, the next on the connection road, etc. The top coupon would be from the originating point and the last coupon at the bottom was the destination, with whatever in between on coupons. At Shenandoah Jct, it was a N&W facility with a N&W Agent/Operator. 

As to the mail on the cart, mail from N&W Tr 2 went west on the B&O on B&O Tr 31 which ran after B&O Tr 7 and east to Washington, as you suspected, on B&O Tr 10. Tr 31 was a mail and express train, which by that time (1954) was operating Washington to Chicago.

Most of the mail on the B&O for the valley came off at Martinsburg and went by truck from there, called "Star Routes" The exception was the mail exchange at Shenandoah Jct. to N&W's trains 1 and 2. The mixed trains N&W 13/14 did not carry mail. 

Valley mail at Brunswick went to Tr 55 (Brunswick-Strasburg) from Tr 11. In fact, Tr 55's mail car came from Washington on the rear of Tr 11 and was cut off at Brunswick. It would return the same day and be on Tr 32 from Brunswick that night.

N&W Tr 1 ran southbound and N&W Tr 2 ran northbound

Norman