"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 had several photos of 
our Fall Excursion Trains last weekend to Abingdon/Bristol and 
Bluefield. The Roanoke Chapter NRHS had over a thousand passengers on 
the two trips. I told the Brethren about meeting several of their fans, 
including Richard and Ann Hood of Thorncombe, NR, United Kingdom. Ann 
expressed to me that they really enjoy reading these "Takin' Twenty" 
reports and for me to "tell all the Brethren, Greetings from the United 
Kingdom". I responded to her: "Glad it makes it across the big pond!" 
Passengers from the following states purchased tickets:VA, NC, PA, DC, 
CA, CT, NJ, MD, NM, OH, NH, AL, TX, OR, FL, NY, DE, TN, MO, CO, GA, as 
well as Canada and the UK.

 >From last week, the photo of the old Virginian Railway B-37 derrick 
re-railing the NS B32 on the Coca Cola spur in Roanoke, was one the most 
viewed photo on the railpictures.net site last week with almost 6,000 
hits! Got a comment from a rail derrick fan who said the term "derrick" 
was originally used for oil drilling rigs, and came from Thomas Derrick, 
a hangman in the Elizabethan Era in the UK.

I told the Brethren about the N&W SD45 #1776 being voted "Peoples's 
Choice Award" as one of the top ten (#2) Endangered Artifacts by the 
Virginia Collection Institute and Virginia Association of Museums, in 
their recent poll. The Virginia Museum of Transportation will receive 
important publicity, tools, and training to help restore the 1776 back 
to her original glory. To help, go to the VMT web site.

Given to each of the Brethren was a copy of the Oct-Nov-Dec issue of the 
N&W (and VGN) Historical Society magazine "The Arrow". This issue's main 
story is "The Electric VGN, Part 1" with a set of "Squareheads" pulling 
a merchandise train near the Riverside Crossing east of Kumis on the 
cover. Also it has a story reprint of a great VGN HO model layout from 
"The Dispatcher's Office".

The ebay report this time includes the following VGN items sold: Two VGN 
1943 Operating Rules Books, one for $50.00 and one for $62.09; VGN 
Instruction Manual for Enginemen for $35.88; 1942 VGN System Map for 
$19.95; L. Lewis/H. Reid "N&W and VGN" for $49.00; 1949 VGN Public 
Timetable for $24.95 and the deal of the month, a 1945 VGN Safety Rule 
Book for $9.99!

For Show and Tell I took another of the Greely Wyatt donated books 
"Agreement of VGN Rwy and Mechanical Department Employees", effective 
January 1, 1943. On page 5 of this book, rule No. 4 under "Three Shifts" 
is a reference where we get "Takin' Twenty". "Each shift shall consist 
of 8 consecutive hours including an allowance of twenty minutes for 
lunch, within the limits of the fifth hour".

Our friend Bob Cohen sent this one: "In the 1500s baths consisted of a 
big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of 
the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women 
and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was 
so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't 
throw the baby out with the bath water!"

The Jewel from the Past is from July 28, 2005: "Tuesday, 'Cornbread' 
Victory and I converged on the old VGN Station in Roanoke for watching 
some trains. We watched as a lady engineer boarded the GE Dash 9-40CW 
4,000 horsepower NS #9907 lead unit of a coal train. I tried to get her 
to pose in the cab window, but I suppose her hair wasn't just right, so 
she refused. While waiting for the coal train to leave town, 'Cornbread' 
remembered working in the yard one cold night with conductor 'Runt' 
Sink. 'Runt' had on several layers of clothing to combat the cold. While 
shifting on a yard steam engine, his overalls had a 'wardrobe 
malfunction' and started smoldering and caught fire. I had to retaliate 
by rolling 'Runt' relentlessly to relinquish the raging roast....."

Time to pull the pin on this one!

Departing Now from V248,

Skip Salmon

CCCXCIII

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