"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. We signed a Happy 
Birthday card for former VGN Chief Clerk-Coal Traffic, Sewell's Point, 
Glen McLain ("Jokeman")who turned 84 last night. A second card was for 
our good Friend of the Virginian Railway, Eddie Mooneyham, who is 
Vice-President Roanoke Chapter NRHS. Eddie is the "young whippersnapper" 
of our group at 36.

This Sunday marks an anniversary for the VGN RWY in Roanoke. It was 
January 29, 1956 when passenger service on the VGN to Roanoke stopped. 
Exactly 45 years later, January 29, 2001 is when a fire at the VGN 
Station in Roanoke started the chain of events that led to the Station 
being donated by NS to the Roanoke Chapter NRHS, in 2005. Good news 
about the restoration project is currently "bubbling up"! I'm collecting 
all the VGN shovels I can find...

The Jewel from the Past is from October 27, 2005: "Walter Grigg told a 
story about working on a train air brake problem with an 'expert' from 
Westinghouse Air Brakes at Mullens, WV. When asked from the rear end of 
a coal train 'How do you communicate with the head end, since you have 
no radios?' Grigg said 'Just look up to the top of Clark's Gap...see the 
smoke signal?".

The ebay report this time includes the following VGN items sold lately: 
Negative of VGN outside-braced hopper for $28.79; Negative of VGN PA 
#214 for $64.87; Photo 8-1/2" by 22-3/4" of #802 from American 
Locomotive for $25.00; Slide of VGN Station Roanoke in 1954 for $15.49; 
Slide of #903 for $49.95; Slide of #212 with a train for $44.95; Slide 
of EL-2b #126 for $123.50; Short-globe VGN RWY lantern with red globe 
for $300.00; and a VGN Public Timetable from October 15,1910 for $99.95.

 >From last week, I got several comments about the mentioned union 
button. Abe Burnett said it is "Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way 
Employees" and "it still is in existence" and goes by "BMWE". Gary Price 
agreed and commented "we are still alive and well, keeping Norfolk 
Southern safe, one tie at a time".

For Show and Tell, I took the Sept/Oct 1983 issue of "NS World" that I 
found in my favorite Antique Store last Saturday. Page 9 has "The EL-C 
will electrify Roanoke museum crowds", about the cosmetically restored 
VGN #135 being donated to the Virginia Museum of Transportation in 
Roanoke. In attendance during the 1983 ceremony at the VGN Station were 
two familiar names to the Brethren, Russell McDaniel and Kent Womack. 
Russell represented the N&W as General Manager Motive Power and 
Equipment. Kent Womack, who spent many hours as engineer on EL-Cs, 
observed "The EL-Cs were some of my favorite locomotives. They were like 
nice racehorses. You couldn't beat them for hauling tonnage at faster 
speeds. I'm glad one of them has come back to Roanoke".

Also passed around was Tom Sink's photo, recently a "top shot" on rail 
pictures.net, of VGN EL-2b #125 (single unit, either EL-37 or EL-38) at 
Whitethorne in February 1961. This half of #125 set was used as a 
pusher. Many questioned why both pantographs were up in the photo. I 
asked VGN electrics "guru" Greely Wyatt, Electric Foreman-Mullens, and 
he said: "Probably it was due to the use of half of the EL-2b with 3400 
horsepower and 8 traction motors as a pusher. This unit with all that 
power (similar to an EMD GP-40 3,000 HP with 4 traction motors) tended 
to have a wheel slip problem if the power is applied too quickly. They 
tend to have a slight 'hopping-like' reaction. Both pantographs up would 
help maintain power during this situation".

"Jokeman" Glen McLain provided this for the Brethren on his birthday: An 
elderly man was headed home in his car one evening, swerving and weaving 
on the road, when he was stopped by a policeman. "Have you been drinking 
tonight, sir?" the policeman asked. "Well I may have had a pint or two, 
why do you ask?" "Sir, your wife fell out of the car, about a mile 
back". "Oh, thank goodness", the man exclaimed, "I thought I'd gone deaf!"

Time to pull the pin on this one!

Departing Now from V248,

Skip Salmon

CDIV

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