"Takin' Twenty" with the Virginian Brethren by Skip Salmon

[NW Mailing List]

Last night I had the pleasure of "Takin' Twenty" with six of the
Brethren and Friends of the Virginian Railway. I told them of the
pre-construction meeting we had Tuesday with the contractors and all
involved, concerning the beginning of Phase I construction, toward
restoration of the Virginian Passenger Station and Depot in Roanoke. The
contract is in place with G&H Contracting of Salem, VA and their
abatement work to remove asbestos and lead from the site is scheduled to
start next Monday. Our meeting ended on the site, and I turned over keys
to the security fence and building to G&H. We will have an official
press release/groundbreaking March 7, 2012 at 11 AM, at the Station, and
all of you are invited to attend!

Passed out to the Brethren were copies of the latest N&W(and VGN)
Historical Society "The Arrow" magazine. This issue's cover has a
panorama shot of a coal train rounding the "S" curve at Herndon,WV when
the town was being build. This issue is mostly VGN stuff with "The
Electric VGN, Part 2", as the lead. Yours truly contributed page 4 and 5
with an article and two photos (one of mine and one from the Archives)
about the old barn at Kumis and what it has seen over the years. "Tied
to the Past" is the re-occurring feature that looks back, sort of like
my "Jewels from the Past" in these reports.


>From the N&WHS Archives work session last week, I was given two files

found by our good friend Harry Bundy, who is organizing our "receiving
warehouse area". The first is a 1934 file about the consideration of
Unification of Facilities by VGN. Considered was the combining of
Passenger and Freight Stations of the N&W and VGN in Roanoke. After much
study, the report concluded: "The Virginian Railway has two inbound and
two outbound passenger trains per day; the four trains either
originating or terminating in Roanoke. All of these trains would have an
increased movement of approximately two miles in reaching the N&W
Passenger Station, and the expense of this additional train haul would
exceed the small saving to be secured under consolidation". The Freight
Station consolidation study yielded "no saving in expense would result
therefrom". The second file passed around was about "switching of
passenger cars($10 fee) by the Tidewater Railway between Norfolk and the
Jamestown Exposition Grounds in 1907. Tidewater Railway was the only
"horse in town" to the Jamestown Exposition.


>From The Roanoke Times" 2/13/12 "100 Years Ago Today": "Efforts of

police have been unavailing in their attempt to clear the mystery
surrounding the death of John S. Burnett, Special Agent for the
Virginian Road, who was found last night...as the last breath was
leaving his body". This prompted the Brethren to recall several VGN
Special Agent stories. Glen McLain told of a bank robber in Lynchburg
once trying to carjack a VGN "cinder dick" who arrested him.

I showed the Brethren a Norfolk Southern news release "NS pens deal with
Dynamic fuels and Mansfield Oil". NS is the first fleet user in US to
deploy clean renewable diesel fuel. NS has been using a 100% Dynamic
Fuels renewable diesel at Meridian, MS rail yard this year.

The Jewel from the Past is from 11/24/05: "'Cornbread' Victory told of
flagging trains in South Yard for the incoming VGN #4 Passenger Train
that got into Roanoke about 4:30 PM each day. He said coal trains would
cut off their cabooses and let them roll by gravity down the Main Line
to the cab track (just north of the Main Line). Near 4:30 PM, if a cab
was moving toward the cab track, lighted fusees were placed by the Main
Line, so #4 would know that a cab was ahead. He said on occasion, #4's
engine would 'toot-toot' and give the cab a little push. He would run
ahead and quickly throw the switch to the cab track back to the Main, so
#4 could continue on to the Station. Now that's real railroadin'".

Then there's this: A blond decided to go ice fishing. She cut a hole in
the ice and dropped in a line. Shortly, a strong voice said: "There's no
fish under this ice". She reluctantly moved and cut another hole in the
ice, and got the same voice again: "There's no fish under this ice".
Frustrated, she looked up and answered the voice, "Are you God?" "No,
I'm the manager of this skating rink!"

Time to pull the pin on this one!

Departing Now from V248,

Skip Salmon

CDVII

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