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

[NW Mailing List]

> Last night I had the pleasure of "Takin' Twenty" with five of the

> Brethren and Friends of the Virginian Railway. I told them about a VGN

> motor car I was given an opportunity to salvage, from our good friend

> Chip Oaks, for the VGN Station project. He also offered a great

> looking mail crane, but upon researching it, I found out it was from

> the "W" side, and would not fit the VGN decor of the Station. Plans

> are being made to restore and make the motor car part of a display at

> the Station.

>

> The Jewel from the past is from February 23, 2006: "Several of the

> Brethren were talking about Sewell's Point and how busy the rail

> activity was there. Landon Gregory and 'Slim' Sowder commented about

> how 'Admiral Taussig Boulevard', which divided the Naval Air Station

> with the VGN Facilities, was one way IN for morning traffic; and one

> way OUT for evening traffic. Several new nick names came up: 'Moody'

> Keafauver, Billing Clerk who had political relatives; 'Jay-Bird' Wren,

> Engineer, who would bet on Boston's Ted Williams to do anything;

> 'Chickie-Hawk' Blessingham, First Trick Yardmaster who, if you ever

> saw him, you would know why he is known as 'Chickie-Hawk', and Jimmy

> Stewart, Second Trick Yardmaster, who was not a movie star".

>

> Passed around was the June 2012 "NRHS News" that lists only one museum

> in Virginia that gives a discount to NRHS members as the "Richmond

> Railroad Museum" (a unit of the Old Dominion Chapter). Also passed

> around was the schedule for the July 3-4, 2012 display of the Norfolk

> Southern Heritage locomotives at the North Carolina Museum of

> Transportation in Spencer, NC. NS Chairman and CEO Wick Moorman will

> speak at 11 AM on the 3rd. VMT has a bus from Roanoke on the 4th. Call

> 540-342-5670 extension 105 for details. At Spencer the units will be

> displayed in families: 1 PM: Conrail Family; 2:30 PM N&W Family; and 4

> PM: Southern Family. For more information go to the NCTM web site or

> call 704-636-2889 extension 237. We have special plans for the VGN RWY

> #1069 when she gets back home to Roanoke!

>

> Since the Virginian Railway Heritage locomotive #1069 came out of the

> paint shop over a week ago, I have not seen photos of her on any photo

> sites. We discussed some of the possible reasons: "too sharp to let

> photos out, made the others look bad; so good the cameras couldn't

> handle it; the web site blocked the photos, etc". Some more posted

> comments about the original #1069 photo were given: "A first rate

> heritage unit to recognize a class act railroad!; All it needs is an

> FM prime mover for sound effects; 21st Century Trainmaster; They

> nailed this one! and Out of the park!"

>

> At the N&W (and VGN) Historical Society Archives work session last

> week I discovered some interesting VGN facts. When the Tidewater

> Railway first purchased land for the tracks, at a location south of

> the Roanoke River near Kumis, they bought several acres that were

> abandoned, for the chosen site north of the river. Also in this area,

> were found some "Quit-deeds" where the N&W and Tidewater apparently

> swapped land for each of their chosen routes. Harry Bundy gave me a

> question to pass on to the Brethren. The VGN #3 and #4 usually had one

> Combine (coach and mail car combo) and one Coach. Both cars carried a

> steam line directly from the PA steam locomotive. Did the VGN coaches

> have a pot bellied stove? Did the combine have some sort of steam heat

> that was required by the US Postal Service? The Brethren were not sure

> about this; do you know? Harry passed on to me an interesting

> observation about the little Pacifics passing through the mile long

> Merrimac Tunnel. He said crew members told him that "at certain times

> of the year, the exhaust of the steam from the PA stack hitting the

> low 11,000 volt overhead line in the tunnel, looked like miniature

> lightening!"

>

> Instead of Show and Tell this time, I proposed a question: What four

> pieces of Virginian Railway equipment were painted tuscan red,

> numbered and lettered white on the sides like freight cars, and hauled

> coal directly to VGN customers? They were NOT used at the coal piers

> to load ships. Answer next week.

>

> Then there's this: What's in a name? The famous US Olympic skier,

> Picabo (pronounced Pee-Ka-Boo) Street, is not just an athlete. She is

> now a nurse, currently working in the Intensive Care Unit of a large

> metropolitan hospital. While on duty, she is no longer permitted to

> answer telephones. It caused too much confusion when she would answer

> the phone and say, "Picabo, I. C. U."

>

> Time to pull the pin on this one!

>

> Departing Now from V248,

>

> Skip Salmon

>

> CDXXIV

>

> __._,_.___

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