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

[NW Mailing List]

Tonight I had the pleasure of "Takin' Twenty" with twelve of the Brethren
and Friends of the Virginian Railway. It was Show and Tell night. I took an
old insulator from near the home signal at PD Bottom I found beside the
greenway. Also I took a #18 VGN employee time table effective 11-27-1938,
showing all of the cities that train 72 draws from for the "just in time"
train for the Ford Plant in Norfolk, VA. This TT shows all of the cities
and time schedule that VGN used to get parts to the plant. Some of the
cities that provided parts: Chicago, Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland, Buffalo,
Erie PA and Columbus, OH. H. Bundy told me that this schedule was for VGN
advertisers to sell the train, and this is why it is in the back of the TT
and not in the front with the others.

Jeff Sanders brought two VGN passes from an estate sale that were signed by
Grover Austin and his wife. Grover was one of our "Regulars" who passed
away several years ago. Grover rode the last passenger train into Roanoke
and had the crew sign the cards. Jeff had checked the signatures in a
Roanoke World News article about the last train, but could not identify who
Mr. Williams was. Russell McDaniel looked at the passes and told Jeff that
he could identify the gentleman as a Road Foreman of Engines, who rode with
him on the trip. Jeff got Russell's signature last night also. Landon
Gregory showed the Brethren a new watch belt case that Bob Cohen had given
him.


>From last weeks typo "moving mush faster" instead of "moving much faster

trains up the Shenandoah Valley", thanks to Bruce from Blacksburg and Doug
Harris from Auckland, New Zealand for correcting me. By the way, all of the
"mush" goes directly to Washington, DC.

I also showed the Brethren the OUTSTANDING (may be the best one yet) photo
of Sam Phillips off railpictures.net, of the VGN Heritage unit #1069 shot
from the US 460 bridge at Kumis.

The Jewel from the Past, like the ones in Landon's Elgin over and under is
from July 12, 2007: "The Brethren remembered two VGN Brothers who passed
away lately. They are Bill Milligan and Elmer "Bunk" Gibson. Bill was a
road Conductor from Victoria, who Cornbread said was easily 'goosed'. 'He
once kicked me like a mule when a hostler goosed him'. 'Bunk' is the famous
VGN ball player who once marked off yard duty to play third base for the
Roanoke Red Sox of the Piedmont League and got a triple".

Eddie Mooneyham brought a recent yard sale purchase: A Fairbanks Morse
brass builders plate off VGN Trainmaster #62 (24L-842) dated 4/1954. This
was probably the best deal of the decade....

Then there's this from Dutch: Today's short reading from the Bible from
Genesis: "And God promised men that good and obedient wives would be found
in all corners of the earth." Then he made the earth round...and He laughed
and laughed and laughed!

Time to pull the pin on this one!

Departing Now from V248,

Skip Salmon

CDLXXXIV

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