"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
Harry Bundy.  Harry retired from the current Norfolk Southern as Systems
Engineer, and started out as an Operator on the original Norfolk Southern
at Tidewater Junction, VA. His rail career made him very knowledgeable
about many aspects of the transportation industry and rail lines, including
the VGN.  He was a good friend of, and traveled with, famous Virginian
Railway author H. Reid.  Harry lives above the old N&W "spark track" at
Bonsack, VA.  H. Bundy was 76 last Monday.


 Visiting with us again was Tom "Saltwater" Salmon from Fort Pierce, FL.
 He is in town this month to do VGN research at the GOB East Archives of
the N&W (and VGN) Historical Society.  For Show and Tell he brought a June
30, 1906 (Tidewater) drawing of the plans for the Yard and complex in
Roanoke.  The line was very ambitious showing many more yard tracks than
were actually built; a five stall roundhouse with plans to extent it to
over twenty; Passenger Station much closer to Walnut Avenue than Jefferson
Street, and a planned bridge over the tracks at Franklin Road.  All of this
will be included in his upcoming book.  Tom also shared with the Brethren
how he first got interested in the VGN, since he never worked for a line.
 He was an avid train modeler who lived in many states growing up, and
concentrated on making models of unusual railroad buildings. "When I saw a
photo of the eight-sided Engine House at Page, WV, I was hooked on the VGN".


 I got many correct answers to this week's Andy Griffith question.  My
youngest grandson, Ryan (on...off...on...off) pulled the winner from his
"Friends of the Virginian Railway" hat.  Doug Harris from Highland Park,
Manukau, New Zealand is the pin winner for identifying "Old Sam" as the
silver carp in Tucker's Lake. This week's question is from "Opie's three
wishes" show.  When Barnie and Goober went to the Police Auction in Siler
City, how much did Goober pay for "sixteen cents" worth of copper tubing?
 Send your answer and home address to gkholine at cox.net


 The Jewel from the Past, like those in a Rockford, Illinois 21 jeweled
adjusted with Roman numeral dial and full plate movement, is from December
20, 2007:  "I asked several of the Brethren how they first met Slick Inge.
Cornbread remembered being 'chewed out by a brand new Trainmaster for not
supervising the cab track as he should when another crew shoved a cab into
another one real hard'.  He said from that time on though, he gained
respect for 'Mr. Inge' in every way and slowly became one of his best
friends.  Rufus Wingfield first remembered Slick 'waking me up on a cold
night when I was a Brakeman'.  Jimmy Whittaker recalled taking the new
Trainmaster to the Patrick Henry Hotel in Roanoke as a call boy.  Later
Jimmy also  remembered being caught asleep when the work was caught up by
his boss and hearing 'Mr. Inge' tell him. 'It's OK, you know where he is
when you want him'".


 Passed around was the latest copy of the Roanoke Chapter NRHS newsletter
"Turntable Times" and three photos first found last week in the Archives.
 These J. Tracy Walker post cards showed the first highway Bridge over the
New River at Narrows, VA with a brand new Virginian Station on the other
side; a great shot of the building of the trestle at Glen Lyn showing
materials being unloaded underneath on the N&W, and the "narrows" of the
mountains being framed by the two smoke stacks at the Narrows Power plant.


 Then there's this:  A priest, a minister and a guru sat discussing the
best positions for prayer while a telephone repairman worked nearby.
 "Kneeling is definitely the best way to pray," the priest said.  "No",
said the minister.  "I get the best results standing with my hands
outstretched to Heaven."  "You're both wrong," the guru said.  "The most
effective prayer position is lying down on the floor."  The repairman could
contain himself no longer. "Hey, fellows," he interrupted.  "The best
prayin' I ever did was when I was hangin' upside down from a telephone
pole."


 Time to pull the pin on this one!


 Departing Now from V248,


 Skip Salmon


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