"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.  We signed two cards. One a Happy
Birthday for Bill Spencer who retired from the US Post Office and worked
one summer with N&W and just sat in one night several years ago, and had
been with us ever since.  Bill turns 88 Sunday.  The second card is a Get
Well for former Virginian Chief Clerk, Sewells Point, Glen McLain who is
now not able to make it across town from Vinton, VA to be with us.


 Congratulations to Aubrey Wiley who is now the Virginia Museum of
Transportation "Author in Residence".  He has been a Friend of the
Virginian Railway for many years and the Brethren wish him success in this
endeavor.


 The Jewel from the Past is from January 3, 2008:  "We signed a Happy
Birthday card for Cornbread's son Ronnie, AKA 'Muffin" Victory.  He was
born New Year's Eve 1943 and is now a retired Clerk from Norfolk Southern
and is one of our 'regulars'.  I asked Cornbread about the extra tax
dependent for 1943  being born on the last day.  He responded 'sure was,
and it was late at night too, just under the wire, as I had planned it'".


 Raymond East, former Virginian Engineer, who fired steam brought "Trains"
special edition about UP's "Big Boy" 4-8-8-4. Page 80-81 has a comparison
of big steam which includes the N&W  and VGN.  Of course the standout as
far as wheel arrangement is the VGN triplex #700 2-8-8-8-4.  Looking good
in the comparison are the VGN AG 2-6-6-6 and VGN AE 2-10-10-2. "The wartime
president of C&O neighbor Virginian, Frank Beale, came form C&O, where he'd
been an operating official on Allegheny Mountain when the 2-6-6-6s came.
 Beale was impressed.  He must have figured the Virginian had no mountains
east of Roanoke, so the 2-6-6-6 would work just fine.  He bought eight more
of them, plus five C&O style 2-8-4s for fast freights.  For a 35-mph
railroad, here were 13 big, heavy, expensive locomotives, each of which
developed its maximum draw bar horsepower at better than 40 mph.  But, like
their C&O counterparts, the fans and historians liked them.  The
stockholders didn't have a choice".


 The winner of the pin this week is Jim Legge of Hurricane, WV for
identifying Rose as the lady who took care of Opie before Aunt Bea.  This
week's question:  What was the first item given to Opie by Mr. McPeevee
that Andy made him give back.  Send answer and home address to
gkholine at cox.net


 For Show and Tell I took the two Al Dreese photos from Sewells Point
showing the early pier and Tidewater flat #649 with a load of what looks
like sand, in 1913.  I also took a clip out of Monday's roanoke times "100
years ago today":  "The prospect of a great European war brings with it a
prospect of great business for the Virginia and West Virginia coal fields,
and, incidentally for the Norfolk and Western and Virginian railroads".


 Then there's this:  The four Goldberg brothers, Lowell, Norman, Hiram, and
Max, invented and developed the first automobile air-conditioner.  On July
17, 1946 the temperature in Detroit was 97 degrees. The four brothers
thought this would be a good time to present their invention to Henry Ford
and got an interview with him.  They insisted on meeting Ford in the
parking lot where the interior of their car was 130 degrees.  He got in and
they turned on the air, which immediately cooled the car off.  Ford got
very excited and offered them $3 million for their patent.  The brothers
refused saying they would settle for $2 million but wanted the recognition
by having a label, "The Goldberg Air-Conditioner" on the dash board of each
car in which it was installed.  Ford was more than just a little
anti-Jewish and there was no way he was going to put the Goldberg's name on
two million Fords.  They haggled back and forth and agreed on $4 million
and that just their first names would be shown.
 And so to this day, all Ford air conditioners show Lo, Norm, Hi and Max on
the controls.


 Time to pull the pin on this one!


 Departing Now from V248,


 Skip Salmon


 DXXVII




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