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

[NW Mailing List]

Last night, on Earth Day, I had the pleasure of "Takin' Twenty" with five
of the Brethren and Friends of the Virginian Railway.  Landon Gregory said
"Every day is earth day if you wake up still on it".  We signed a Happy
Birthday Card for VGN Clerk Wis Sowder.  Wis will be 89 on Friday, Arbor
Day.  He recently had a heart problem and his doctor installed a stint and
he is out of the hospital recovering.  His daughter said he is still weak,
so he could not attend last night.  We wish him a quick recovery.
Incidentally we were prepared to kid him a little about Queen Elizabeth II
turning 89 on Tuesday and she got a 62 cannon salute.  Wis, we salute you
with thousands of well wishes!


 Attending for the first time last night was former VGN Clerk Art
Whittaker, brother of VGN Yard Master Bill Whittaker and son of Arthur
Whittaker, Senior, VGN Wreck Master at Victoria.  Art had many memories to
share with the Brethren and says he will come back next week to share more.


 For Show and tell I took my latest ebay purchase, a 3/8" slice of 90# rail
with a Virginian Railway logo and "1909-1959" lazor cut.  These
paperweights are made by our good friend Bobby Dudley of Goode, VA.  Thanks
to Charlie Long for helping me get this great example of a Fallen Flag
item.  The ebay report this time has several great bargains:  1950 VGN RWY
Annual Report for $9.50; 1943 VGN RWY Operating Rule Book for $13.50 and a
Loco Desk paperweight of a VGN RWY AG (Allegheny type) for $69.99.


 The Jewel from the past is from July 17, 2008:  "Bob Rowland said he had a
1937 Plymouth and recalled an incident that happened at the corner of
Walnut Ave. and Jefferson St.  in Roanoke.  At this intersection was the
Blue Ridge Grill, aka 'Blue Goose' watering hole for VGN workers. Bob was
on his way to start a hoot owl shift when he stopped at the "Goose" and
parked his black Plymouth just behind another Plymouth that was identical
to his.  It was a hot night and all windows were down and 'back then no one
locked their doors'.  When he arrived at the Yard Office and was getting
out of his Plymouth, he noticed on the back seat a case of Roanoke Brewing
Company's finest 'Dixie Beer' placed there by mistake by another client of
the 'Goose'".


 Also for show and tell I took the latest N&W (and VGN) Historical
publication "The Arrow".  This one has on page 3 a photo from 9/6/58 at
Mullens of a Train Master with two type of trucks, one Adirondack from an
EL-C double-equalized and one F-M truck.  This prompted a discussion about
the use of F-M trucks on Alco C-630 N&W diesels in place of the Alco trucks.


 I showed the Brethren the schedule of excursion trains this Spring and
Summer with N&W J-Class #611 at the lead.  The first will be the
weekend of June
6 from Manassas to Riverton Junction, VA by VMT; the second is the weekend
of June 13 from Lynchburg to Petersburg, VA by VMT and the third is the
weekend of July 4 from Roanoke to Lynchburg and Walton, VA by VMT.  Tickets
go on sale soon...check out Virginia Museum of Transportation for
information about tickets.


 For Frank, our lawyer in Cleveland:  I spoke to Greely Wyatt about the
windows being covered in the Squareheads and Greely said he knew of no
program to do that.  He surmised that if a window needed to be replaced and
there was no spare the old one could have been covered for that reason. He
did add that "inspectors on the Squareheads had extension cord lights when
they did their inspections because of the lack of light in the cab and
other spots on board...they were NOT lit very well".


 Then there's this:  A kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of
children while they were drawing.  She would occasionally walk around to
see each child's work.  As she got to one little girl who was working
diligently, she asked what the drawing was.  The girl replied, "I'm drawing
God."  The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like".
Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied,
"They will in a minute".


 Time to pull the pin on this one!


 Departing Now from V248,


 Skip Salmon


 DLX




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