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

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Last night I had the pleasure of "Takin Twenty" with seven of the Brethren
and Friends of the Virginian Railway.  We signed a Happy Birthday card for
Ernie Hubble, son of VGN Roundhouse Foreman "Red" Hubble and nephew of two
other Virginian Brethren.  Ernie turns 73 tomorrow.


For Show and Tell I took a photo I got yesterday morning of our beloved NS
Heritage Virginian unit #1069, framed by the Jefferson Street Bridge, with
the Roanoke Virginian Passenger Station in the background..  She has been
in the Bluefield area in coal service for several weeks and is beginning to
show that certain "patina" known quite well in the region, that only coal
dust can deliver.  I have posted this photo on this site under "Skip's
Photos".


Visiting with us last night is one of the "Takin' Twenty" group's biggest
"fans", local businessman Ray Brown. Ray is quite a train lover and enjoys
listening to the Brethren tell about the old VGN.  Ray was chasing the 611
return to Roanoke on May 30 and set up at Altavista to get his best shot.
He told his wife to take a still photo and he would get the video.  He
showed us his capture of the tremendous sound he got of the 611 passing by,
but in his excitement, and positioning  of his cell phone, the video turned
out to be a "selfie" of Ray's neck and shoulders.....


The 611 excursion trains out of Roanoke on the July 4th weekend is pretty
much sold out.  I would like to remind you to make sure your camera is
pointed at the train with the lense forward!


The Jewel from the Past is from September 4, 2008:  "A friend of mine and
the Brethren John McDaniel of Wabun, VA recently showed me an old 'Roanoke
Times' article about the Fairbanks Morse Co. placing a store of parts for
the VGN FM diesels at Princeton.  The parts were used as needed for the VGN
diesels and an inventory was made every six months to replenish parts
used.  The reason given was the 'remoteness of Princeton and distance from
the FM Beloit, Wisconsin factory'".


Then there's this from our good friend Abe Burnett:  "Shortly after I 'went
braking' on the Radford Division in 1964, my father warned me, 'If you're
ever around Coy Tench, be careful.  He's nuts".  The story is that Tench
had held a regular job flagging on some run, and had his permanent gear on
the caboose.  This was back in the day when we all stayed on the caboose at
the other end of the road, and men who held regular runs left personal
effects on their regular caboose.  It seems Tench changed jobs for some
reason.  The Conductor to whom Tench's former caboose belonged told Tench a
number of times to get the gear off his caboose, but Tench never did.  Some
months went by, so that Conductor made 'disposition' of the gear one day
while crossing the Glen Lyn High Bridge.  Some time thereafter, Tench was
on the Cab Track at Bluefield and saw his former caboose and went to fetch
his gear.  It was, of course, gone, andhis former Conductor told him to go
look for it in the New River at Glen Lyn.  The next morning, Tench was
called for an eastbound back to Roanoke.  Somewhere en route Tench threw
off a message to the Superintendent saying, 'Have police meet my train upon
arrival at Roanoke.  There has been a train robbery.'  And meet the train,
the Police did!  Even the State Police!  To all of whom Crazy Tench
enthusiastically spilled his version of the great 'Train Robbery'".  (I
asked the Brethren if they remembered Coy. W. Tench and Wis Sowder
remembered him well.  "He was sorta strange and didn't say much" he said.
 "Some say he was a 'loose cannon'".


Time to pull the pin on this one!


Departing Now from V248,


Skip Salmon


DLXIV
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