Join us for a ride on the Abingdon Branch

Tue Aug 4 17:00:48 EDT 2015

Can someone supply a picture of the T-Shirt that is being offered for sale?

Jimmy Lisle

On 8/4/2015 11:42 AM, NW Mailing List wrote:
>
> This is a ride you will want to do again and again because it changes 
> with the seasons. And don’t forget that you pass right by Exit 60 for 
> Rural Retreat on your way to Damascus for this ride. If you have a few 
> minutes on the way out or the way back consider coming into town to 
> check out the Depot where more of Link’s photos were taken. It’s one 
> mile south of the exit and in the middle of town—you can’t miss it.
>
> Frank Akers for the Rural Retreat Depot Foundation
>
> *From:*NW-Mailing-List [mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org] *On 
> Behalf Of *NW Mailing List
> *Sent:* Thursday, July 30, 2015 6:28 PM
> *To:* NW Mailing List
> *Subject:* Join us for a ride on the Abingdon Branch
>
>
> RIDING THE ABINGDON BRANCH   AKA: THE VA CREEPER TRAIL
>
> We are pleased to announce that the Norfolk and Western Historical 
> Society is sponsoring the first ever “Putting tracks on the branches 
> event”. Our first trip in this series will be September 19, 2015 on 
> the Norfolk and Western’s Abingdon Branch or as it is known to the 
> rest of the world The Creeper Trail.
>
> The line started out in the late 1800s as the Virginia and Carolina 
> Railway to haul timber and mineral resources out of the mountains. It 
> was purchased by the Norfolk and Western Railway in 1918 and renamed 
> the Abingdon Branch. At its peak, the line ran 55 miles to West 
> Jefferson, NC. This little branch became for the N&W’s little 4-8-0 
> class M steam locomotives which ran the end of steam in the late 
> 1950’s. The sounds of the hooter whistle went silent and were replaced 
> by the rumble of the 567 EMD prime movers and five chime nathan horn. 
> The line continued operations with diesel locomotives until it was 
> damaged by flooding in 1977.
>
> If you have never biked a rails-to-trail before this is a good one to 
> start with. First, our ride will start at Whitetop station and then 
> ride 15 miles to Damascus _all downhill_, so very little pedaling is 
> needed.  We will be losing almost 1200 feet in altitude, plus we will 
> be stopping and talking about the history of the line and showing the 
> sites where O Winston Link took some of his most famous photos. So 
> there will be of chances to catch your breath, but you won’t need to.
>
> We will start our day at the bicycle outfitters in Damascus where we 
> will pick up our bikes and receive basic operating and safety 
> instructions.  We then will board vans for our ride up to Whitetop 
> station where we will gather to start our ride down the trail. While 
> riding down this stretch keep in mind that the 4-8-0s climbed this 
> grade with up to 10 cars and one coach.  Soon we will reach Green 
> Cove, the place of O Winston Link’s famous picture of old maude the 
> horse bowing its head to the steam engine. We will be stopping there 
> for questions and looking though the depot. Then we will ride down to 
> the creek crossing site of another famous O Winston Link photo. Keep 
> in mind during your ride of what the engineer was seeing during your 
> ride and allow yourself to step back to the 50s. Leaving Creek 
> Junction we will ride to our next stop at Taylors Valley. From there 
> we will ride back to Damascus to return our rented bikes.
>
> We are planning on the ride taking about four hours. This is a very 
> easy ride and it is going to be the first of what we hope are many 
> more branch line tours to come. And believe me if you have never done 
> it you will love it and if you have ridden this before the speakers 
> and their knowledge will give you a new love for this branch. We will 
> have transportation at each of the stopping points if you think this 
> is too much for you to take you down and someone to change tubes if 
> needed. So plan on coming and enjoy putting tracks back on the branch!
>
> Sign up at
> http://www.nwhs.org/commissary/SpecialEvent.html
>
>
>
>
>
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