Mail Train Operation Was... Re: Anyone know what train this is?

[NW Mailing List]

I have one other question that I have long wondered about and hope someone might have an answer:

In the late 1950s (after the mail and express trains were discontinued)  continuing until at least the mid 1960s, No. 46 (The Tennessean) arrived in Lynchburg with two to five mail and express cars attached on its end. These cars originated in Cincinnati and perhaps Columbus, were attached to No. 46 in Roanoke,  and were going to Greensboro and points south.  These cars were taken off No. 46 at Monroe and attached  to  the Southern mail and express train, No. 19, which departed Monroe around 6 pm and came back through Lynchburg on the Southern headed south.

Two questions:

On which N&W train did these cars get to Roanoke?

On which N&W train did these cars get back to Ohio from Roanoke?   I believe they returned from the South on Southern No. 30 to Monroe and we put on No. 41 (the Pelican) to Roanoke.


    Ray Smoot

From: NW-Mailing-List [mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org] On Behalf Of NW Mailing List
Sent: Friday, January 13, 2017 3:35 PM
To: NW Mailing List
Subject: Re: Mail Train Operation Was... Re: Anyone know what train this is?

The "NORFOLK AND WESTERN RAILWAY COMPANY TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT CONSIST OF ALL MAIN LINE PASSENGER TRAINS Revised and Reissued, March 15, 1954" that's available from the NWHS Commissary shows the following for Train No. 23, Roanoke to Portsmouth (not all cars run every day, and I'm not going to transcribe all the footnotes)

1 Storage Mail Car                Bluefield to Columbus
1 Storage Mail Car                Bluefield to Cincinnati
1 Storage Mail Car                Greensboro to Cincinnati
1 Express Car                      Roanoke to Cincinnati
1 Storage Mail Car                Washington or Roanoke to Cincinnati
1 Mail & Baggage Car           Roanoke to Williamson
1 Express Car                      Greensboro to Cincinnati
1 Passenger & Baggage Car  Roanoke to Columbus
1 Coach                               Roanoke to Portsmouth

The document summarizes train length by segment, Roanoke-Bluefield, Bluefield-Williamson,  Williamson-Portsmouth.  Since this photo is within Roanoke-Bluefield, and has seven cars, it should have been taken on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday.  The maximum possible train length of nine cars would occur Bluefield-Williamson on Wed. and Thur.  The slide was supposedly taken about a year later than this consist document is dated, and it appears that the "Passenger & Baggage Car" has been replaced by an Express Car or possibly Baggage and Express (the footnote for this car in the Consist document says, "Baggage and to be used for baggage and express".)

Dave Phelps

On Fri, Jan 13, 2017 at 11:42 AM, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org<mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>> wrote:
On 1/12/2017 11:37 PM, NW Mailing List wrote:

I agree with the description in the ebay listing. It is train 23, the all stops mainline local,
(snip)

This probably falls into the silly question area, but....

Most of the photos I have seen show these trains in the mountains.   So did they start from the East with a smaller number of headend cars and pick up & drop off others on the way, or were cars loaded & unloaded as needed at various stops?

Thanks,
Bill



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