Walton Tower area

[NW Mailing List]

Thanks Ed.  I wasn't trying to be overly critical but coming from a
commercial nuclear power career background I tend to get hung up on
terminology and details.  Again I've never heard the term helper used by
N&W men.... always pusher.  For what its worth.



Ed Painter Member #70 - from Narrows, VA - living in Cohutta, GA



On Tue, Aug 7, 2018 at 4:01 PM NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
wrote:

> Ed -
>
> The term most often used on N&W was “pusher”.  As I recall, the engine
> crew’s jobs were advertised as “pusher” jobs.
>
> On some roads, the term “helper” was used because sometimes they were on
> the front end ahead of the road engines.
>
> The N&W had some long pusher runs; on the Pokey the Elkhorn pushers
> usually pushed from Farm to Bluefield, and in some occasions such as time
> freight 84 pushed all the way from Wilmore.  On the Clinch Valley, pushers
> went all the way from Finney to Bluefield.
>
> Ed King
>
> *From:* NW Mailing List
> *Sent:* Tuesday, August 07, 2018 1:07 PM
> *To:* NW Mailing List
> *Subject:* Re: Walton Tower area
>
> A minor point and Ed King and other old hands please correct me if I'm
> wrong.....but I never recall the term Helper used by N&W men?  Relating to
> the N&W whether on Christiansburg Mountain or over Flat Top Mountain up to
> Bluefield "Pusher: not "Helper" was the term used.
>
> Ed Painter - Member #70, from Narrows, VA living in Cohutta, GA
>
> On Tue, Aug 7, 2018 at 12:01 PM NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
> wrote:
>
>> Was the return of this pusher to Walton perhaps the main reason for the
>> third track between Walton and Christiansburg?
>>
>> Concerning the helper siding and referencing The ARROW, Vol 34, No 1:
>> On page 29 - It looks like the track nearest to BH tower is the helper
>> siding. Correct?
>> On page 28 - Are the diesels sitting on that siding? What are the small
>> buildings between the tower and the diesels?
>>
>> Thank you,
>> Dave Willis
>> blt 1962, c/n 4
>>
>> *From:* Norfolk Western Mailing List
>> *Sent:* ‎Monday‎, ‎August‎ ‎6‎, ‎2018 ‎7‎:‎47‎ ‎PM
>> *To:* Norfolk Western Mailing List
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* NW Mailing List
>> *Sent:* Monday, August 06, 2018 2:23 PM
>> *To:* Norfolk Western Mailing List
>> *Subject:* Walton Tower area
>>
>>
>> In the Volume 34, No 1 (Jan-Feb-Mar 2018) issue of The Arrow are a
>> couple nice features on the Walton Tower (BH) area which makes mention of a
>> helper siding, but no supporting information.
>> Where was the helper siding located?  *The pusher siding was next to the
>> tower on the Bristol Line side; its east switch was a smidgen east of the
>> tower and its west switch came into the Bristol Line side of the wye track.*
>> Can someone provide a track layout sketch of the BH tower area?*  The
>> diagram of the CTC board in the ARROW works well.*
>> Of the three routes around the tower (Radford, Bluefield, Christiansburg)
>> which were serviced by the pushers?  *The pushers shoved tonnage trains
>> from Pepper (usually, but I have seen pushers get behind trains east of the
>> crossovers) to Christiansburg.*
>> What class of steam power was usually situated there?  *In later years
>> 2100-series engines served as pushers.*
>> In what direction was the helper employed?  *East*
>> Was it used only for coal trains or did it include merchandise freights
>> too?  *If they were over tonnage, yes.  Usually a 92 would be filled out
>> with coal loads to double tonnage.*
>>
>> *Ed King*
>>
>> Thank you,
>> Dave Willis
>> blt 1962, c/n 4
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