NRH&W - Boxley Contract to Build Branch to Suiter, 1913

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>From Railway Age, vol.55, p. 1048, Nov. 28, 1913 :



NEW RIVER HOLSTON & WESTERN.  An officer of this company, which operates a
line from Narrows, Va., west to Rocky Gap, 21 miles,  writes that a
contract has been given to J. J. Boxley & Son, Roanoke, Va., to build an
extension from Rocky Gap to Suiters, in Bland county, 15 miles.

.................................................................................................................................................


Most things which I never got to see fascinate me, and it is no different
with the New River Holston & Western RR (the N&W's "Narrows Branch.")   So
last October, when I was visiting Judge Frank Akers' newly restored
emporium at Rural Retreat Grand Union Terminal Station, I build an extra
day into my travel schedule to drive both the Stony Creek RR (Potts Valley
Branch) and the NRH&W, north to south, beginning at Paint Bank.  The Potts
Valley was a disappointment, as very little of the present highway uses the
old railroad grade.  But the NRH&W was a different story,  as almost all of
the present highway is on the old railroad grade, including the 5.5 mile
branch from Bastian out to Suiter.  Fortunately, there was an old gentleman
working on the church building at Bastian who was able to give pointers.
(For the first mile or so west of Bastian, the present hard surface road to
Suiter does not utilize the railroad R/W.)


What I wouldn't give to ride an old Class W Consolidation on the
Narrows-to-Bastian-and-Suiter Local !  And if you are looking for the
calmest place in the world for a retirement home in a peaceful, lovely
valley, check out Suiter.


There were no items worthy of "railroad photography" on the NRH&W, so all I
came back with were two photos of the highway name signs (both shot under
adverse lighting conditions at the end of the day,) to evoke pleasant
memories of a day well spent in Bland County.  Attachments.


Does anyone know what became of the NRH&W men when the N&W abandoned the
line in 1946?  Did they have seniority rights on the Radford Division jobs?


-- abram burnett


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