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

[NW Mailing List]

I haven't been on the road that used the NRH&W grade since the early '50s,
but in those days the road was still using old railroad bridges (truss
style) to cross the river.  From your comments, I assume VDOT built some
new bridges since then, which, given those bridges would have been single
lane, was probably a good idea.

Regards,

Dave Phelps

On Thu, Aug 16, 2018 at 9:08 PM NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
wrote:

> 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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> Successor to the MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH LINE of 1844
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>
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>
> https://www.nwhs.org/mailinglist/2018/20180816.NW_NRH&W_Bastian%20highway%20sign_10-12-2017.jpg
>
> https://www.nwhs.org/mailinglist/2018/20180816.NW_NRH&W_Suiter%20highway%20sign_10-12-2017.jpg
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