Rorer Iron/Narrow Gauge RR Crossing at Roanoke Alms House

[NW Mailing List]

Jim,

Thanks for the push. I believe you are right, the (eventual) junction,
which was actually a siding, is referenced there in the fine print of the
W-S blueprint I posted (as Gordon pointed out to me yesterday at GOB-E). My
best guess at the moment is that the W-S line crossed the NG in 1891,
having secured a deed to do so, with every expectation that Rorer Iron
would be loaded at that siding within a few years.

Recall the blue-tinted photos of the Rorer Iron Company's washers, which we
have in the archives. As you and I have discussed, these images refer to
the later location located just below the Alms House, not the Wasena Park
site.

We start to see the N&W annual reports mention the Rorer Mine junction, and
I'm thinking we saw that around 1895 in the ARs. I'll post more about this,
after I sort through some of the maps I was able to scan at GOB-E
yesterday.

Stephen Warren, Roanoke

On Sun, Jan 27, 2019 at 12:51 PM NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
wrote:

> St
>
> Great find.  It makes me wonder what else is in that book.  It was my
> opinion that the crossing of the NG and W-S line would have been the
> junction.  With the other information looks like the junction may have been
> just south of the Alms House.  We may be talking about two different
> locations.
>
> Has your research found the date the NG bridge in Wasena was converted to
> a foot bridge?  It appears from the recent photo the NG bridge did not have
> the guard rails.  The photos that show the bridge with guard rails could
> indicate they were established to protect people using it as a walkway.
>
> Keep up your research great research. Always  more questions than answers.
>
> Jim Blackstock
>
>
>
> On 1/26/2019 5:27 PM, NW Mailing List wrote:
>
> At the GOB-E Archives work session today, I found an artifact in the back
> room which needs restoration due to its rough condition. It is an oversized
> book of folded section maps for the N&W's Winston Salem Division, based
> upon the Roanoke & Southern Rwy which opened for service in 1891. The date
> of this map is uncertain, but it shows the crossing of the Rorer Iron
> Company's narrow gauge railroad at exactly the spot I've been trying to
> confirm. Gordon Hamilton was present to keep my bearings straight,
> literally, because I could not make out the direction of travel at first.
>
> In the photograph attached here, it crosses the N&W just past the Alms
> House, and heads toward modern-day Colonial Avenue. The Alms House (Poor
> House) building is still existing, and serves as a student resource center
> on the campus of Virginia Western Community College. It is called the
> Thomas House. I looked this up and took a screen shot to show how this
> section looks today.
>
> PS - rumor has it the Alms House was haunted for several decades until a
> ghost whisperer made contact with the spirits back in the early 2000's and
> talked them into leaving. True urban legend...
>
> Stephen Warren, Roanoke
>
> [image: NW Section Maps of Roanoke-Southern RR.jpg]
> [image: Rorer Narrow Gauge RR Crossing at Alms House 1891.jpg]
> [image: Alms House 2019.jpeg]
>
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