Richlands coaling tower?

[NW Mailing List]

Further to the puzzle:   While I tend to think this was Vicker prior to the construction of the concrete coaling tower in 1951, the equipment on the train gives me pause.  The train would seem to be No. 45, the westbound Tennessean given the Southern headend cars.  No 45 was the only “Southern” train to pass by Vicker in daylight hours, except No 41 early on  summer days.  However, prior to 1951, the Tennessean was generally still in its original streamlined equipment. Headend, non- streamlined, cas were starting to creep in so perhaps this is indeed No. 45 at Vicker.

     Ray Smoot

From: NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org> On Behalf Of NW Mailing List
Sent: Friday, March 1, 2019 9:55 AM
To: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
Subject: Re: Richlands coaling tower?

On Thu, Feb 28, 2019, at 10:32 PM Ed wrote:
It’s still a puzzle, because in 1950 there was a large concrete coaling tower at Vicker which still stands.

The concrete coaling tower was built in 1951 to replace the overhead facility shown in the photo. The annual reports list the construction of that coal wharf in 1918 and the addition of a water tank in 1937 (but not the second one as seen in the photo). Given the importance of Vicker, I would expect that the building seen in the background (and in other photos found in the archives) is a water softener to feed those two tanks. If one pokes around Vicker, especially along the roadside, there are still traces of the balloon track and foundations for that overhead wharf.

Annual Report, December 31, 1918
   Coaling stations were constructed at Bonsack and Vicker, Va.

December 31, 1937
   Standard 50,000 gallon water tanks were installed at Starkey, Glade Spring and Vicker, Va.

1951 Annual Report
   At Vicker, Va., a modern concrete overhead coaling and sanding station, including rearranged trackage.

Bruce in Blacksburg


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