Twelve Pole Line: Telegraph Calls ?

[NW Mailing List]

1897 Scioto Div TT between Gray and Kenova.

 

Book “Norfolk & Western in West Virginia – 1881-1959” (available from commissary) notes on page 182:

 

On Dec 2, 1904, Bluefield Daily Telegraph noted N&W could not open Big Sandy Line because it did not have telegraph operators who could act as operator, ticket agent and freight agent at new stations. There were nine men studying telegraphy in Lexington KY, But there training was incomplete. The N&W reported that it planned to transfer operators from the 12 Pole Line to the Big Sandy Line. Passenger service started on the Big Sandy Line on Jan 22, 1905.

 

Alex Schust

 

From: NW-Mailing-List [mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org] On Behalf Of NW Mailing List
Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2020 9:08 PM
To: N&W Mailing List
Subject: Twelve Pole Line: Telegraph Calls ?

 

Does anyone have the Telegraph Calls for the stations and block offices on the Twelve Pole Line, back when it was the main line of the N&W (i.e. before the Big Sandy was built, 1902-1904) ? 

 

The 1934 I.C.C. publication I posted earlier today had  this to say about the operation of the Twelve Pole:  **Between 1902 and 1904 the applicant (i.e. the railroad) constructed a single-track water-level line along the Big Sandy River between Naugatuck and Kenova, and for many years westbound traffic, principally coal,moved over the Big Sandy line and the empty cars were returned east over the Twelve Pole line.  Between 1923 and 1925 the Big Sandy line was double-tracked, since which time the Twelve Pole line has been operated as a branch line.** 

 

My guess is that there was an immediate reduction in the number of Train Order and Block Offices on the Twelve Pole, as soon as the Big Sandy was opened.  So, we probably need a 1902 or earlier Time Table to get a full set of office calls for the Twelve Pole. 

 

Stations listed in the June 1893 Official Guide, from east to west, were:  Naugatuck, Lenore, Dingess, Breeden, Dunlow, Furguson [sic,] Fleming, Genoah [sic,]  Dickson, Shoals, Ceredo and Kenova. 

 

The 1896 **Statement of Block Signals in Use Upon the Road** lists these offices as blocking trains:  Naugatuck, Canterbury, Dingess, Braden, Winsondale, Dunlo, Radnot, Wayne, Lavalette (and it is the Kenova Division at this time.)  If anyone needs the 1896 Statement, I shall be glad to forward it. 

 

I bet the Twelve Pole was a real headache to dispatch:  78 miles of single track, Time Table + Train Order operation + a Telegraph Block System in use.  1.15 percent westward grade, and 0.92 percent eastward grade, with helper districts and two tunnels, and the track right down between the mountains, where the sun seldom shined.  And with Glass G's and W's for motive power !  And for its early years, the Twelve Pole was operated with link-and-pin couplers and the hand-braking of trains ! 

 

Help me find the Telegraph Calls, and I shall dance at your wedding. 

 

-- abram burnett, 

turnip farmer, ready-to-plant 

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