Back When We Slept and Cooked on the Caboose

Mon Mar 28 11:28:13 EDT 2022

What follows is a bit off topic for the Mailing List, but it has some 
personal interest for me and a peripheral connetion to N&W history.  The 
erstwhile Jean Pocahontas Coal Co. near War, WV, which was served by the 
N&W's Dry Fork branch,  was named for my first cousin, Jean Hamilton 
(still living) whose Uncle was a coal operator.

Gordon Hamilton

On 3/27/2022 7:21 PM, NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List wrote:
> Thank you all for posting your memories! This has been a most 
> interesting thread!
>
> Rob Minton
>
> On Sunday, March 27, 2022, 04:56:40 PM EDT, NW Mailing List 
> <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
>
>
> Sorry for the error on my part.  What I should have said is the train 
> number was BW-2 as I now remember it (BW for Bluefield - 
> Wenonah??/Weyanoke??/Widemouth?? I'm uncertain what the "W" stood for 
> because all three were names of  branches or spurs toward the outward 
> end of the Bluestone branch where Turkey Gap Coal Co. had its 
> operations.).
>
> Gordon Hamilton
>
> On 3/26/2022 10:10 PM, NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List wrote:
> It certainly wasn't a BL-2 if you were working for the N&W.
>
>
> Roger Huber
> Deer Creek Locomotive Works
>
>
> On Saturday, March 26, 2022, 02:51:05 PM CDT, NW Mailing List 
> <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> <mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
>
>
> As a youth I saw many a movie in the Colonial Theater.
>
> I also spent one night at N&W expense in the Matz Hotel when there was a
> train crew sick-out (but not engineers) and I was appointed as fireman
> (on a diesel locomotive!) on BL-2 (as I remember it) to set out empties
> and pick up loads at Turkey Gap mine on the Bluestone Branch.
>
> I do not remember anything wrong with my one-night stay at the Matz.
> Maybe I was just lucky, or maybe I just slept through and distractions.
>
> Gordon
>
> On 3/26/2022 9:30 AM, NW Mailing List wrote:
> > The end of the line . . .
> >
> > The Milner-Matz Hotel, formerly the Hotel Matz, ended up partially 
> collapsing on February 27, 2009, after being vacant for a number of 
> years. The attached photo shows demolition progress on April 3, 2009.  
> The remains of the Colonial Theater are left of center.
> >
> > The building on the extreme right side of the photo is the West 
> Virginian Hotel.  The West Virginian was converted to apartments and 
> is still standing.
> >
> > In its heyday the Matz hosted celebrities such as John L. Lewis and 
> Boxer Jack Dempsey according to stories I heard from my father.
> >
> > W.E. Honeycutt
> >
> >
> >> On 03/25/2022 5:38 PM NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org 
> <mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>> wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >> By the late 1960s, may have even been earlier, my father was pretty 
> regular on Roanoke-Bluefield time freights, and he and some others 
> were pretty fed up with the West Virginian, so they banded together 
> and rented an apartment, just east (railroad east) at 910 Princeton 
> Ave called “Mayor Manor” you could easily look out the window and see 
> the passenger station.
> >>
> >> I remember us taking the old stove and washing machine to Bluefield 
> in the pickup truck. I think it was four of them who shared the place, 
> sad to say I don’t remember who the others were, but you can bet they 
> were decent guys, as my father had no tolerance for ones who wanted to 
> drink or carouse. I suspect they may have gotten a cheap car at some 
> point as well.
> >>
> >> He kept the place until he retired in June 1981, and someone else 
> stepped in, we went and retrieved his clothes but left the other 
> things there, as we had no real need for them.
> >>
> >> In 2019, the Bluefield Train show was moved to the Quality Inn on 
> Route 460. The show had been held for years in another location, but 
> all the events were cancelled for some reason, and the show had to be 
> relocated to this Quality Inn. The Quality Inn was where the railroad 
> crews stayed at the time. Now, I cannot say I saw any roaches there 
> and the place was decently clean. More than a bit overpriced in my 
> mind. Since my wife and I were representing the Society, we drove up 
> on Friday to do the show and stayed Friday and Saturday night. There 
> was no restaurant in the place, and the nearest place was a few miles 
> down the road. Then on Saturday night, the toilets stopped working. 
> There was only one room with a working toilet in the place on Sunday. 
> You had to go to the desk, get the room key, then return the key for 
> the next person.
> >>
> >> When the toilet was not working on Saturday night, I called the 
> desk for someone from maintenance to come fix it. The maintenance 
> person had already left for the day, so they brought me a plunger 
> wrapped in a plastic bag. Overpriced? I’d say so. We’ll never stay 
> there again.
> >>
> >> I’m told the crews also no longer stay there, but someplace over 
> nearer to Princeton.
> >>
> >> Best
> >> Ken Miller
> >> ________________________________________
> >> NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org <mailto:NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org>
> >> To change your subscription go to
> >> http://list.nwhs.org/mailman/options/nw-mailing-list 
> <http://list.nwhs.org/mailman/options/nw-mailing-list>
> >> Browse the NW-Mailing-List archives at
> >> http://list.nwhs.org/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/ 
> <http://list.nwhs.org/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/>
> >>
> >> ________________________________________
> >> NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org <mailto:NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org>
> >> To change your subscription go to
> >> http://list.nwhs.org/mailman/options/nw-mailing-list 
> <http://list.nwhs.org/mailman/options/nw-mailing-list>
> >> Browse the NW-Mailing-List archives at
> >> http://list.nwhs.org/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/ 
> <http://list.nwhs.org/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/>
>
> -- 
> This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
> https://www.avast.com/antivirus <https://www.avast.com/antivirus>
>
>
> ________________________________________
> NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org <mailto:NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org>
> To change your subscription go to
> http://list.nwhs.org/mailman/options/nw-mailing-list 
> <http://list.nwhs.org/mailman/options/nw-mailing-list>
> Browse the NW-Mailing-List archives at
> http://list.nwhs.org/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/ 
> <http://list.nwhs.org/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/>
>
> ________________________________________
> NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org  <mailto:NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org>
> To change your subscription go to
> http://list.nwhs.org/mailman/options/nw-mailing-list  <http://list.nwhs.org/mailman/options/nw-mailing-list>
> Browse the NW-Mailing-List archives at
> http://list.nwhs.org/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/  <http://list.nwhs.org/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Avast logo <https://www.avast.com/antivirus> 	
>
> This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
> www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/antivirus>
>
>
> <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>
> ________________________________________
> NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org
> To change your subscription go to
> http://list.nwhs.org/mailman/options/nw-mailing-list
> Browse the NW-Mailing-List archives at
> http://list.nwhs.org/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/
>
> ________________________________________
> NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org
> To change your subscription go to
> http://list.nwhs.org/mailman/options/nw-mailing-list
> Browse the NW-Mailing-List archives at
> http://list.nwhs.org/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://pairlist6.pair.net/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/attachments/20220328/93a838c9/attachment-0001.htm>