Roanoke Industry of the 1970's

[NW Mailing List]

Don, That's a nice image.

"any interface the railroad (N&W or Virginian?) had with it?"

As I recall in the 60's and 70's Roanoke City Mills was switched by a 
Winston-Salem line local 5 or 6 days per week. If you got caught at the 
Jefferson St Xing by this local you were going to be there for quite 
awhile. Every move into or out of the mill tied up the Xing and with a 
long cut of cars the Xing was never cleared. The same local switched the 
scrapyard (through the mill's property) but the majority of business was 
with the mill. Seems like it was typically switched in the early 
evening.

The mill is still in business. They have relocated south on the Winston 
line just north of Starkey. And they are still served by NS today.

John Garner, Newport, VA.




In Roanoke near Victory Stadium was a large silo complex. Of course now 
that I’m curious about it, the area has been completely razed for the 
modern hospital complex. Can anyone point me in the proper direction 
regarding the purpose of this structure and any interface the railroad 
(N&W or Virginian?) had with it? Perhaps even knowing the name of the 
business would help me to find better photos and data.


Don Trettel