A Pole at Tin Bridge on the Saltbville Branch, Six Decades Ago

[NW Mailing List]

Herb

The schedules varied over the years, you have to look at instructions for those specific time frames.

Since I happen to have Radford Division employee timetable No. 5, effective June 7, 1953, and public timetable No. 3, September 27, 1953 out for research for an Arrow article that I am writing for the next issue. This is the reference I will use.

Bear in mind, these are scheduled times. Odd number trains are westbound, even number trains are eastbound.

It shows that 9 & 10 Bristol line local, unnamed) were regulars stops for Glade Spring most likely to handle mail and express as not many riders were ever present, 41 (The Pelican) (8:50 am) stopped to discharge or receive revenue passengers. No. 42 (8:40 pm) stopped on flag signal to discharge or receive revenue passengers.

45 (4:40 pm) stopped on flag signal to discharge or receive revenue passengers & 46 (11:04 am) stopped only to discharge or receive revenue passengers. The Birmingham Special, Nos. 17 (12:16 am) & 18 (3:43 am) did not stop at Glade Spring.

Regarding the N&W units, when one of the Southern units failed, they would typically pull a unit from a nearby terminal or train to get the passenger train over the road to the next place. I’ve got several photos showing such moves. It might have happened more often than one might think.

Best
Ken Miller

> On Sep 23, 2023, at 10:23 AM, NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
> 
> Abram 
> Thanks for sharing all these photos from Glade Springs/Saltville. 
> I have a couple of questions:
> Was Glade Springs a regular stop on all the Southern passenger trains that passed through? 
> What might have been the reason that N&W would have attached a motor (ALCO 409) to the head end of a Southern consist? Was it very frequent or just maybe a one-shot occurrence due to issues with one of the Southern motors? 
> Thanks
> Herb Edwards
> Lynchburg 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Sep 23, 2023, at 9:55 AM, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
>> 
>> With an old Illinois Central RR Telegrapher out in the West, I have been discussing railroad pole line wire practices, circuit assignments, and how "drop wires" (from the pole) were passed through the station walls and attached to the local equipment.
>> 
>> It strikes me that something I sent him yesterday may be of interest to the N&W Listers. It concerns three photographs taken in 1964 at Tin Bridge on the Saltville Branch. (And my thanks to List-member and Saltville native Capt. Gary Price for ID'ing the location for me several years ago.) That piece of correspondence trails and I will attach the photos to this List post.  (I always put details in my file names, so check there if you want date, direction &c,)
>> 
>>   -- abram burnett
>> Our Turnips are Bottled-in-Bond
>> 
>> 
>> Here are three photos I took from a caboose on the N&W Saltville Branch in 1964.
>> 
>> Recently I asked the 1957-hire Opr/DS, Tommy Duncan, why there were three wire pairs on the pole line between Glade Spring and Saltville. One pair was obviously for the Traim Dispatcher's Wire and the other was obviously the Msg Wire, but what was the third pair for?
>> 
>> Tommy never batted an eye. He said the third pair was a telegraph line looped off the Main Line WU wire at Glade Spring, down to Saltville and back, because the truly massive Olin Matheson Alkali Works there did a huge telegraph business. Who else would have known a detail like that besides Tommy?  He and one other are the last of the old time Radford Division Operators.
>> 
>> If you want to see all my Glade Spring/Saltville photos taken almost 60 years ago, go here:
>> 
>> https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1B3o5jOxMT_MH2HDMbvFGWMHbiDQF-1Tu?usp=sharing
>> 
>> -- 73 SW &
>> <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
>> <ADB_N&W_9-7-1964_Saltville Br-_eastound to Saltville_from caboose_at Tin Bridge_neg #102141_edited_cropped 4x6.jpg>
>> <ADB_N&W_9-7-1964_Saltville Br-_eastbound to Saltville_from caboose_at Tin Bridge_neg #102145_edited_cropped 4x6.jpg>
>> <ADB_N&W_9-7-1964_Saltville Br-_eastbound toSaltville_from caboose_at Tin Bridge_neg #102140_edited_cropped 4x6.jpg>
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