Crewe, Va - It's Origin as a Terminal ?

[NW Mailing List]

Tiptoeing this morning through the 1881 Time Table, I noticed that Crewe,
Virginia, is not shown.

My long-standing assumption had been that Crewe, as a terminal for engines
and crews, resulted from the inclusion of the South Side RR, the Norfolk &
Petersburg RR, and the Virginia & Tennessee RR, into the Atlantic
Mississippi & Ohio RR in 1870.

But this 1881 T.T. shows that there was still no "Crewe" by 1881, eleven
years after the formation of the AM&O.  And apparently the engine and crew
districts of 1881 were (1) Norfolk to Lynchburg, (2) Lynchburg to Central
Depot (Radford,) and (3) Central Depot to Bristol.

So now the question becomes:  What could have been the catalyst for
re-jiggering the engine and crew districts by establishing a terminal at
Crewe, Va ?  And, WHEN was this done ?

One good index to this process would be dates for the acquisition of real
estate parcels incident to the construction of Crewe Yard, as indicated in
the Real Estate Index on the Valuation Maps sheets.  But before I go
through that menagerie-of-a-search, perhaps one of the Old Wise Men can
throw this Young WhipperSnapper a bone, and just tell him why and when
Crewe was established as a terminal for engines and crews.  For which I
would be plentifully grateful.  :-)

-- abram burnett
Ever Eat a Turnip Tacco ?
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