More Pepper pics (westbound)

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On Thu, Jun 26, 2025 at 7:10 AM Rob wrote:

> Continuing with the Pepper area theme, there isn't a lot of room there.
> Westbound Ringling brothers circus back in the day. (04/15/2015) Seems
> like yesterday.
>  I didn't even know the train wasn't even NS powered that day.
>

Nice photos, thanks for sharing. Pepper is an interesting location in that
there isn't much there. The location was long important as the site of a
ferry across the New River, providing a connection from Montgomery County
and points east with Pulaski County on a track north of the Wilderness
Road. The river was bridged in 1939 but the road to the east to Blacksburg
was unimproved.

The rail line was the low-grade line built to move traffic off the original
line over Schooler Hill into Radford. What's interesting is the large
station that was built, pretty much in the middle of nowhere, at Pepper --
two stories with a residence for the agent. What was the need for this
station, other than as an enlarged "tower" to handle traffic to and from
the single-track Pepper/Cowan tunnel. When did the tower at Walton come on
line? What about Cowan?

While looking for info about the Pepper's Ferry bridge, I did find this
tidbit that leads to the question -- where does one store a bridge?

*Southwest Times*, Volume 25, Number 222, 9 November 1930, pg. 5

*Permit Action Delayed Week*

Decision by the Federal power commission on the application of a permit for
the Appalachian Power company dam, which had been announced as probably to
be made Thursday, will not be made for a week or ten days, it was stated at
the office of the commission in Washington yesterday.

Reports current in this section that the Federal power commission had made
its decision in the dam case and would announce this decision after the
election were denied by a dispatch from Washington. The commission stated
to the correspondent at Washington that the decision would not finally be
made for a week or ten days.

Vice President Claytor of the Appalachian Electric Power company, here in
connection with the land condemnation cases, said that he expected actual
work to be started within four or five weeks. The Appalachian company is
reported to have bought from the Norfolk & Western the old railroad bridge
that has been in storage since a new structure replaced it at its former
location over New river leading to the Pepper tunnel. This bridge is
expected to be used at the dam site, where a track will be laid from the
quarry line to carry supplies and materials.


Bruce in Blacksburg
[image: NW02065.jpg]
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