RNRH Newsletter - Roanoke Chapter NRHS

Willie" route was recently opened as a pavedhiking trail in downtown Martinsville. Thistrail begins just off Franklin Street, which isbehind the old Henry County Courthouse,and proceeds eastward to the end of PineStreet, a distance of about six tenths of amile. Planners in Henry County hope toextend this trail westward from Martinsvilleto the town of Fieldale ,eventually.Carolina Coastal RailwayThe Carolina Coastal Railway has recentlyfiled to lease from NS and to operateapproximately 133.4 miles of railroad lineknown as the Raleigh-Plymouth routeextending between NS milepost 132.00 atChcowinity, and NS milepost 228.00 atRaleigh. The agreement also includes severalother sections of track at other pointsbetween Chocowinity and Raleigh. Thetransaction was expected to be completedon or after June 21st. (From Midwest RailScene Report, Issue # 269, July 2007).A Female Railroad Pioneerby John EmeryKnown to Railroadiana collectors primarilythrough Douglas McIntyre’s OfficialGuide to Railroad Dining Car China’s chapter:”Letters From Baltimore,” Miss Olive W.Dennis was a pioneer.Olive Dennis was born in Thurlow,Pennsylvania on November 20, 1885. Shegraduated first in her class at Western HighSchool in Baltimore, Maryland, winning afour-year scholarship to Goucher College,from which she graduated Phi Beta Kappa in1908. A year later, she graduated with anM.A. from Columbia University. For tenyears, she taught mathematics at theMcKinley Manual Training School inWashington, D.C. During her summerbreaks, she would take courses at differentcolleges and universities around the country,and one summer’s course in surveyingat the University of Wisconsin led her to hercareer in Civil Engineering. In 1919 sheenrolled at Cornell University and completedher Civil Engineering degree in 1920. Shewas only the second woman ever to completethe Civil Engineering program there.Olive Dennis had always been interestedin building things. When she was only tenyears old, she scratch-built a scale modeltrolley that had reversible seats, a pole thatmoved, and movable steps. Never interestedin dolls, she frequently borrowed herfather’s tools to build doll furniture, learningthe hard way that chisels are not screwdrivers. In a 1940 interview, she said, “Ihave always loved making toys and havebeen trying to do so ever since I could drivea nail.”Unfortunately, engineering was still aman’s world in 1920, and she was unsuccessfulin getting a job building bridges.Later in 1920, the Baltimore and OhioRailroad hired her as a draftsman. Twentyfouryears later, in a groundbreaking workwith Miss Dorothy Sells on the jobs thatwomen could perform in the railroad industryshe was to write that drafting “isadmirably suited to women with adequatetechnical education.”After a year at the drafting boards, hertitle changed to Engineer of Service, reportingdirectly to the President of the B&O. Inthat capacity, she would travel more than50,000 miles per year on the B&O, and otherrailroads to evaluate service, and to makerecommendations on how to improve servicein a cost-effective manner. One of herfirst recommendation had to do with loweringthe height of coach seats. She observedthat many female travelers, being of shorterstature than men, were unable to place theirfeet on the floor of the coach, instead havingtheir legs and feet dangling off the ends5