Nov.-Dec. 2010 - Roanoke Chapter NRHS

The Official Newsletter ofthe Roanoke Chapter, NationalRailway Historical Society, Inc.Volume 42, Number 5November-December 2010

Meeting NoticeVolume 42, Number 6Nov.-Dec.. 2010Editors:Jim Overholserjgoverholser@verizon.netDorr Tuckerjoandorr2@verizon.netMixed FreightRobin R. Shaversrobin.shavers@gmail.comHistorianKenneth L. Millerklmiller@rev.netAll materials should besent directly to the Editorsat their email address listedwith their names.Turntable Times is publishedbimonthly as the newsletter ofthe Roanoke Chapter, NationalRailway Historical Society, Inc.Opinions and points of viewexpressed herein are those of thestaff members of the TurntableTimes and not necessarily reflectthose of the members, officers ordirectors of the Chapter.The Roanoke Chapter of the National Railway Historical Societywill hold our November Annual meeting will be held Thursday,Nov. 18, 2010. See the annual meeting information on the nextpage.As usual, we will hold our Holiday Gathering on the normalmeeting night, December 16th, see more details elsewhere,Our January meeting, will be Thursday, January 20, 2011.Throughout the year, please note our inclement weather policybelow, and always check the website for the most up to date information.Watch the website to see the announcement of other programs.From The Head EndCards and FlowersIf you know of a Chapter Member who is sick, lost a loved oneor has a new birth in the family, please contact Bonnie Molinary.Bonnie is responsible for Chapter cards and flowers and can bereached at 362-0273.Deadline for Turntable TimesThe deadline for the January/February issue of Turntable Timesis Monday, December 20, 2010. Please send articles, informationand exchange newsletters to: Editor Turntable Times, P. O. Box13222, Roanoke, VA, 24032. All parties sending newsletters to theRoanoke Chapter via email should send them to Jim Overholser:jgoverholser@verizon.net, Dorr Tucker at joandorr2@verizon.netand Ken Miller at klmiller@rev.netMeeting Cancellation PolicyAny Chapter meeting will be considered cancelled if any of thefollowing conditions are due to weather: Roanoke City Schools areclosed on the day of or for the day after the meeting, or VirginiaWestern night classes are cancelled for the night of a meeting.Cover PhotoSkip Salmon captured this fine view of our GP30 522, an NS unit,our tool car 1407 and caboose 518409 on display for Appomattoxrail day in October. The 522 powered the special move fromRoanoke to Appomattox and return. Our mechanical crew installedditch lights on the 522 to meet current FRA standards.1

Notice of Annual MeetingThe Annual Meeting of the RoanokeChapter of the National RailwayHistorical Society will be held at the O.Winston Link Museum on Thursday,November 18, 2010. The meeting will beginat 7:30 pm. At this time, we will hold ourannual election in which four (4) directorswill be elected.The candidates are as follows (* indicatesincumbent):Gary GrayLandon Gregory*Bill Mason*Ken Miller*Eddie Mooneyham*Nominations will be accepted from thefloor at the Annual Meeting, please be sureyou have that person’s consent before makinga nomination.The Roanoke Chapter is soliciting nomineesfor Directors to be voted on at theNovember Annual Meeting. There are four(4) positions to be voted on. You may contacta member of the nominating committee- Bonnie Molinary, Dorr Tucker, and JimOverholser, chairman.Instructions for Absentee Ballot: This yearwe will elect four (4) directors by secret ballot.Any member in good standing may voteby absentee ballot.Please Note: if you are interested in running,or know of another Chapter memberwho is, please contact the nominating committeepromptly.If there are no more candidates than positions,a motion to elect by acclaim will beaccepted.To vote by absentee ballot, one must:1 - Request an absentee ballot from theSecretary or a member of the nominatingcommittee. You will receive (a) one ballot;(b) one "ballot" envelope; and (c) one mailingenvelope.2 - Mark the ballot (vote for not more thanfive (5) directors. If more than four (4) votesare cast, the ballot will be discarded).3 - Place the ballot in the "ballot" envelopeand seal. Do not put your name on the ballotor "ballot" envelope.4 - Place "ballot" envelope in the mailingenvelope. Write your name and returnaddress on the envelope and mail to;Roanoke Chapter, NRHSP.O. Box 13222Roanoke, VA 24032-1322or the envelope may be hand delivered tothe Secretary anytime before the election atthe annual meeting.Mixed Freight-November/December 2010By Mr. Robin R Shaversguess by the time this Turntable TimesI reaches your email or U.S. Mail, autumnwill be in full swing and Old Man Winterwill be fine tuning his agenda for the 2010-2011 winter season. Personally I hope wehave less wintery weather than we had lastseason. Comments and wisecracks aboutthis past hot summer abounded so I’llmake my own here. It was so hot here inRichmond the June bugs didn’t come outuntil late August. Most of my local railfaningwas done late at night into the earlya.m. hours like 2 a.m. or later. You see a lotof things in those hours that you rarely ornever see during daylight with reference tocritters.Norfolk & Western Railway fans take note.Back in 1997, a book arrived on the scenetitled Norfolk & Western In Color: Vol. 1 byJim Nichols. That book covered the years1945 through 1964. Volume 2 is out by2

Stephen M. Timko and it covers the years1964 through 1973. I personally have notseen a copy of it or read any reviews aboutit.Looking back, 2010 marks 25 years sincethe Milwaukee Road went bankrupt andcalled it quits. This year also marks 30 yearssince the enactment of The Harley StaggersAct which presented the railroads the freedomto conduct business competively witheach other as well as alternative transportationmodes and with the customers as well.2010 also marks the 70th anniversary ofTRAINS magazine. Speaking of TRAINS magazine,the September 2010 edition featuredan article entitled “NIMBYs vs. Railroads.”The article, in my opinion, was well writtenand researched. Two things annoyed me. Onpage 45 there is a photo of 2 kids standingon a paved surface with their ears coveredas a Norfolk Southern roars past them withhorns blaring. I saw it all the time duringthe Southern/Norfolk Southern steam excursionsbut yet these same kids listen to loudmusic via headphones and otherwise withouta flinch. When people ask me why trainhorns are SO LOUD I tell them the hornsare loud to REALLY GET YOUR ATTENTION.People are so preoccupied. On page 46, aparent is quoted saying “My son could bewalking along with his iPod on and nor hearthe train.” This goes back to what I just commentedon about the loud horns. Your kidsshould be educated about being out in societyand harm’s way and being occupied withiPods and other devices. If they are gonnacomplain about trains killing or injuringtheir kids because of an iPod, do likewisefor motor vehicles, skateboarders, and evenattacking dogs.Something I forgot to mention in my lastcolumn was that Norfolk Southern’s V08freight operating between Richmond andCrewe has returned to daylight operationafter being a night train for many months. Itreturned to daylight operation back in Julyand departs Richmond usually between 8:15and 9 a.m.I have attended quite a few railfan eventssince my last column and I will commenton a few. The Old Dominion Chapter NRHShad an open house/picnic for its membersand friends on Saturday September 11. Theevent was held at the Chapter’s HallsboroYard in western Chesterfield Countyadjacent to the former Southern RailwayRichmond to Danville line. The steam locomotivewas in operation and it pushed andpulled a fully restored RF&P caboose loadedwith attendees. The event was well attendedand the weather pleasant with plenty offood to meet the most demanding folk. Thismight become an annual event. We werehoping Norfolk Southern’s V08 return trainto Richmond would show but as of 3 p.m.when I departed it hadn’t.Nearly two weeks later I journeyed to oneof my favorite train watching communities,Altavista, Virginia, for the annual BlueRidge Chapter NRHS picnic. The event isheld at The Staunton River Park adjacent tothat river and the former Virginian Railway.There was a good turnout with deliciousfood and cold beverages, Rule G compliantof course. The only drawback was too manyflies and no trains on the former Virginian.Flies were also a major hassle at the ODCevent. I arrived in Altavista about 11:45a.m. and caught 3 freights on the formerSouthern within 15 minutes - a northbounddouble stack, southbound 159 which hadto stop at Hurt for a westbound emptyPGNX hopper train. Everyone attendinghad departed by 2:15 p.m. I remained until4 p.m. and no other trains were seen. Ohwell, maybe better next year train trafficwise.As I mentioned earlier this year, 20103

marks 50 years since the East Broad TopRailroad became a tourist carrier and theyhave been celebrating since early June.I opted to attend their annual AutumnSpectacular Weekend over the ColumbusDay weekend October 8th thru 10th to getmore bang for my bucks. I hit a Hess stationa few hours before the gas jumped ten centsmore per gallon. Friday was a photo freightand photo coal train day for paying riders.There were quite a few activities going on toraise funds for the EBT. The bigger crowdsof course arrived on Saturday. The weatherwas very warm and ideal for folks to displaytheir EBT tee shirts. I must say, I don’t knowof any tourist railroad or railroad museumwith as many different tee shirts as the EBT.For some reason I drew a lot of attentionfor using a good ole fashion Canon AE 1 35millimeter camera. Most folks were shockedthat 35 mm film can be purchased at placeslike Target, Walmart, and most big chaindrug stores. I use two AE 1’s with differentfilm, one for bright sunny days and one forovercast and night photography.Motive power was Mikado No. 15 andcenter cab No. M-7. The gas electric ran onetrip per day. I spent a good part of Saturdayriding every trolley that the neighboringtrolley museum operated that day. BetweenFriday and Saturday, I spent nearly 24 hourswith the EBT and enjoyed every second ofit. Sunday was spent railfaning betweenAltoona and Gallitzin. Traffic was reasonableand I only saw three locomotives withConrail attire and one set of SD 40-2 helpers.Cuyahoga Valley NewsViscose No. 6, a saddle tank, coal fired 0-4-0 used at what is now our maintainencefacility in Southeast Roanoke until afterWorld War II and stored for many years atthe Gem City Junk Co. in Pulaski will operateon the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroadout of Akron Ohio this month. Along withthe little "tea kettle" former NKP Berkshire765 will also run.Not a locomotive, but with a Roanoke historyex-Central of Georgia Budd-built combineNo. 391, the Fort Mitchell, will also beoperating on the Ohio tourist line. This carbuilt in 1947 for Central of Georgia's Man ofWar streamliner was sold to the Chapter bySouthern Railway in 1979, operated on manyof the 611 and 1218 trips and was later soldto the Cuyahoga Valley in early 1995.My Memories of a One-Way TripFinal EpisodeOby Joe Fagann September 29, 1945, U.S.S. GeneralW.F. Hase was anchored in the middleof the Hooghly River loaded with Armymen from Burma. I don’t know how manySACO men were aboard. Only a few of usat most. All of the stuff in Calcutta had tobe disposed of or shipped elsewhere. Themen in China dispersed to various ports forreassignment. That must have taken sometime to accomplish because they were scatteredall over China in small groups andhad to walk long distances to get transportation.Back in Calcutta the Gen. Hase gotunder way with the high tide and got tothe Bay of Bengal but had to wait five or sixhours for high tide again to cross the sandbar a few miles out in the delta. At hightide we were on our way. The ship put inat Columbo, Ceylon (Sari Lanka) to take onfuel. We departed the next morning andheaded west. We crossed the north part ofthe Indian Ocean. We saw some islands norfar from India that were the north end ofthe Maldives. It was a few days before wegot to the Gulf of Aden and into the Red Sea.Most of the passage was close to the AfricanCoast, but some times close to Saudi Arabia.It was really hot in the Red Sea. While we4 1

were in the canal we saw Mount Sinai inthe distance. In due time we arrived at SuezCity.During the night the ships bow washung with strong lights to guide it throughthe canal. Just after we left Columbo I hadclaimed a spot on the deck in a small auxiliarybunk below decks. When I woke upthat morning the ship was pretty far intothe canal. In those days the canal was verynarrow. I looked out the porthole and therenot a hundred feet away was a man ridinga camel wrapped up in blankets with arifle sticking out the top. That was the onlymilitary person not an American servicemanthat I ever saw that was carrying agun. Soon we arrived in Great Bitters Lakeabout one third of the way through thecanal. About five or six other ships of variousnationalities eventually anchored there.That was the sidetrack so to speak. It took acouple of hours wait before the southboundtraffic began to arrive. It was led by a realfancy ship painted white. It was followedby another ship that looked like a miniatureof the first ship and that was followed byseveral merchant ships. The military shipsplayed their national anthem in turn andthen the white ships played the Egyptiananthem. It was King Farouke of Egypt’syacht returning with the king aboard theParis. The smaller ship was his honor guard.Soon we were underway again and in duetime we arrived at Port Said, Egypt. Westayed there for a bit taking on fresh waterprocessed from the Nile River and also takingthe lights off the bow. During that timethere about a million small boats along sideselling about everything you could imagine.Soon we were under way again in theMediterranean Sea heading home.The captain of the Hase must have beena good guy because he kept the ship closeto the North African coast almost all theway through the Mediterranean. We wereclose enough to see the coastal cities andtowns. We passed just off the coast of CapeBon where General Patton chased Rommel’stanks out of Africa. Sicily was just over thehorizon. We could see the mountains fromthe ship. It must have taken us a coupleof days to get to Gibraltar. That insurancecompany sure did take liberty with theirlogo. i couldn’t see anything that looked likethe picture. The straights were impressive.The African coast had high cliffs and wasSpanish Gibraltar. The European side wasSpanish except for the fortifications andsmall town that was a British dependency. Itwas located on the eastern side of the peninsulawhere it can hardly be seen from theship lane. There was quite a change whenthe ship entered the North Atlantic. Thewaves were rougher and the temperaturewas cooler too. We passed fairly close by theAzores Islands. Those islands are like WestVirginia. If they were ironed out flat theywould be as big as Texas.About half way across the Atlantic wewere in the Sargasso Sea. For the uninformedthat is where Sargasso seaweedis caught up in a great wave in the mid-Atlantic. The air was quite cold until abouta day past the Sargasso Sea when suddenlythe air warmed up considerably. We werein the Gulf Stream. About another day andwe made landfall in New York. We passedthe Ambrose Lightship, which was a smallred painted ship with a navigation light ontop of girders mounted on the ship’s hull.We passed through the Verrazano Narrows.We passed the Statue of Liberty and eventhough I had been gone from the countryfor only a short time it looked mighty good.Most of the soldiers had been in Burma fora couple of years and there were plenty oftears of joy. We sailed up the East River tothe Brooklyn Navy Yard where we said good-15

ye to the General Hase. We were housedin one of the Yard’s barracks for a few days.The first order of business was to get ashower. I’ll bet I showered for two hours!The next item of business was getting up tolooking like sailors again. We were issued acomplete new sea bag. Dress blues, summerwhites, pea coat, the whole shebang. Nextwe were given our leave papers and a rideto the Pennsylvania Station. Washingtonhere I come! When I got off the train atWashington Union Station whistles blewand bells rang (in my head). I had completeda great ONE WAY TRIP around the world inless than five months.Fall Amtrak Tripsby Dorr TuckerA WTextbook Operation for Precision Transportatione operatedtwosuccessfulpassenger railexcursions onthe November 6and 7th. We hadthe same consistfor both the Danville and Bluefield trips.On the head end each day we had threeAmtrak Genesis P42 DC units that were runaround a fixed consist at both Danville andBluefield. We used nine Amfleet coaches,two Amfleet Cafe cars (one for snacks anddrinks and one for souvenirs), one ex-N&W coach (539) owned by Watauga ValleyChapter, two lounge cars owned by C. P.Huntington Chapter and three privatelyowned dome cars (one full dome).We would have liked to have sold a good200 or more tickets for the Danville tripsbut with 497 passengers aboard the trip wasa qualified success.For the first 40 miles after leavingRoanoke via the Tinker Creek Connectionwe rolled along running about 35 mph onthe former Virginian crossing several hightrestles and heading thru four short tunnels.The sun was peeking in and out of theclouds illuminating the bucolic splendor ofthe isolated landscape. Hardy, Stewartsville,Goodview and Moneta were passed virtuallyunchanged from the days of the VirginianRailway yet this scenic area is only a stonesthrow from the populated shores of SmithMountain Lake.At Hurt we stopped to pick up NS EasternDivision personnel to take us 38 miles intoDanville. The short platform dictated thatwe could only unload at three places midtrain with the folks in the head and rear fivecars walking to mid train to get off.Danville was well prepared for us withseveral interesting historic buildings highlightedby the 1898 Stone Passenger Station.The sun was out and the thermometer wasin the 60s—a delightful day! The shuttlebuses were running uptown, but most of usheaded to the old tobacco warehouse wherewe enjoyed a tasty spread that included ahalf of a rotisserie chicken as well as succulentpulled pork barbecue. The only faux paswas that the bluegrass group could not play“The Wreck of Old 97.”We had arrived a little ahead of time butdeparted on the dot of 2:30 to race up themain line of the old Southern Railway runningat 79 at times before we slowed toa crawl as we entered Montview Yard inLynchburg. Here NS Virginia Division personneltook over while the Amtrak crewthat had deadheaded into Roanoke fromCharlotte got off and deadheaded once againby taxi, this time to Bluefield, for tomorrowstrip back to Roanoke.Leaving Lynchburg, we crawled again,this time around the wye to Kinney andold Norfolk Division Rails. Running alongat 50 or so we passed the Peaks of Otter,6

esplendent in brilliant sunlight to our right.Dark clouds arrived as we headed over BlueRidge and into the Star City arriving exactlyon time at 5:30; although we didn’t unloadpassengers until 5:36. Another safe and successfultrip!The first thing that I’ll remember aboutthe Bluefield trip will always be the departurefrom Roanoke. As 782 passengers waitedalong Shenandoah Avenue below HotelRoanoke in a 23 degree chill a 17 car passengerextra with 3 dome cars and marker lightson the rear slowly backed down track 4 forloading. What a sight for a place withoutregular passenger service for over 30 years!Thanks to a lot of work from a lot of memberswe did it again!The majority of our riders were folkswithin 50 miles of Roanoke although wehad some from the West Coast and Canadaas well.The splendid scenery along New Riverwas, once again, illuminated by brilliantsunlight. While the fall foliage was a littlepast peak, the viewing was superb as thedensity of the vegetation permitted betterscenes.We arrived in Bluefield slightly ahead oftime to face a biting wind and the mercuryin the low 30s. As in Danville we couldonly unload mid train. But unlike Danvillewe had no platform-only ballast. Howeverthanks to our two-step step boxes and our 3-man catch system our unloading proceededexpeditiously without problems.Our passengers had to walk a good threeblocks “uptown” to reach various food andentertainment venues.Downtown Bluefield was a journey intothe past as a female vocalist sang some ofPatsy Cline’s latest hits.The 100 mile return was quiet and relaxingwith a minstrel doing both a vocal andinstrumental version of “The City of NewOrleans”Arrival back in the Star City was a littlebefore the 6:00 PM scheduled arrival time,but even in Roanoke passengers in the headand rear cars needed to walk thru part ofthe train to get off.The passengers were pleased with theclean equipment and courteous service thathas always been a hallmark of our professionalism.As we continue with the excursions westrive to attain the same level of service thatwas operated by Norfolk and Western somesixty years ago in the days of the “PowhatanArrow” and “Pocahontas.”Trip T-Shirts SpecialWe have trip T-shirts left over from ourfall excursions. The are sand in colorwith the fall excursion train and Chapterlogo (with the 611) on the front. The art isshown in the column at left. This beautifulshirt would make an excellent Christmasgift for anyone. The Chapter member priceis $16 per shirt and we have sizes fromSmall to 3X (Adults). We will have them atthe November Chapter Meeting on the 18th.Please help us by purchasing several.Chapter Holiday GatheringThe Chapter's Holiday Gathering willagain be held at Calvary Baptist Churchin downtown Roanoke (corner of CampbellAve and 6th Street SW) at 6 PM Thursday,December 16. Members are invited to bringtheir families or a guest and a covered dish.The Chapter will provide place settings,drinks, and some food. This is always anexcellent event and members and guests areencouraged to attend.Bonnie Molinary, Wanda Troutman, andKathy Overholser request help with settingup, beginning at 2 PM on December 16 inthe church's fellowship hall.7

At Our Maintenance Facility(Top) After a number of years, our AlcoT6 has been repainted, but the weather hasstopped the finishing touches of the lettering.Restoration professional Chris McBride isshown here prepping the T6 for its first newpaint since 1998.(Left) Part of the "steam team" is shown herewith their project. From left, Chris Hunley,Harold Hunley and Gary Wood. These dedicatedindividuals have been making good progress onrestoration of the 1118.Photos by Skip Salmon8

Come join us for an evening of holiday merriment!Candy Cane Shifter-Dec. 11Come ride with us on the Candy CaneShifter on December 11, 2010 between 9AMand 4PM at the Roanoke Industrial, oldViscose facility. Map and flyer attached. Therewill be a door prize drawn from registered passengerlist.Upcoming Meetings/EventsRegular Meeting Locations are atthe O. Winston Link Museum.Nov. 18 - Annual Meeting andElection of DirectorsDec. 11 - Candy Cane ShifterDec. 16 - Holiday GatheringJan. 4 - Board MeetingJan. 20 - Chapter MeetingFeb. 1 - Board MeetingFeb. 17 - Chapter MeetingMar. 1 - Board MeetingMar. 17 - Chapter MeetingApril 5 - Board MeetingVisit us on the web: www.RoanokeNRHS.orgTurntable Times is published bimonthly as as the the newsletter newsletter of of the the Roanoke Roanoke Chapter, Chapter, National National Railway Railway Historical Historical Society, Society, Inc. Inc. Opinions Opinions and and points points ofview of view expressed expressed herein herein are are those those of the of the staff staff members members of the of the Turntable Turntable Times Times and and not not necessarily necessarily reflect reflect those those of the of the members, members, officers officers or directorsdirectorsthe of Chapter. the Chapter. Items Items of interest of interest should should be sent be sent to Editor Editors, Kenny P.O. Kirkman, Box 13222, 590 Murphy Roanoke, Road, VA 24032 Collinsville, VA of 24078-2128.Editor, Turntable TimesRoanoke Chapter NRHSP.O. Box 13222Roanoke, VA 24032-3222Dated MaterialPlease do not delayReturn Service Requested