[N&W] Re: South River Lumber Co.

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

I would recommend that you get off I81 at the Steele's Tavern exit - it's
around mile marker 200.  Go east on SR56 (crossing over US 11 with a left/right
100 yds on US 11) to Vesuvius.  Just before you cross over the N&W main line,
turn right (South) on SR 608.  The next few miles is great as you are driving
along the South River and the N&W main line for a few miles.  Eventually, you
will pass by Irish Creek Road (SR 603) turning left but continue on 608 into
the village of Cornwall.  Nose around there and you can find the old commissary
and the original lumber mill foundations.  If you need help, stop into the
Creek's End Country Store and they will be very helpful.

Then backtrack to Irish Creek Road (SR 603) and turn east (the only way) and
you will be following the route of the narrow guage railway.  At the settlement
of Irish Creek, the railway will leave you where it started switchbacking up
Painter Mountain.  Once at the top, it branched out along the Blue Ridge.  If
you continue on SR 603, you will pass under the Parkway.  Stay left and you can
access the Parkway in a few hundred yards.  If you turn south on the Parkway,
you are not far from mile 34 where the reconstructed portion on the railway is
at the Yankee Horse Ridge Parking area.

Contact me if you need more,
Gene
genemike at cstone.net

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Dear Gene and Brian,
     Here is where to find the cab in question. All directions are in relation
to the tracks being north and south, not actual headings.
     Stand at the south end of the bridge facing south, with tracks on your
left and church, road and South River on your right. Walk south toward
milepost H178, Church property forms a sort of triangle shape. Just past all
church buildings, look to your right at the treeline. You should see the cab
in the brush with the rear of the cab toward you and the front of the cab
facing the road. Now turn around and face the tracks and wave to me as I come
by on the train:) Happy hunting.
     BTW, Gene I would be interested in seeing what info you found and will be
glad to make a copy of what I have for you. You mentioned talking to one of
the native Cornwallians. Ask if they know of a Claude Crissman. He was a
conductor I worked with and grew up in that area. He may have worked on the
Irish Creek before going to the N&W.