[N&W] Re: Class J cab/can someone explain this?

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

I remember in the mid 60's going past a big hobby shop on rt 125, which was 
west of Portsmouth on US 52.  This was on the way to a local state park 
that was then called Roosevelt Lake.  I just remember a comment from my 
father saying that there was a huge layout in there and I would have loved 
to see it. I think there might have been a mention of a cab of a "Pow Tan" 
in there. I think Bussa was it's name.  My memory is foggy but it was a 
white and yellow cinderblock building, one story and large and it had some 
type of railroad signal out in front.  But I believe this hobby shop was 
closed by the mid 60's, something about a death.  I can't recall.

A.J. Gemperline
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Gary - The cab at the Bussa Hobby Shop was not a wooden mockup built by an
individual, but was a full-size J cab built in Roanoke Shop.
EdKing

 > In addition to this cab mock-up, there was a full size,wood representative
 > J cab built by a private individual in Portsmouth, Ohio as a back drop for
 > his N&W model train layout. This cab was mainly the back head of the
 > locomotive and was full size and accurate. The impressive layout was
<snip>
 >
 > Gary Rolih
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The cab was traded in exchange for a cab ride on the 611 in 1986 (I believe)
was moved to Roanoke in a gondola, then shipped to Birmingham, where all the
usable hardware was stripped, and the shell sat outside the steam shop until
the auction in February, 1995. As I recall it was sold to someone in North
Carolina.

It was built by the railroad (don't know if it was at Roanoke or Portsmouth)
and donated to Chester Bussa for their model railroad display. The "N&W
Junior Railway" was first featured in story with photos in the N&W Magazine,
October, 1948. A second article was published in the Magazine in September
1952. This article mentions the J cab as well as the exit to the building
made from "the rear platform of a dismantled Norfolk and Western business
car." In the 1952 article, the J cab can partially be seen in one of the
photos. I seem to recall at least one other image of it in the Magazine, at
the time.

Ken Miller