N&W and Southern crossing in Walnut Cove, NC

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

Scott:
The crossing with the Southern still shows up on the Shenandoah Div.  track
chart 01/01/1982.  There were two tracks that paralleled N&W on  the west
side - one crossed NC 65 and one didn't.  These were apparently  the
interchange tracks.  At one time (in the 20's), mallet engines were  banned
on the interchange tracks, but by the 40's, there's no longer a  restriction
shown.
 
Over the years, the interlocking changed.  In the 20's, there was  an
operator-leverman at Walnut Cover 24/7.  Position lights came to  N&W
in the 30's on the Hagerstown end of the Shenandoah Division, so
apparently the crossing was protected by semaphores before position
lights.  In the 50's, the operator was on duty 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM  Monday-
Saturday, and on Sunday, only until No.11 departed.  Probably some  idea
of how the interlocking worked can be found in Southern's  Winston-Salem
Division Timetable 93  10/30/61 - a Southern train arriving at the  crossing
when no operator was on duty would receive a stop signal.  To  proceed
across thru the interlocking, the cabinet on the signal mast  would have to
be unlocked and a button pushed.  If the interlocking failed to clear,  he'
have to talk  with the dispatcher.  The Winston District was  TC'ed circa
1971 and the crossing become automatic -- first come first served  without
regard to class, tonnage,  and no preferential treatment for either  railroad.
 
About 1971, there was a collision at Walnut Cove.  A  Roanoke-bound
train was stopped at the crossing and a cab lite rear-ended it.
 
Interchange ?  I don't know.  Perhaps an occasional car of brick  from]
Madison Brick Company.
                                                    Harry Bundy
 
 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/attachments/20060301/1854945e/attachment.html