Healthy Discussion

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

Bill,

    I think that the point is that this is an N&W list so maybe a discussion
of the ACL would be better served on another list? Just my opinion !!

Walt Gay
ex-SCL car knocker




----- Original Message ----- 
From: <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
To: <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 9:04 PM
Subject: Healthy Discussion



> I have never treferred to the N&W as  being anything other than what

> it is, the N&W.

> I have endured cheap shots on this site such as "Auntie's Clothsline"  and

> ACL passenger diesels called "purple peopleaters".  I just considered the

> source and didn't get bent out of shape about it.   Now you tell me.

> Who is denigrating what ?

>

> I am sorry I  showed my ignorance by mis-spelling the word "Powhatan."

> Shame on me for not being perfect.  Please forgive an 83 year old who was

> firing locomotives when you were but a gleam in your father's eye.

>

> I  Did Not  refer to Cincinnati as a deadend point.  I was speaking

> about Norfolk being a deadend point, which I  STILL  maintain was the case

> for passengers traveling to  Norfolk  There were six steam railroads

operating

> passenger service into and out of Norfolk, but guess what.   Five of them,

the

> N&W, the VGN,  The ACL, the  Seaboard, and the Atlantic   Danville

operated

> only to the west back to Suffolk, Va.   The only exception being the

Norfolk

> Southern which had one daily departure at 7:00 AM for it's all-day trek to

> Raleigh, N.C.   Anyone destined for eastern  North Carolina points would

> detrain on the N&W at Petersburg and change to either the ACL or

Seaboard.

>

> In South Rocky Mount, N.C. at one time we had 42 south end engine

> crews marked up  in the freight pool.

> All doubleheading of passenger trains and  extra sections of passenger

trains

> were engine crews out of the freight pool.  Indeed, some of the crews were

> making nearly all of their monthly mileage working passenger trains

instead

> of freight trains.   With the addition of  two  or three  name trains that

> operated only during the winter season  from November until  April, we had

> around a dozen regular  southbound name trains and their extra sections

along

> with their northbound counterparts  daily.   How can anyone seriously

mention

> the N&W and ACL in the same breath when it came to passenger volumn.

> And one again, those name trains  DID NOT   carry mail or express to make

> money.  The two exceptions that I remember were the Havana Special, Nos.

> 75 and 76, and the Palmetto  Nos. 77 and 78.   Most of those Florida

trains

> had only one car not carrying passengers, and that was the baggage car

right

> behind the engines.  Having worked  on these trains I couldn't help but

notice

> the train consist.   You describe the Arrow as a "through" train and then

> list a total of  ten stops between Norfolk and Cincinnati.

>

> When I worked some of those Florida trains we never stopped turning a

wheel for

> the entire 172 miles between Rocky Mount and Florence, unless we had a

> steam locomotive which meant stopping at the coaling tower at Milan yard

to

> service the locomotive.   Again mind you,  I am not bragging, but

> merely pointing out

> the importance of passenger service on the ACL.   I am sure the

> service provided

> by the N&W was sufficient to meet the needs of the people who needed that

> east-west service.  I am also aware of the problems faced by the N&W in

> having to operate through the mountains.  Bill Sellers

>

>

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