Va. Anthracite Coal & Ry. Co. in 1904

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THE FIRST ANTHRACITE COAL BURNING ENGINE
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Brought to Christiansburg Under Her Own Steam, No Trace of Smoke
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    The first anthracite burning locomotive ever build in the South was turned out of the Richmond Locomotive Works last week and brought under her own steam to the Virginia Anthracite Coal and Railway Companys mines and tracks near Christiansburg.
    In the cab of the odd-looking engine were William J. Payne, president of the company, L. S. Randolph, a director of the company and professor of mechanical engineering at the Polytechnic, and a newspaper reporter.
    Prof. Randolph, who knows every thing about a locomotive, from the building of the frame to the handling of the lever, started that hard coal burner out of the works with just enough time to make the trip safely to Centralia [a point between Richmond and Petersburg].
    The tender carried a supply of "Merrimac" anthracite, a size fitted for this very purpose, as was shown by the steam generated and the pressure kept up during the trip.
    There was not a single trace of smoke from the stack as the new engine took the Chesapeake and Ohio viaduct to make connections with the Atlantic Coast Line tracks at Byrd street station.  As she skimmed high in the air on the steel structure she seemed to be running by force of gravity, cleanly, as if on a toboggan.  A passing freight engine showed the difference by sending huge volumes of smoke into the air, which under the heaviness of the atmosphere, were pressed down into the streets below.

Bluefield Daily Telegraph
July 7, 1904

[The 8.88-mile Va. Anthracite Coal & Railroad Co. line became the N&W's Blacksburg Branch on January 1, 1912.  The camelback locomotive referred to in the newspaper article is pictured in Richard Price's N&W book on Page 116, although the 1902 date of construction in the caption is incorrect. The correct 1904 date is given in the text below the caption.  Also, thanks to NWHS member, Ray Smoot, for confirming that L. S. Randolph is the same person as Lingan Randolph, for whom Randolph Hall, the Virginia Tech Mechanical Engineering Department building, is named.  Go Hokies!]

Gordon Hamilton
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