Trains 9 & 10

[NW Mailing List]

Thank you, Ron Davis and Roger Link, for transcribing
the article "SCC Grants N&W Authority to Drop Trains 9
and 10" from the Roanoke Times, January 25, 1958. 
It's interesting that this train was characterized as
a low-ridership passenger train.  The majority of its
revenue was derived from express and mail.  The REA
substitution of truck deliveries to stations instead
of rail was briefly mentioned, but the mail aspect was
entirely ignored in the news article.

I wonder if the Virginia State Corporation Commission
decision covered more than just the Roanoke to Bristol
stations, or whether substitution of truck for rail
service at express agencies was state-wide for all
railroads.  That was a pivotal change in rail service
economics.

Frank Scheer
f_scheer at yahoo.com