1940s Commuter Service

[NW Mailing List]

Imagine!  K3's screaming down the tracks at 38 miles per hour! Wheres  
my neck brace!  LOL  K3's were a good drag engine, but........


Mark Lindsey
Stuck in the 1930's




On Feb 24, 2008, at 2:51 PM, NW Mailing List wrote:

In two of my interviews, it was mentioned that the K3's were used in  
this commuter services. I referred to this on page 158 in my revised  
edition. In my interview with the late Bill Ross, he mentioned that  
there were five commuter trains daily to the arsenal from Roanoke and  
return--three were in the morning, one in the afternoon and the last  
in the evening. After hauling workers to the arsenal the train (or at  
least the engine) was turned and then returned to Roanoke with workers  
coming off shift. Also it was said that sometimes there were 12 to 14  
cars on these trains.

I would like to research more for specifics about the operation to  
include if some of the trains went to Radford to wait for the pickup  
of the larger daylight shift getting off shift. At times during WWII  
there were more than 30,000 people working there including the  
construction crews. This commuter service provided a big need to haul  
a lot of people to and from work in an area of relatively low  
population density.

Bud Jeffries
----- Original Message -----
From: NW Mailing List
To: NW Mailing List
Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2008 3:26 PM
Subject: Re: N&W in 1903 -- Strange Accident

As a follow-up to Gary Rolih's information about the N&W's 1903  
commuter service on the Scioto Division, apparently the N&W was into  
another commuter operation long before it inherited the Wabash's  
Orland Park commuter service in the Chicago area.

According to an article and picture from the December 31, 1940,  
Roanoke Times given to me by Harry Bundy, the N&W operated two  
commuter trains between Roanoke and the "Radford powder plant," which  
was the Radford Ordinance Works of the Hercules Powder Co.   The 1940  
N&W Annual Report mentions the construction of this plant and states  
that it would employ 3,500 to 4,500 persons.

According to the newspaper article, the morning train for first shift  
workers had been put into service a week earlier, and the afternoon  
train for second shift workers had been put into service the day  
before the article appeared.  The afternoon train (and presumably the  
morning train also) made intermediate stops at Salem, Elliston and  
Shawsville.

This was no small operation.  The article mentions ten coaches on the  
"special" trains and states that 807 people rode the morning train.   
Harry tells me that another article in the same paper showed the  
congested parking lot at the Salem station caused by the commuters.   
The coaches carried signs stating that they were for accommodation of  
the  employees of the powder plant only.

I had heard that the N&W hauled workers to the Radford powder plant  
during World War II, but this is the only account of it that I  
remember seeing.  Inasmuch as the Radford powder plant made  
propellants for the military, its looks as this country was gearing up  
for hostilities because of the turmoil in Europe almost a year before  
Pearl Harbor.

Gordon Hamilton
----- Original Message -----
From: NW Mailing List
To: 'NW Mailing List'
Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2008 5:08 PM
Subject: RE: N&W in 1903 -- Strange Accident

Gordon:  The N&W ran commuter trains in Portsmouth, basically  
Sciotoville to Portsmouth based on old Scioto Valley Ry schedules.    
In Cincinnati, the N&W ran commuter trains from Batavia to downtown  
Cincinnati based on old Cincinnati & Eastern schedules that were  
continued through the Ohio & Northwestern and Cincinnati, Portsmouth &  
Virginia days.   These lasted only until about 1920-1921.

Where the heck Hearon is, I couldn’t tell you.

Gary Rolih
Cincinnati


From: nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org [mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org 
] On Behalf Of NW Mailing List
Sent: Wednesday, February 20, 2008 10:34 AM
To: N&W Mailing 1List
Subject: N&W in 1903 -- Strange Accident

N. & W. PASSENGER TRAIN IN SMASH-UP
------
     Portsmouth, O., Dec. 3. -- A Norfolk and Western passenger train  
came in collision at Hearon today with a commuter train taking a  
hundred people to work.  Several passengers will die and many are  
reported seriously injured.

Bluefield Daily Telegraph
December 4, 1903

[Does anyone know where Hearon was?  What "commuter train" did the N&W  
operate?  Finally, I did not see any follow-up articles in  
theBluefield newspaper about this accident.  Strange!]

Gordon Hamilton


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