1940s Commuter Service

[NW Mailing List]

>From a design view point, the K3's did not do well what the N&W expected them to do in regular service. They were used mostly in time freight service on the level portions of the system since they lacked dragging power with heavier trains in hilly regions. However they were not good in fast service either since they tended to cause track damage in speeds exceeding speeds of 35-40 mph. The principle cause was the running gear had counterbalance problems with a relatively low driver and the main crank being on the third axle, a rarity for a 4-8-2. Yet the boiler was a free steaming one. The end result was a boiler too much for the running gear.


Using the K3 in commuter service from Ronoake to the Radford Arsenal and return turned out to be a good use for them. The ruling grades on this route was 1 percent one way and 1.34 on the other. With 12-14 cars on these long grades allowed the K3's to use their maximun boiler power in speeds below 40 mph. In the end the K3 's found its niche for the N&W for a very special need in WWII before they were sold to other roads by the war's end.

Bud
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: NW Mailing List 
  To: NW Mailing List 
  Sent: Monday, February 25, 2008 7:54 AM
  Subject: Re: 1940s Commuter Service


  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



--------------------------------------------------------------------------



      ________________________________________
      NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org
      To change your subscription go to
      http://list.nwhs.org/mailman/options/nw-mailing-list
      Browse the NW-Mailing-List archives at
      http://list.nwhs.org/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/attachments/20080225/b4673e51/attachment-0001.htm>