The Powhatan Arrow

[NW Mailing List]

There was a dome car in the consist of the Powhatan Arrow for a period of time, and I rode one on April 7, 1968.  Sometime prior to that, when the patronage on the Powhatan Arrow and other N&W passenger trains was declining, the Arrow was combined with the Cavalier (mostly on the Cavalier's old schedule) and the downgraded Arrow handled many of the Cavalier's head-end cars.  Public timetables of that era showed the Arrow as 15/25 and 16/26, whereas employee timetables showed the Arrow as 15 and 16 on the Norfolk and Radford Divisions because the Arrow's schedule was somewhat like that of the old Cavalier (overnight between Norfolk and Roanoke) and 25 and 26 on the Pocahontas and Scioto Divisions (closer to the Arrow's old daylight schedule on those two divisions).

I am attaching a photo that I made from the dome car on No. 15, the Powhatan Arrow, on April 7, 1968, as we met No. 4, lead unit 514,  somewhere in the vicinity of Ingleside on the Radford Division (this photo was made on a curve, and the perspective gives the impression that there is not much clearance between the two trains!).

I am also attaching a photo made inside Roanoke Shops showing Dome Car 1611 in Pevler blue and lettered for N&W.  Anybody want to give the history and disposition of this car?

Gordon Hamilton
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: NW Mailing List 
  To: NW Mailing List 
  Sent: Friday, May 16, 2008 9:04 PM
  Subject: Re: The Powhatan Arrow


  Actually, Ray, I think the domes were added to the Pocahontas after the Powhatan Arrow was discontinued.  It was part of the effort to convince the ICC that the railroad really was trying to run a good train.

  Sam Putney

    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: NW Mailing List 
    To: NW Mailing List 
    Sent: Friday, May 16, 2008 11:51 AM
    Subject: RE: The Powhatan Arrow


    There was a dome car on the Powhatan Arrow for a brief while in the mid/late 1960's,  long after the days of steam.

     

          Ray Smoot

     

    From: nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org [mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org] On Behalf Of NW Mailing List
    Sent: Friday, May 16, 2008 9:23 AM
    To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
    Subject: Re: The Powhatan Arrow

     

    The N&W had no dome cars until the merger with the Wabash, long after the end of steam. Those Wabash dome cars were painted blue, as were essentially all N&W passenger cars and locomotives after the merger. Most of the N&W dome cars I have seen in O (Lionel?) depict a full-length dome, which never was in the inventory until one came from Conrail after the recent split with CSX and was repainted from Conrail olive to NS (N&W match) maroon.
    An excellent reference is the website http://www.trainweb.org/web_lurker/WebLurkersDOMEmain/ which has available information on all flavors of prototype dome cars.
    There were a few cases of dome cars in fan trip service behind the 611, including one full-length dome in Milwaukee orange and probably the Virginia Rail Investment Program dome car which I can't find a link to at the moment. 

    Jeff Cornelius

     

     

    -----Original Message-----
    From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
    To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
    Sent: Thu, 15 May 2008 8:30 pm
    Subject: The Powhatan Arrow

    Hey Guys,

     

    I collect 'O' scale electric trains. These are rather expensive large model trains, not toys. Anyway, I have a complete

    Powhatan Arrow train set with the #611 engine. This train came with an overhead observation car. I grew up in Bluefield

    during the '40s and '50s and I never recall seeing the Arrow pulling an overhead observation car. And the train passed

    in front of our home twice a day in Bluefield, VA. It ran westbound at 3pm and back eastbound at 4pm. every day. Does 

    anybody know for sure if the Arrow ever pulled an overhead observation car?  If it did then somehow I missed it, but if it

    didn't then my Arrow model set is not quite as accurate as it should be. Thanks for any help with my curiosity. 

     

    Jack Tibbs

    Martinsville, Va.

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