N&W in 1907 -- Landslide

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RAILROAD HEAVY LOSER BY SLIDE AT INGLESIDE
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Hundred Thousand Dollars Said to be Low Estimate of Loss, Direct and Indirect, That Will Result.
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TRAINS MAY GET THROUGH SOME TIME THIS AFTERNOON
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    It was stated yesterday, by men in a position to know whereof they spoke, that one hundred thousand dollars would be a low estimate of the loss, direct and indirect, that will be sustained by the Norfolk and Western Railway Company as a result of the big slide just east of Ingleside, which occurred about 3:30 o'clock Tuesday morning, or rather started about that time, as there have been lesser slides since.  The trouble, as stated in the Daily Telegraph of yesterday, occurred at a big cut, which was completely filled, the tracks being covered to a depth of fifteen feet for a distance of not less than seventy feet.  At this point the roadbed of the Tidewater, or Virginian, railway is high up on the side of the mountain, immediately above the Norfolk and Western track, and it was the loose dirt resulting from the grade work on the Tidewater that slid down into the cut.  Two steam shovels at either end of the cut are working night and day trying to clear the tracks, and a force of three hundred men, directed by General Superintendent Needles [later, President Needles], is assisting in the work, yet progress is so slow, the mud being so soft and oozy to handle expediently, that there is no hope of getting trains through before this afternoon.  Even then it is not believed that they will pass through the cut.
    It is understood to be the intention of the officials to build a temporary track around the slide, probably following the river [East River] bank, and to do this it will be necessary to fill up a hollow, or ravine, fifty feet across.  For this purpose many carloads of cinders are being rushed to the spot, and with the large force under Superintendent Needles, it is hoped that the temporary track can be constructed in time to let train No. 2 through this afternoon.  Passengers, mail and express are still being transferred.  A board walk has been laid, and by walking nearly a mile the transfer can be accomplished.
    In the meantime, the Bluefield yard threatens to become badly congested.  Yesterday was  probably the first day in the history of the road for years that there was absolutely no movement of freight east from Bluefield.  When it is realized that the average daily traffic east from this city is in excess of 900 cars, the magnitude of the tie-up can be readily seen.  It was necessary to re-ice all the perishable freight in the cars on the local yard yesterday, and it is probable that these cars will have to be re-routed--that is, sent back west either over the Pocahontas or Clinch Valley divisions and on to their destinations by some other road.
    At Roanoke cars in all west-bound trains containing perishable freight have to be cut out, and routed by Bristol and thence over some other line to their destination.
    West of Bluefield conditions are much better and there was but little delay in the arrival of any of the trains yesterday or last night.  The slide at Wilmore has not yet been cleared away, but a temporary track has been built around it, over which trains are now running, and it has been determined to make this track permanent in order to guard against similar troubles in the future.
    It has been suggested by some that the Norfolk and Western might sue the Virginian Railway Company for damages, but whether or not the officials of the former road contemplate any such action could not be learned last night.  It is said that the slide at Ingleside is the first trouble that the Norfolk and Western has ever had with its tracks at this particular spot.

Bluefield Daily Telegraph
June 13, 1907

Gordon Hamilton
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