1958 - N&W Men Bemoan Steam's Departure

[NW Mailing List]

I don't know. But I made a typo since his last name should be WALDROND. I 
have a listing of Radford Division engineers, but does someone have a 
Norfolk Division listing to review?

Bud Jeffries

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Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2008 7:34 AM
Subject: Re: 1958 - N&W Men Bemoan Steam's Departure



> Were Harry J. Waldron and Harry J. Walrond the same guy?

>

> Ed King

> ----- Original Message ----- 

> From: "NW Mailing List" <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

> To: "NW Mailing List" <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

> Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2008 12:01 AM

> Subject: Re: 1958 - N&W Men Bemoan Steam's Departure

>

>

>> The engineer Harry J. Waldron, mentioned in this Roanoke Times article, 

>> is pictured on the 2184 in my revised edition of N&W: Giant of Steam on 

>> page 3.

>>

>> Bud Jeffries

>>

>> ----- Original Message ----- 

>> From: "NW Mailing List" <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

>> To: <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

>> Sent: Friday, July 18, 2008 10:44 PM

>> Subject: 1958 - N&W Men Bemoan Steam's Departure

>>

>>

>>> Roanoke Times - July 19, 1958

>>>

>>> N&W Men Bemoan Steam's Departure

>>>

>>> "I was on this engine when it first came out back in 1940." Harry J.

>>> Walrond, Norfolk and Western engineer remarked last night as he sat

>>> in the cab of No. 602, a Class J steam locomotive.

>>>

>>>   Walrond felt blue, because it was the last night - perhaps forever

>>> - for steam locomotives to pull passenger trains on the N&W.

>>>   The N&W announced Thursday that it is leasing diesels from two

>>> other railroads, and is taking out of passenger service 14

>>> streamlined Class J steam locomotives. They are not being retired,

>>> but they are out of passenger service for the present.

>>>   Walrond was waiting in the hot, black cab of No. 602 - waiting for

>>> the Powhatan Arrow to arrive from Bluefield. Then he would hook on to

>>> the Arrow, No. 26, and pull it to Crewe, 130 miles away on the line to 

>>> Norfolk.

>>>

>>>   "I don't believe there's a railroad in the country that ever had a

>>> locomotive to compare with one of these in steam." Walrond remarked.

>>> "I hate to see'em go. If they'd keep these up, there's not a diesel

>>> that would stand a chance."

>>>

>>>   Walrond said he's been railroading 32 years. He was fireman on No.

>>> 602 when it was young back in 1940.

>>>   Walrond's fireman, Berkeley Breedlove of Blue Ridge, didn't have

>>> much to say. He's a youngster in railroading, been firing only 32 

>>> months.

>>>

>>>   But A. M. Via, conductor of the Powhatan Arrow on its run to Crewe

>>> last night, felt sad, too.

>>>   "Well, like everybody else," he observed just before he waved to

>>> the engineer, "I'm sorry to see'em go. Railroading doesn't seem like

>>> railroading without steam." Via added that he thinks railroaders

>>> would get used to diesels and like them when they know them better.

>>>   The Atlantic Coast Line's purple and silver locomotives look odd

>>> on the N&W right-of-way. N&W railroaders have already coined a name

>>> for the ACL color scheme: They call it "polkberry juice".

>>>   A foreman said they had quite a job mixing paint to simulate the

>>> ACL purple, but they finally did. They painted out "Atlantic Coast

>>> Line" and painted over it in silver letters "Norfolk & Western".

>>>   The Pocahontas that pulled out for Radford last night was the

>>> first passenger train on the N&W main line to be pulled all the way

>>> from Norfolk to Cincinnati by diesel.

>>>   J. L. Bradley was the engineer. He's been operating diesels

>>> before, but the ACL engine was unfamiliar one to him, and he looked a

>>> bit skittish as he yanked on the control and big "polkberry" colored

>>> machine began to rumble.

>>>   Steam will continue to pull many of the freight trains on the N&W

>>> for perhaps two and a half years. Then it will be the end of the line

>>> for them. The N&W announced in June it would buy 268 diesel units in

>>> the next 30 months. They are to begin arriving in the fall at the

>>> rate of 12 to 15 a month.

>>>

>>>

>>> -----------------------------------

>>>

>>> - Ron Davis, Roger Link

>>

>>

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