Fwd: [VirginianRailwayEnthusiasts] "Taking Twenty with the Virginian Brethren"

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Skip Salmon

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To: VirginianRailwayEnthusiasts at yahoogroups.com
From: "Charles E. Salmon, Jr." <gkholine at cox.net>
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2008 12:26:37 -0000
Subject: [VirginianRailwayEnthusiasts] "Taking Twenty with the Virginian Brethren"

Last night I had the pleasure of "Takin' Twenty" with 10 of the
Brethren and Friends of the Virginian Railway. Visiting for the
first time was Clarence Robertson of Narrows, VA. Clarence hired in
on the Virginian Railway November 1, 1948 as a laboer at the Narrows
Power Plant. He also worked as fireman, oiler, and water and pump
man and worked for the VGN until the Plant shut down in September
1962. He later took a buyout from N&W with 16.5 years total
service. He brought with him an employee photo taken of all three
shifts of the Plant just before it closed. When we get all the IDs
of the workers, I will post this photo. I met Clarence after he
donated a stove from a VGN coach and a VGN cross-cut saw to the VMT.
They will be displayed in the Virginian Railway Room.

I showed the Brethren a September 13, 1958 Wallace Johnson photo
with #4 at Roanoke with a dual target set of signals for JK in the
foreground. A signal just like this one has been donated for us to
place near the Station when it is renovated. Ruf Wingfield recalled
the signal and I asked if anybody remembered "running a red board"
there? Cornbread said "I probably did, and would have gotten my butt
chewed out for it".

Ruf also remembered when the VGN changed from a 6-day work week
to a 40 hour 5-day week. Seems that all did not agree with this
change, and one Yardmaster, Tom Wade refused the relief and continued
to work the 6-day week...

Also passed around was the Summer 2008 "Revolutions" newsletter
of the Virginia Museum of Transprtation. This issue highlights the
VMT's 45 year Anniversary and shows a lot of photos of early days and
the big flood of 1985.

Often the local news is on the TV during our meal and sometimes
it interupts our conversations. Last night when the "stocks of local
interest" were posted, yesterday's Norfolk Southern closing of $73.64
per share caused quite a stir, since several of the Brethren still
own stock in the rising NSC heir of the VGN.

We talked about our plans for the Blue Ridge Chapter's Rail Day
at Lynchburg a week from this Saturday. This is going to be a "don't
miss" event for all rail enthusiasts.

Clarence Robertson, now 85, and the Brethren remembered many
joint acquaintances including Lincolnhogers, Inges, Cawleys,and
Harmans. I asked him about what kind of coal was used to fire the 6
boilers at the Power Plant. He said it was what they called "bone
coal" and it "wouldn't burn in a wood stove". He remembered
scheduling trains so that one going up grade would be assisted by one
in "regeneration" going down grade. He said sometimes
the "Squareheads" worked so hard it would "put the fire out in a
boiler or two". Also when electrics were using "dynamic braking"
only, the electrodes in the New River would "crack and pop like a
shot gun and cause it to boil". Cornbread asked if there were many
fish near the Plant and he said "not many". Someone asked him if it
was very loud in the Plant when all of the boilers were on line and
he answered "Sometimes it sounded like a jackass in a tin barn".

Time to pull the pin on this one.

Departing Now,

Skip Salmon





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