N&W in 1909--News and gossip

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Bluefield Daily Telegraph
January 30, 1909

TO BUILD TWENTY MILES OF DOUBLE TRACK
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Norfolk and Western Prepares for Big Undertaking--Other Railroad Gossip

    The Norfolk and Western, it is learned from very reliable sources, has made preparations for the commencement of one of the largest undertakings of late years along this line.  Men will be put to work in a short time laying exactly thirty miles of double track on the Scioto division.  The work will be begun in the vicinity of Kenova and will extend all over the line.  Many parcels of track which at present are built with the east and west line of rails will be connected up with the new double track which will be made in time to extend over the entire division.
    It could not be learned here yesterday just when the work will begin but intimations which indicate that the work will be commenced on the first of February have been made from sources which are considered very reliable.  The work of double tracking the Scioto division is in line with the work that has been done during the past three years on the Pocahontas division and will when all the work is completed give the Norfolk and Western a fine railroad extending from central Ohio to the sea.  Gangs have been at work for some months completing the double tracking along the Pocahontas division and several tunnels which have been constructed have shortened the distance between Williamson and Bluefield by several miles.  In addition to this, curves have been straightened and the road generally improved.  Yesterday a large number of men employed in construction forces were cut off on this division, but a great many more men will be put to work on the Scioto division the first of the month.
    The extension of the Tug Fork branch from Pageton to Anawalt will be opened for passenger traffic on Sunday, February 7th, and for sometime past the branch out of Richlands into the timber regions of that section has been in operation.  There is some track talk which says that the Norfolk and Western has already laid plans for securing the Virginia Anthracite Railway which was built for the exploitation of the Virginia anthracite field which has never furnished the tonnage that was expected of it.  The railway and mining company have gone into the hands of a receiver, and it is very likely that the Norfolk and Western may be able to take over the properties.
[The next sentence was too blurred on the microfilm to be read.]
One of the gentlemen connected with the Virginian Railway Company said to a Daily Telegraph man some time ago that the Norfolk and Western was one of the marvels of the railroad world, inasmuch as it pays much higher wages than other roads and yet through good management it has always been able to make a better showing in the operating department than other lines which pay even less wages.
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Gordon Hamilton
    
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