N&W in 1909--Big Stony

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Bluefield Daily Telegraph
August 26, 1909

TWENTY-SIX MILES OF NEW ROAD CONSTRUCTED
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No Tunnels and Only Two Bridges on Line That Traverses Rich Potts Creek Area

    According to advices received yesterday from Big Stony Junction, Va., the Norfolk and Western branch from that point to Paint Bank, in Craig county, Va., a distance of thirty-eight miles has been completed to Waiteville, in Monroe county, W. Va., twenty-six miles from the starting point, and this stretch has already been opened to traffic.  It is expected to have the entire line in operation by October 1.
    The road is being built to tap the rich iron areas in the Potts Creek country in Craig and Monroe counties.  The iron deposits have been held for many years by the Virginia Iron, Coal & Coke Company, and when the road is finished the mines will be operated on an extensive scale.  The ore will probably be shipped to Pulaski, Va., for reduction .  In addition to the iron, although much of the timber has been cut, there still remains some excellent bodies which will be rendered more readily marketable by the building of the branch.  The Chesapeake & Ohio already has a branch from the vicinity of Clifton Forge, Va., tapping the field at a point six miles from Paint Bank, the proposed terminus of the Norfolk and Western branch.  The ore mined here is handled at Lowmoor, Va.
    In addition to its commercial importance, the new road is one of the most picturesque pieces of construction to be found in the United States.  While this feature has been heretofore mentioned by the Daily Telegraph, a Bluefield man who was over the line to Waiteville the other day, says that he has never seen anything to equal it.  The tracks make a seven mile loop in winding up the mountain from Big Stony Junction [Actually down the mountain in the direction away from Big Stony Junction.], and at one point they approach to within fifty yards of each other.  The engineers of the company figured that it would be cheaper to build a loop, and so top the mountain than it would be to construct tunnels.  There are, therefore, no tunnels on the road, and only two bridges.  The total cost of construction is estimated at a million dollars, but it is believed that the richness of the country from a standpoint of natural resources justifies the expenditure.
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Gordon Hamilton
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