N&W in 1909--Potts Valley

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Bluefield Daily Telegraph
September 3, 1909

TRACK LAYING TO PAINT BANK IS COMPLETED
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Opening of New Territory in Monroe and Craig Counties Should Mean More Business for Bluefield

    A report from Pott's Creek yesterday states that the tracks have been completed to Paint Bank, the terminus of the Norfolk and Western branch from Big Stony Junction to tap the iron fields in Monroe county, W. Va., and Craig county, Va., and that the entire line, thirty-eight miles in length, will be opened to traffic about September 20.  While the rails have been laid to the present terminus, there is considerable surfacing yet to be done, and it will probably require this time to complete it.
    The road is finished to Waitville [sic], a distance of twenty-five miles from the junction, and has been in operation for several days.  The remaining gap is to be closed up just as rapidly as possible, and it will be only a short time until trains are running over the entire stretch.  It is understood that the Virginia Iron and Coal Corporation, which controls the iron tracts, and at whose instance mainly the road was constructed, will start operations on an extensive scale in the near future.
    It is pointed out that the opening up of this territory should mean a good deal for Bluefield in a business way.  Pott's Creek valley, John's Creek valley, Sinking Creek valley and the Sweet Springs country will be brought into direct commercial touch with Bluefield.  These are prosperous farming sections, and Bluefield upon the completion of the branch line will be their nearest wholesale point.  The road will also give these people a market for their products not only in Bluefield but throughout the coalfields.  The enterprise, it is believed, in this particular will operate as a mutual advantage to both sections, not to mention the opening up of the vast iron beds and excellent timber tracts.
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Gordon Hamilton
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