"Taking Twenty" with the Virginian Brethren

[NW Mailing List]

Last night I had the pleasure of "Takin Twenty" with seven of the Brethren
and Friends of the Virginian Railway. We signed a Happy Birthday card for
Virginian Brakeman and Conductor Frank Breedlove who is turning 76 this
Sunday. Frank is now a "gentleman farmer" and can be seen at local
livestock events, auctions and land sales in his pick up truck looking
quite "tame" until it's time to bid...

The big news of the night is the upcoming "kick off" for the Renovation of
the Virginian Station in Roanoke. On September 11 at 11AM, State Senator
John Edwards will be the keynote speaker for the presentation of a flag and
flag pole by the Woodmen of the World Insurance Society at the Station.
This dedication is to remember those who died at the World Trade Center,
the Pentagon and in Shanksville,PA 9-11-01. We have invited all the
political leaders, police, fire, and rescue departments in the area, as
well as all of the Virginian Brethren to attend. If you are in the area,
please come early because parking is limited.

Also I handed out the fliers for the upcoming Roanoke Chapter NRHS November
7 and 8 Bluefield and Shenandoah Excursions. Tickets will go quickly,
especially for the dome and first class cars, so if you want to ride with
us, go to <roanokenrhs.org> where you can download the flyer and order your
tickets. Also you can call 540 774 0611 to get information or place your order.

The ebay report this week includes the following: "The Virginian Era" by
Lloyd Lewis for $20.00; 1928 VGN Pass $23.50; Original Virginian negatives
or slides: E3a #109 $34.00, USE #741 $76.00, MCA #484 $29.07, MC #468
$37.99, MB #459 $23.07, MD #442 $33.47, MB #421 $19.50, AG #906 $28.52, AG
#902 $31.00. SB #253 $27.00, SB #246 $35.04 and SA #2 $21.58. Those
negatives and slides are worth more and more as time goes by...

Landon Gregory is away in Minnesota attending the National Convention of
the NRHS and I am sure he is representing the Brethren and the VGN RWY in
this endeavor. I showed the Brethren a Dave Schauer photo from
"railpictures" of a Convention train en route from Duluth to Grand Rapids
that Landon and his wife Sandra were probably riding. To see this great
photo go to:
http://railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=2939708

I told the Brethren about the recent passing of Ron Mattox's mother Ruth.
Ron has the outstanding VGN Museum in Victoria.

The videos shown last night included an NS MW Virginia Division craneman
loading scrap rail and other metal items into a gon at the Salem
Connection, site of the Virginian Railway Station in Salem. This video
reminded me of a "Home Improvement" episode where "Tim the Tool Man" was
handling a metal beam with a crane and dropped it on his wife's Chevy
Nomad. This craneman was obviously new on the job and he also parked his
car really close to the loading with some "breath taking" close calls...
Shown was a west bound hopper train at the Yateman Bridge between Wabun and
Kumis with shots of the crossover bridge and all three trestles "up close
and personal". My #2 grandson Ryan and I took these videos this week as
well as an eastbound at V255 at the entrance into Koppers Tie Plant.

Rufus Wingfield and Wis Sowder were amused reading Gordon Hamilton's
posting from the "Bluefield Daily Telegraph" of January 6, 1910 stating "No
Doubt About Coming of Virginian" (to Bluefield).

William "Scotty" Scott, our yard engineer is an avid golfer. At a recent
outing, a friend in Scotty's foursome told us that he heard on the loud
speaker "Would the man on the woman's tee kindly back up to the men's tee".
After the second announcement, Scotty was heard yelling back to the
loudspeaker "Would the idiot with the microphone kindly keep quiet and let
me play my second shot!"

Time to pull the pin on this one!

Departing Now from V248,

Skip Salmon





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