N&W in 1912--Three items in Graham

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Bluefield Daily Telegraph
Sat., May 11, 1912

THE GRAHAM DAILY NEWS
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A THIRD TRACK
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Work Begins On Abutments to Carry Extension of Railroad Bridge
    A. B. Gilardi, the Norfolk and Western mason foreman, has his camp cars in Graham, and his force will begin this morning making preparations to put in concrete abutments for an extension of the railroad bridge opposite the Bluestone mattress factory. The concrete work to be put in will be the first of the kind used on the Pocahontas division.  The extension is being made to provide for a third track at that point.  There has been some speculation as to what the railroad people have in view in preparing for an additional track at this point, and the suggestion has been made that it probably meant the laying of the third track from Bluefield to Bluestone Junction, but from the most reliable information obtainable the work is be- ing done for the purpose of the extension of the Graham "Y," to a point west of the present connection with the main line. However, you can never guess in advance what a big railroad system like the Norfolk and Western may decided to do in the way of improvements, and should the third track he laid through Graham the big bridge will be ready for it after Mr. Gilardi's force puts in the concrete walls. The work will be in progress probably six weeks or more.
[The attached portion of a Sept. 1913 Sanborn insurance map of Graham, VA, shows the Bluestone Mattress and & Pillow Co. plant immediately west of the now-long-gone track that connected the Main Line with the Clinch Valley line to form a wye.  Note that one of the two tracks on the single-track Clinch Valley line is a side track and that the map had not been revised to show a second main line track added many years earlier.  The newspaper article's speculation about a third main line track obviously was wrong, but maybe there was some reason to build a new bridge so that the connecting track's junction with the main line could be relocated railroad west of the Bluestone River.]
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Underground Crossing
The town council held another session Thursday night for the purpose of further considering the underground crossing, and proposed exchange of land with the Norfolk and Western running by the tower.  A proposition was agreed upon which will be submitted to the Graham Land and Improvement Company for their strip of ground on the Red lot, which the town proposes to purchase.
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Horse Fell From Bridge
    A horse belonging to a colored man by the name of Brooks felt off of the Clinch Valley railroad bridge near the furnace, Friday night and is supposed to have killed itself. The water at that point is rather deep and it was supposed the dead horse was lying at the bottom of Bluestone river. The animal was tracked to the trestle and tracks showed that the horse had attempted to cross the bridge, but had fallen off into the river.
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Gordon Hamilton
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