"Takin' Twenty with the Virginian Brethren" by Skip Salmon

[NW Mailing List]

Last night I had the pleasure of "Takin' Twenty" with six of the Brethren
and Friends of the Virginian Railway. We talked about the passing last
Sunday of Ronald John "Scottie" Hunter. "Scottie" was a Hostler for the
Virginian Railway and we remember many of his stories, sometimes
interrupted by his famous stutter, of steam engines being moved in and
around the shops in Elmore and Mullens. He is famous for his model trains
and worked with the Roanoke Valley Engineers whose layouts now are
displayed at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke. "Scottie"
visited the Brethren last when Ernie Hubble brought him to the photo shoot
we had with the Virginian Heritage unit #1069 and now proudly poses on the
wall at our famous "watering hole". "Scottie" has taken the final west
bound and will be missed!

For Show and Tell, I took the September 2013 "Trains" which has on the
cover a shot of an NS stack train near Shawsville. The feature article "NS
meets the enemy" is about the Crescent Corridor and features many local
scenes in colorful photos. Also this issue tells about GE's new locomotive
plant near Ft. Worth Texas where they are now building the EVO units. This
plant was put in service after GE could not get an agreement with unions at
their Erie, PA plant.

Thanks to Tom, "Saltwater" Salmon for using my recent photo of the
Virginian Heritage unit #1069 posing at the Virginian Station in
Roanoke...H. H. Rogers would be proud...see some of our VGN memories do
endure!

We also talked about the recent removing of the flag and stacks as part of
the tearing down part of the old Power house in Roanoke Shops after the
facility was converted from coal-fired to natural gas ("Racehorse" Smith
probably turned over in his grave). This is part of the larger plan to
allow trains to move through Roanoke much faster. An overhead walkway
between the employee parking lot to near the turntable will allow shop
employees to safely cross the Shenandoah Division while trains move mush
faster than before.

The Jewel from the Past is from July 5, 2007: "The August 'Trains' magazine
was passed around. The discussion was about the proposed changes to the
'hog law' that Congress will get soon. One that will affect crews is the
one that will give a full 8 hours before they can be called after being
relieved. Now they can be called two hours before the 8 hours is up for
another assignment. Wis Sowder remembered that on the VGN, callers would
call one hour before the 8 hours rest period was up".

This last week, PBS ran an old Jimmy Dean TV Show that featured a great
Minnie Pearle story. She called emergency (no 9-1-1 back then) and told the
dispatcher she needed the fire department because a man was trying to get
into her upstairs bedroom window. The dispatcher answered, "Ma'm, you need
the police department". She answered, " No I need the fire department; he
needs a longer ladder!"

Time to pull the pin on this one!

Departing Now from V248,

Skip Salmon

CDLXXXIII

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