Takin' Twenty " with the Virginian Brethren by Skip Salmon

[NW Mailing List]

Last night, on the first Wednesday in Fall this year, I had the pleasure of
"Takin' Twenty" with seven of the Brethren and Friends of the Virginian
Railway.  Dr. "Gibby" Davis was the first to arrive, as usual, even though
he travels the farthest.  His farm is between Catawba and Daleville, VA up
on a mountain.  He reported his chickens are well, and everything "is still
in their grooves out there".



I told the Brethren about a presentation this Sunday, September 28, 2013 at
the Christiansburg, VA Library by Dutch Tubman and Paula Seniors called
"Booker T. Washington and the Virginian Railway".  "In 1909 educator ( and
former slave)Booker T. Washington was invited by industrialist Henry
Huddleston Rogers to take his private railroad car (The Dixie) on a
whistle-stop tour of Virginia on the Virginian Railway".  Dutch, who works
for Norfolk southern, and is a member of the Roanoke Chapter NRHS, will
talk about Rogers, who created the Virginian and invited Washington to take
the tour, and the route he traveled.  Paula Seniors, PhD, Professor of
Sociology at Virginia Tech and Washington scholar, will talk about
Washington.  Incidentally, the program for the event lists "stops" in
Salem, and Shelby, but not in Roanoke on this trip.  More on this later.



For "Show and Tell' I took an item received in the mail yesterday from
Philip Thomas of Wilmington, NC:  A Pulsar "Railroad Approved" wrist watch
he bought and is donating for display at our Virginian Station in Roanoke.
This watch is unusual because it has the dial-changing device at the 4
0'clock position.  Phil started with the VGN in 1943 as a section laborer
and after serving in the U.S. Army from 1945 to 1947, worked various jobs
at Elmore, Page, Princeton, Celco, Mullens and Roanoke on the VGN, N&W and
NS.  He retired in 1987 as Administration Coordinator for Assistant
Comptroller-Revenues and System.  Phil has also donated other items to the
Roanoke VGN project (including a silver sugar bowl from Oak Hill) and to
museums in Oak Hill and Princeton.  Thanks Phil!



The Jewel from the Past, like one in an Illinois 17-jewell "Southern
Special" is from August 23, 2007:  "I told the Brethren about the
discussion on this site recently about the speed of Virginian Railway
Passenger trains.  Most agreed the maximum speed that could have occurred
was between 40 and 45 MPH.  Landon Gregory agreed and commented that we
must remember 'coal trains were kings then and the Passenger Trains took
the hole for them'"



I promise you this is the last "Degree of Blonde" from George Harmen:  "A
blond suspects her boyfriend of cheating on her, so she goes out and buys a
gun.  She goes to his apartment unexpectedly and when she opens the door,
finds him in the arms of a redhead.  Well, the blonde is really angry.  She
opens her purse to take out the gun, and as she does so, is overcome with
grief.  She takes the gun and puts it to her head.  The boyfriend yells,
'No, honey, don't do it!  The blonde replies, 'Shut up, you're next!'"



Time to pull the pin on this one!



Departing Now from V248,



Skip Salmon



CDXC
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