Virginian Railway Electrification/Riding the N&W Steam Clips

[NW Mailing List]

PRR investigated electrification west of Harrisburg but the capital costs were deemed too high at the time.  Traffic density has a lot to do with the overall ROI.  Line maintenance and declining diesel fuel cost killed the MILW and GN electrification.  If you look at the infrastructure on the old NH through CT you wonder why it has not collapsed on the track from lack of maintenance. 
Europe has a lot of electrification because of traffic density and lack of fossil fuel availability, especially in Switzerland. 

Sent from my iPhone
Jim S

> On Apr 5, 2016, at 8:40, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
> 
> I'll go on a little bit of a tangent here and share an observation which I have found puzzling over the years.
> 
> One day it occurred to me that while many, if not most, railroads used electrification when they had mountains to climb (N&W, VGN, GN, CMSt&P, BA&P), the PRR relegated its electrification to its flatlands and continued to use steam to climb its mountains.
> 
> Anyone have any thoughts or comments?
> 
> Patrick Whalen
> 
>> On Monday, April 4, 2016, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
>> I believe in this year’s or last year’s Virginian calendar that there is a photo of a Virginian electric at the end of the Roanoke Yard just before the JK tower.
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> Have a good day.
>> 
>> George Weber
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> From: NW-Mailing-List [mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org] On Behalf Of NW Mailing List
>> Sent: Sunday, April 03, 2016 11:20 PM
>> To: NW Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: Virginian Railway Electrification/Riding the N&W Steam Clips
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> The Virginian yard in Roanoke had wires until N&W abandoned the electrification after the 1959 merger. So wires in the 50'd would be correct.
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> Jim Nichols
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> On Sunday, April 3, 2016 6:18 PM, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> Does anyone know how far east the the Virginian line was electrified?  I'm doing some research for a painting and want to show a scene showing a Virginian EL-2B at the base of Mill Mountain in Roanoke along with the station there.  But I need to know if such a scene really would have existed in the 1950's.  Did the Virginian yard there have overhead wires?  I know at some point they were removed. 
>> 
>> The painting is going to be my submission this year for the American Society of Railway Artists, and I have to have it believable so it won't get too much criticism! 
>> 
>> BTW, I've enjoyed viewing the clips from "Riding the N & W". I'm anxious to purchase a copy.
>> 
>> Tracy Foutz
>> Cairo, GA (formerly of Roanoke and will be back again)
>> 
>> 
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