Now available: The Norfolk & Western in West Virginia ~ 1881 - 1959

[NW Mailing List]

*The Norfolk & Western in West Virginia 1881 - 1959*Now available from NWHS
commissary:
http://www.nwhs.org/commissary/new.html

Alex Schust has used his usual detailed and complete research to complete
his newest book. The Norfolk & Western in West Virginia ~ 1881 - 1959, is a
hard-cover, 9 X 12 book using 496 black/white pages, 120 maps, 300 pictures
and sketches, 100 N&W drawings and plans, and 75 charts and tables to tell
the story of the 201 miles of main line railroad operating from near Glen
Lyn, Virginia to Kenova, West Virginia, and the approximate 150 smaller
branch lines and spurs off of that main line. (Note: The Bluestone, North
Fork, Tug Fork, Dry Fork, and Buchanan Branches are not covered in this
book, but Potts Valley Branch is.) The book actually starts in 1872 with
the New River Railroad, Mining and Manufacturing Company and its plans to
reach the Flat-Top Coalfield and goes to 1959, just prior to the
N&W-Virginian merger.

The book uses period correspondence, construction records, track charts,
ICC Valuation records, newspaper articles and the Norfolk and Western
Magazine to tell the who, why, what, when, where and how of the
construction of the railroad from Glen Lyn to Kenova by both the Big Sandy
and Twelve Pole routes. It also tells about the reconstruction of the
railroad from a curvy, low-speed mountain railroad into a double tracked,
high speed, low curvature main line. It discusses decisions made and not
made and the reasons for the decisions. It discusses the building of the
Bluefield, Eckman, Vivian, Williamson and Kenova Yards. It also discusses
how the N&W became one of the biggest coal land owners in West Virginia.

The first six chapters discuss the building and the re-building of the main
line. Chapter 7 discusses the Potts Valley Branch. Chapters 8 through 11
discuss how the railroad conquered the last frontier of southern West
Virginia as it opened Mercer County, McDowell County, Mingo County and
Wayne County to industrial development. Appendix 1 discusses the fight over
the Guyandot River Valley in Wyoming County between the N&W, Virginian and
C&O that started in 1902 and wasn’t settled until 1928. The book includes
charts on mile post locations, surveys, bridge types and locations and
constructions costs. It also includes an 11-page index that lists the
branch lines and spurs, the contractors who graded the railroad, built the
masonry, dug the tunnels and built the bridges and buildings for the N&W.
It also includes the coal companies found in the Pocahontas, Tug River,
Thacker and Kenova coalfields that were served by the N&W.
[image: NW_In_WestVirginia.jpg]
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