Past Holiday Traffic

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Bruce,

While not exactly to your questions, the Christmas mail and express rush and traffic continued well into the 1960s. My anecdotal records from that period at Kemper Street Station in Lynchburg reflect a second section of No 17 (Birmingham Special)  more than several times between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The several times I actually saw this train it was pulled by two N&W black Jeeps and composed of about twenty box express cars (many Pennsy cars) and a caboose.  I believe No. 42 (The Pelican) also at times had a second, mail and express, section. I have seen references to mail and express second sections of Nos 15 and 16  through Lynchburg on the N&W as well.

I would enjoy an article in The Arrow by someone familiar with this and the Christmas mail/express rush  from the 1950s- 60s period.

     Ray



From: NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org> On Behalf Of NW Mailing List
Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2018 11:48 AM
To: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
Subject: Past Holiday Traffic

While looking through the newspaper archives at the Library of Virginia (https://virginiachronicle.com/) I ran across this brief mention of holiday traffic just over 100 years ago.

Several questions pop up from this: what was an "express coach" in 1915? Where did "several tons" of dressed fowl come from and where were they processed? Was there a packing house in Roanoke or did they come from various other points?

Bruce in Blacksburg
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World News, Volume 26, Number 149, 22 December 1915, pg. 1

N. & W. HAS HEAVY HOLIDAY EXPRESS
The express shipments over the Norfolk & Western are said by officials to be the heaviest in years. Every train carries extra express coaches. Last night a special express train of eight coaches left Roanoke for Washington and other Northern points. The shipments consisted chiefly of dressed fowl, amounting to several tons.
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