Rorer Iron/Narrow Gauge RR Crossing at Roanoke Alms House

[NW Mailing List]

At the GOB-E Archives work session today, I found an artifact in the back
room which needs restoration due to its rough condition. It is an oversized
book of folded section maps for the N&W's Winston Salem Division, based
upon the Roanoke & Southern Rwy which opened for service in 1891. The date
of this map is uncertain, but it shows the crossing of the Rorer Iron
Company's narrow gauge railroad at exactly the spot I've been trying to
confirm. Gordon Hamilton was present to keep my bearings straight,
literally, because I could not make out the direction of travel at first.

In the photograph attached here, it crosses the N&W just past the Alms
House, and heads toward modern-day Colonial Avenue. The Alms House (Poor
House) building is still existing, and serves as a student resource center
on the campus of Virginia Western Community College. It is called the
Thomas House. I looked this up and took a screen shot to show how this
section looks today.

PS - rumor has it the Alms House was haunted for several decades until a
ghost whisperer made contact with the spirits back in the early 2000's and
talked them into leaving. True urban legend...

Stephen Warren, Roanoke

[image: NW Section Maps of Roanoke-Southern RR.jpg]
[image: Rorer Narrow Gauge RR Crossing at Alms House 1891.jpg]
[image: Alms House 2019.jpeg]
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