Pocahontas Coal Field Sign

[NW Mailing List]

Matt:

This was posted on the list in April of last year:

William Griscom Coxe Gordon passed away on Thursday March 15 2018 after a brief battle with cancer according to his family. He was 80 years old.
 
The NWHS family knew Bill for his masterful photography documenting many eastern railroads, including an unsurpassed collection of Norfolk and Western photos from the late steam, early diesel era. He shared his extraordinary photos and memories generously for three years through his Flickr account. To date there have been 3.6 million views of his photos. An amazing statistic.
 
He worked as a steam power mechanical engineer after graduating from the University of Virginia with a degree in mechanical engineering. He loved railroading since watching the main line Baltimore & Ohio pass by his dad’s business in Wilmington, Delaware as a kid. A subscription to "Trains" magazine and scores of weekend trips across the backcountry of Virginia cemented a lifelong love for the hobby. Between the years 1957 and 1962, Gordon made dozens of trips across the Appalachian landscape capturing the honest character of the region. He continued to pursue his passion for photography even into recent years including 611 excursions.
 
His daughter’s words sum it up best “He will surely be missed by many and in our hearts always.”
 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/130647200@N05/albums

Ken Miller
> On Jan 30, 2019, at 7:20 PM, NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
> 
> You probably read his descriptions, Gordon - but if you didn’t, please do so. His knowledge of the railroad seems very deep, and his commentary about photography (technical and compositional) is eye opening. Additional content shows up in the comments as well. 
> 
> All of this from a very young-at-the-time man on long trips from home in what sometimes appeared to be frigid weather. There’s quite a few reasons to be impressed with his collection. 
> 
> He was posting until about a year ago, but I vaguely recall getting the impression that he had since passed away.  
> 
> Matt Goodman
> Columbus, Ohio
> 
> Sent from my mobile
> 
> On Jan 30, 2019, at 4:13 PM, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
> 
> Matt,
> 
> Thank you for calling attention to the outstanding N&W photos.  He recorded some of the finest scenes of the N&W that I have ever seen.
> Gordon Hamilton
> On 1/30/2019 11:51 AM, NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List wrote:
>> Marty, here’s the photo that Larry is referring to. It is one of many beautiful photos in Bill Gordon’s collection, with steam locomotion spanning the middle fifties to the very early sixties:
>> 
>> https://www.flickr.com/photos/130647200@N05/35757713216/in/album-72157669851188905/
>> 
>> Matt Goodman
>> Columbus Ohio US
>> 
>> On Jan 29, 2019, at 6:36 PM, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Saw it in a photo on flicker just this week . 
>> 
>> Larry Evans
>> 
>> "There's the sun, there's the moon, there's the air we breathe, and
>> there's the Rolling Stones"  Keith Richards
>> 
>> On Jan 29, 2019, at 1:30 PM, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
>> 
>>> Hey Marty
>>> 
>>> I know that billboard was shown in either of the company films the 1944 "Modern Coal Burning Steam Locomotives” or the 1940 "Power Behind the Nation” in color. I’ve seen, somewhere, a drawing for that billboard as well.
>>> 
>>> I seem to recall seeing it in a book as well, and thought it might be Jim Nichols color book, but did not see it there.
>>> 
>>> Best
>>> Ken Miller
>>> 
>>>> On Jan 29, 2019, at 12:41 PM, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> I'm trying to find a picture I saw in a book.  It's of a sign, probably just outside either Bluefield or Williamson, that says "This way to the Pocahontas Coal Fields" or something like that.  I'm 90% certain the picture is in color.  I also want to say it is not in a book you would expect it to be; perhaps a generic mine book rather than N&W.  If anyone knows the picture I am thinking of or any other pictures of this sign, please let me know.
>>>> 
>>>> Thank you,
>>>> Marty Flick
>>>> 
>>>> 
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