Ball's Hole Revisited

[NW Mailing List]

We have had a number of discussions about Ball's Hole on the Radford
Division, about its location, operating through it, and its replacement as
Singer. I've been cruising through issues of the *Salem Sentinel* in the
digital newspaper archive of the Library of Virginia (
https://virginiachronicle.com/). This weekly paper has news from around the
region, nice neighborly info about who is visiting who and who is
traveling, etc. There is an irregular column with Radford Division news and
a regular column of "Balls Siding Jottings" each week. It is mostly about
people but it does have occasional tidbits about the railroad, such as this
one:

Salem Sentinel, Volume 6, Number 27, 29 August 1899, pg. 2

Balls Siding Jottings.

Mr. Johnson Fry, of Lurich, Va., is at work with a force of men building
road-bed in “Ball’s Hole.” After he completes this, a force of men will
pull the track and raise the elevation, which will be a great improvement
on the present track, as “Ball’s Hole” has a wide reputation as being one
of the most dangerous places on the N. & W. system.

 So this helps nail down a little bit more about that "dip" in the railroad
and an effort to try to improve it.

Bruce in Blacksburg
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