3. Re: Fairlawn - Schooler Question (NW Mailing List)

Fri May 7 21:21:12 EDT 2021

Hello, Gentlemen. Especially gentleman turnip farmers.

The intersection with Rt. 600 is where the old line crossed 114. Don't know the location of the terminal.

Would like to know more about the Highland Road trestle, and where it rejoined Rt. 600. I think I remember where the western end would have been, but have no idea of the eastern end.

There was a big trestle over the creek bottom just before you get into Parrott. From the top of that last hill across to where it rejoined the current line just "west" of Peak Creek.

It's interesting to see discussions of "home" on here. I grew up in the suburbs there... in Dry Branch.

Respectfully;
Vince Albert

________________________________

Message: 3
Date: Fri, 7 May 2021 16:07:01 -0400
Subject: Re: Fairlawn - Schooler Question

hi Mr. Burnett,  Yes  Belspring road  rt. 600 is the old road bed, for the
N&W. From right about where it leaves  Route 11 Lee highway, there at the
old Northside  flower shop that has been there in business since 1956.
Supposedly the current intersection of  Route 114 & rt 600 Belspring road,
is where it crossed 114.  Yeah its level through there more/ less where the
banks were. That is a gentle curve where the banks were ending to a long
straight at the crossing of 114 headed west towards Belspring.

If you have ever driven (Belspring  600), it has a very level subtle grade
for a VDOT secondary road, which are generally rolling and winding.  This
road (600 Belspring road ) is very level. The 'S' curve before you get to
the 114 and Belspring road ( 600) intersection is gentle, long, not sharp
at all.  Non-VDOT.    Yeah,  you can tell,

 The current 'farm' insurance office is one of the old bank buildings on
the corner of 114 & Belspring  road,  and may have been to close to 114 but
the old 'First & Merchants bank of Radford,' that was right behind the
current insurance office   ( it was the 'blue' tile  bank building) on the
kind of southwest side of Belspring road,   has been demolished for a
'Wendy's .  How the mighty have fallen.
You should have seen the safe built in that bank made of steel and concrete
in the middle of that building ! They had to bring in one of those trackhoe
excavator with jack-hammer attachment, and beat on that concrete for days.
Rebar everywhere, but I digress.
Honestly I don't know where the station was, but I can drive about  2000
feet west of 114 this evening, on belspring road.  I am not afraid.
  I am headed in that general direction. 2000 feet, hmmmmm.

I think the right of way is rt 600 all the way to near the intersection of
Highland road and Belspring road. Then it had that trestle, somewhere,I am
foggy on that part, but then goes straight into downtown Belspring.

>From route 11 Lee highway,  route 600 Belspring road, is a good road,  cut
and fill  no ups and downs, gentle grade. Non VDOT.   You know, its like
how route 61 from Narrows is to Rocky Gap,  level gentle grade sweeping
curves.  This road is engineered very well.

There is one small building in Fairlawn next to the 114 and Belspring road
that could have been railroad related, at one time.  It was a shoe repair
shop and may have been other things over the years since 1975,  when I
started roaming these parts.
I will take a pic of it.  It has vinyl siding on it now,  but it is
definitely unique, long and narrow. There is a field behind it  that has
,what looks like old telephone poles for fence post.  They have always been
there since when I was a kid, and are still there. It's like that guy got a
smoking hot deal on used telephone poles and cut them for length, then used
the post for an american wire fence for his horses.
Those people died  a couple years ago and the land was auctioned w/house  a
year ago. So the nice field and fence line will probably be developed
sometime soon.  I remember seeing those horses when I was kid. I know I
drifted again.  that field is across teh road from where the banks were.

Does that help at all ?  I hope I didn't confuse you. I do that a lot,  I
will post a pic of that 'out of place building',
best regards
 r. ervine

Fairlawn , Belspring, Parrott  Metroplex.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

On Fri, May 7, 2021 at 1:46 PM NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
wrote:

> I see that Mr. R. Ervine of the *Fairlawn Mega-megalopolis Area of NRV*
> has signed on.
>
> Good to see someone from lovely Fairlawn.
>
> Can  Mr. Ervine, or anyone else, tell me exactly where the Old Line over
> Schooler Hill crossed present Pepper's Ferry Blvd, Rte. 114 ?
>
> About 50 years ago I was talking to Marvin Lawrence, the VP of the bank at
> Blacksburg, who was my cousin and who was familiar in the Fairlawn/Schooler
> area, and asked him where the Old Line over Schooler crossed present
> Pepper's Ferry Road.  He told me the bank at Fairlawn (as of that time)
> was built on the spot where the old Schooler depot once stood.
>
> For a lot of reasons, that explanation seems imprecise and and has never
> made much sense to me.
>
> If one scales off Time Table mileages (which are accurate only to the
> tenth of a mile,) Schooler seems to have been about 2000 feet west of
> Peppers Ferry Road.  So we need an expert, local boots-on-the-ground.
>
> So, can anyone in the 'Hood give us coordinates for the spot where the
> Schooler Grand Union Terminal Station once stood, and also for the point
> where the track crossed the present Rte. 114?
>
> Keep the faith... Plant your turnips.
>
> -- abram burnett,
> derelict old brakezman
>
>
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