Salem Shifter

[NW Mailing List]

I’ve started writing this morning, have a handful of photos to show with it. I will try and cover what I know about the Shifter and Catawba Branch, my father worked the job for quite a bit of the 1950s and part of the 1960s and occasionally in the 1970s. It was his favorite job. I’d like anyone with photos to contact me, as I have a moderate number of images, but I far prefer not to fill the magazine with my own photos, unless I have to.

One reason I’ve been hesitant on writing something like this, is I am trying to not to make the Arrow to be Roanoke centric. However, readers must remember that is what we have a lot of, and a lot of knowledge on the subject. In years past, I’d heard an occasional complaint that for all practical purposes of coverage, the railroad stops at Williamson. While we know that is not true, it is what we have.It is the best coverage we have, and honestly, it is difficult at best to write about territory that I have minimal knowledge of and do not know well and have little resources to call on.

So, the comment here is, if you want to read about something specifically, better start looking for someone who knows it, or find the folks who do. We have very  little on the former Wabash or NKP territory, as nobody seems to write about it. 

Personally, my interest is primarily steam, diesels to about the merger with NKP and Wabash. Even through I grew up with the period right after that, it only interests me but so much. However, with research, I wrote a three part segment back in 2018 on the N&W in 1968. 

So, the call is still out, looking for material on the diesel era, on up to the merger with Southern, and even afterward.

Best
Ken Miller

> On Sep 10, 2021, at 10:25 AM, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
> 
> Thanks Ken, I think it would make a good article.  :)
> 
> Don
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org> On Behalf Of NW Mailing List
> Sent: Friday, September 10, 2021 3:47 AM
> To: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
> Subject: Re: Salem Shifter
> 
> Don
> 
> I’ll write up some more details for you and post to the list, and if there is any interest, will place in the Arrow. There might be a few others who were around, Abe Burnett worked the job some with my father, but a couple other folks around are not on the list.
> 
> Briefly, the Shifter changed over the years, normally in the 1950s was a six day a week job, laid in on Sunday. By the early 1960s, it became a five day a week job. Having my father’s time book really gives me a fair amount of detail. My mother would frequently take me out to watch the Shifter work because I loved it. We would often go to the junction at Salem or up by the freight station.
> 
> I’ll write it up, actually sounds more like an article to me. :)
> 
> Best
> Ken Miller
> 
>> On Sep 9, 2021, at 6:51 PM, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Ken Miller’s “Another Interesting Tidbit” piece in the recent Arrow sparked my curiosity. His brief description of the Salem Shifter (his fathers favorite job) go me wondering if there has been any article or deeper description of the job. I would like to learn more about the job in his father’s time, the 1960’s and 70’s. Did it run daily? How far did it go? Did the one job work both the heritage N&W and heritage Virginian lines? How long was the crew’s typical day (almost 14 hours on the day noted)? What were the “two dozen” customers the shifter serviced? Perhaps we have some members that worked the job and can give us some insight?
>> 
>> Don Trettel
>> 
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