Big Hopper Yard (was: Norfolk: Railroad Photos ca. 1960)

[NW Mailing List]

I agree with the idea of the naming of the Nelson Crossover.
In the early to mid 80s I spoke with "old" Mr. Hatcher, owner of Hatcher Coal Co( just west of Park St). He told how Mr. Nelson would visit him often and treated him well (as a customer).
The Nelson X-over was a "hand thrown" x-over which allowed more than one movement in, or out, of the Forwarding Yard at one time. I presume it was hand thrown as it was infrequently used, principally in the case of traffic tie ups or derailments.


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  On Sat, Mar 12, 2022 at 2:03 PM, NW Mailing List<nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:      Col. Lisle inquireth as follows:    
   ////  ... the "Big Hopper" Yard... How it got that name, I have no idea, but I  have a feeling that it came about when they quit yarding trains in the   old Park St. "Pull up" and started yarding them in tracks 11 - 20. Then   there is the mystery of how did the little used "Nelson Crossover" get   its name? ////   
   1.  I think Nelson's Crossover was named for Richard A. Nelson, who was Terminal Superintendent at Roanoke in the 1940s and early 1950s.  He had been a Clerk and Yard Master on the Pocahontas Division, thence Train Master (at Bluefield or Williamsnon, as I recall,) thence to Roanoke, where he retired and died.  His biography is in several of the later editions of Biographical Directory of Railway Officials of America (which have not yet been digitized.)  He was remembered as one of those Old Order supervisors who believed that the best  management style was tyranny and abuse.  I suspect Nelson suggested (and perhaps crusaded for) a crossover to be installed at that location.   
  
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