Sundays and holidays

[NW Mailing List]

Ken, Pardon the correction, but don't you mean Thanksgiving of 1954, in your first entry from your Dad's timebook? The S1s were still a few years away in '44. -Ed Burnett, Lynchburg


> On 11/22/2023 12:50 PM EST NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
> 
>  
> Mike
> 
> That truly depends on the time you consider “the glory days.”
> 
> I can tell you in the days prior to the end of passenger service, not really. Passenger trains continued to run 24/7/365.
> 
> In looking at my father’s time book for Thanksgiving 1944, November 24, that he was called for the Salem Shifter at 6:30 am, and they were off at 2:30 pm, with S1 No. 278.
> 
> For December the shifter worked Christmas Eve, called at 8:00 am, back in at 12:20 pm with the 278 again. But that was a Saturday, the Shifter did not normally work on Sundays. The job was laid in on Monday the 26th.
> 
> For 1956, Thanksgiving was November 22, the Shifter was called at 7:15 am, and was back in at 1:30 pm, once again with 278.
> 
> For Christmas 1956, they worked Christmas Eve, called at 6:45 am, back in at 4:00 pm, this time with 277.
> 
> They were not called out on Christmas Day, which was a Tuesday.
> 
> On Thanksgiving day, 1957, November 28, he was called out as Conductor on a work train out of Roanoke at 5:30 am and back at 5:30 pm this time with 2149.
> 
> I’ll skip ahead to 1977, they still worked Thanksgiving. He noted in his time book that the railroad shut down for holiday, making a trip east with No. 86 on the 23rd, and not going back out until the 27th at 4:30 in the morning.
> 
> I could go on, but this gives you a good idea.
> 
> It was really not until the 1970s that the railroad shut down for Christmas, but I did not know them to shut down for Thanksgiving.
> 
> Usually at that point, they tried to get crews home working normal jobs on Christmas Eve, but on occasion had to deadhead crews home from Bluefield.
> 
> This is just my memories and his time book, which i am thankful he kept such detailed notes.
> 
> Best
> Ken Miller
> 
> > On Nov 22, 2023, at 12:08 PM, NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
> > 
> > Were there any days when trains didn’t run in the glory days of the N&W?
> > 
> > Mike Shockley 
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