<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16809" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>How well I remember! My father's office was on
the East end of the top floor, and I would go there after Sunday School each
week to meet him for our trip to the roundhouse. In those days, he had to work
a half day on Sunday. As to the arrangement being the best office building on
the system, by the late 1940's it was most inadequate. But they moved his old
desk into the new building. I don't think they moved the
spittoons. Jim Nichols</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=center>------</DIV>
<DIV align=center>------</DIV>
<DIV align=center> </DIV>
<DIV align=center><STRONG>Making Offices of Hotel</STRONG></DIV>
<DIV align=left> Work has already been commenced on the
re-modeling of the old Bluefield Inn, which will be reconstructed and
converted into the general offices of the Norfolk and Western. The
improvements on the building will amount to about $10,000 and when completed
it will be one of the best arranged office buildings on the system. When
the new offices are finished and the various departments transferred to it,
the company will commence to tear down the present building known as the
division office, as it has long been inadequate and out of date.</DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV>
<DIV align=left>[<EM>I am attaching image ns4630 from the Va. Tech image
database showing the Bluefield Inn, before
conversion into offices. The passenger station is across
Princeton Ave. on the right. This view is before streetcar tracks were
laid along Princeton Ave. in 1904.</EM>]</DIV>
<DIV align=center>------</DIV>
<DIV align=left> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Script size=6>Gordon Hamilton</FONT></DIV>
<P>
<HR>
<P></P>________________________________________<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>