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<DIV><FONT face="Trebuchet MS">Bluefield Daily Telegraph<BR>August 26,
1909</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=center><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4>TWENTY-SIX MILES OF NEW
ROAD CONSTRUCTED</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=center><FONT face="Times New Roman">------</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=center><STRONG><FONT face="Times New Roman">No Tunnels and Only Two
Bridges on Line That Traverses Rich Potts Creek Area</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face="Times New Roman"> According to
advices received yesterday from Big Stony Junction, Va., the Norfolk and Western
branch from that point to Paint Bank, in Craig county, Va., a distance of
thirty-eight miles has been completed to Waiteville, in Monroe county, W. Va.,
twenty-six miles from the starting point, and this stretch has already been
opened to traffic. It is expected to have the entire line in operation by
October 1.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face="Times New Roman"> The road is
being built to tap the rich iron areas in the Potts Creek country in Craig and
Monroe counties. The iron deposits have been held for many years by the
Virginia Iron, Coal & Coke Company, and when the road is finished the mines
will be operated on an extensive scale. The ore will probably be shipped
to Pulaski, Va., for reduction . In addition to the iron, although much of
the timber has been cut, there still remains some excellent bodies which will be
rendered more readily marketable by the building of the branch. The
Chesapeake & Ohio already has a branch from the vicinity of Clifton Forge,
Va., tapping the field at a point six miles from Paint Bank, the proposed
terminus of the Norfolk and Western branch. The ore mined here is handled
at Lowmoor, Va.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face="Times New Roman"> In addition to
its commercial importance, the new road is one of the most picturesque pieces of
construction to be found in the United States. While this feature has been
heretofore mentioned by the Daily Telegraph, a Bluefield man who was over the
line to Waiteville the other day, says that he has never seen anything to equal
it. The tracks make a seven mile loop in winding up the mountain from
Big Stony Junction [<EM>Actually down the mountain in the direction away from
Big Stony Junction.</EM>], and at one point they approach to within fifty yards
of each other. The engineers of the company figured that it would be
cheaper to build a loop, and so top the mountain than it would be to construct
tunnels. There are, therefore, no tunnels on the road, and only two
bridges. The total cost of construction is estimated at a million dollars,
but it is believed that the richness of the country from a standpoint of natural
resources justifies the expenditure.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=center><FONT face="Times New Roman">------</FONT></DIV>
<DIV align=left><FONT face=Script size=6>Gordon
Hamilton</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>