Articles and Historical Documents
What is Old Might be New Again details the conflict between the Virginia Anthracite Coal & Railway and the Virginia Railway just after the turn of the last century. It has implications for the return of rail passenger service to the New River Valley.
"Breaking" News of the N&W from the Salem Sentinal and several other sources.
Passenger train wreck at Glade Spring, Va., on Sunday, February 9, 1890
Wreck of the Memphis Special between Radford and Dublin, January 30, 1918
Passenger train changes and discontinuances as ordered by the Virginia State Corporation Commission in 1953 to 1959.
Dispatches from Southwest Virginia
In June of 1855, the Daily Dispatch, a Richmond newspaper, carried a series of stories about a trip to Southwest Virginia. Seventeen members of the Richmond Board of Trade were invited by the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad to travel along the rail line to both view the railroad and to see the country that it passed through. The series of articles chronicles their trip.
A Variety of News Articles
These are random articles found in the online newspaper archives of the Library of Virginia, the Virginia Chronicle project, while searching for other topics.
Mining of Zinc, Lead, Iron, and Coal in Virginia
Article from the January 6, 1906, issue of The Engineering And Mining Journal that lists a variety of mines and furnaces in operation across the state.
The Tunnel At Lynchburg
Article from the Richmond Enquirer, Volume 47, Number 95, 28 March 1851, pg 4, about the tunnel in Lynchburg along Blackwater Creek and the extension of the railroad to the southwest, with mention of reaching the Greenbriar River.
“New Coal Route Idea”
Article from the November, 1905, edition of the Manufacturers’ Record about “Probable Connection of the Norfolk & Western and the Coast Line.”
“Coal To Charleston”
Article from the October 26, 1905, edition of the Manufacturers’ Record about “Possibility That the Norfolk & Western Will Be Interested in a Line.”
“Pocahontas-Flat Top Coal Field”
Article from the July 25, 1907, edition of the Manufacturers’ Record.
“A Center of West Virginia Coal Development”
Article from the August 22, 1907, edition of the Manufacturers’ Record.
Ninety-Ton High Side Gondola Car
Developed on the Norfolk &. Western and With Specially Designed Six-Wheel Equalized Equipped Trucks.
Article from Railway Age Gazette, Vol. 54, No. 25, June 20, 1913, pp. 14-19.)
Boaz Helper Siding at the western foot of the Blue Ridge grade.
“When Signals Were New”
Article from the February, 1932, edition of the Norfolk & Western Magazine
Shawsville Station Deed
The original deed for the station site that reverts the land back to the original owners when no longer used for a station.
A Visit to an Interlocking Tower
Article from the August, 1930, edition of the N&W Magazine that relates the experience of the operator at Bluestone Junction on the Pocahontas Division west of Bluefield, W.Va.
Table of Elevations
Stations and elevations from an 1886 letter to Frederick J. Kimball.
Flat Top Tunnel Contract
The contract for the boring of the original Coaldale or Flat Top Tunnel that expanded the N&W into the Elkhorn Creek valley and westward through southern West Virginia.
1957 NRHS Convention
This PowerPoint slideshow has images from the NRHS Convention that was held in Roanoke. There are scenes around Roanoke, including in the Virginian yard, and views of trips and excursions. There are various PowerPoint viewers available online to watch the slideshow, for those who don't have access, a PDF version is available.
Cowan Tower
This tower along the New River in Pulaski County controlled access to the single track through Cowan Tunnel and access into the Radford Arsenal.
Norfolk & Western Railway Company is no more!
The action by the Surface Transportation Board led to the termination of the Norfolk & Western as a corporation.
The Fate of the 1218
When Norfolk Southern terminated its steam excursion program, the Class A engine was in Birminham, Alabama, undgoing a rebuild in the steam shop there. To fully end the program, NS auctioned off supplies and equipment, leaving the fate of the 1218 in question. This is a report from Steve Lee, manager of the steam program for Union Pacific, who gave his professional assessment of the auction and state of the locomotive.
Radford Street Railway
Although not strictly N&W, the Radford trolley is a part of the transportation history of the New River Valley.