Vol. 17, No. 4 July / August 2001  Issue Select 
Issue Details
Cover Title: How Dieselization Happended
Cover Subtitle: The Complete Story!
On the Cover: Streamlined J's departing from Terminal Station in Norfolk are just a memory in May of 1970. Instead, two GP9's, 519 and 515, stand ready to move a passenger train out of the newer (but much smaller) Lambert's Point facility. By this time, of course, both the station and the motive power were more than adequate for what was left of the passenger business.
Articles In This Issue
Norfolk & Western Dieselization / How and why it happened - the complete story - Robert G. Bowers; Mason Y. Cooper
  Photo ALCO RS-3 No. 305 leads sister 301 on a freight in February of 1960 at Durham, NC. The RS-3's were originally purchased for the Lynchburg/Durham line. (Robert G. Bowers Collection)
  Photo ALCO RS-3 No. 305 earns it keep in local service at Bellevue, OH, in March, 1965. N&W units were allowed to roam into the NKP system shortly after the 1964 merger. (Robert G. Bowers Collection)
  Photo R. H. Smith was the president of the N&W Railway during the heyday of steam operation, and is revered for his stalwart stand for steam... yet the very first order for diesel locomotives came from him. (N&W Photo / VPI&SU Collection)
  Photo ALCO RS-11 was born in the 1956 AFE (Authorization For Expenditure) for 75 engines intended to equip the Portsmouth to Cincinnati line. This order was amended to include enough motive power to take over duties on the Shenandoah and Clinch Valley lines as well. Shown under the idle coaling tower in Roanoke in March of 1962, the locomotive will continue serving the N&W until retirement in December, 1974. (N&WHS Archives Colleciton)
  Photo Passenger GP9 No. 763 lays over at the joint N&W/PRR engine terminal at Hagerstown, MD on July 27, 1954, Note the steam-era lettering. By this date, only trains 1 and 2 remained to serve the Shenandoah line, arriving and departing Hagerstown in the Dark. (F. R Brunot Photo/ Mason Y. Cooper Collection)
  Photo The 1956 AFE for motive power was split between ALCO and EMD. GP9 744 is an example from this order and came equipped with a series of options the railroad had developed for maximum operation; dynamic brakes, dual control stands, MU controls and the 26RL brake schedule. Here, the locomotive is on layover between runs at the southern end of the Shenandoah Divison, at Winston-Salem, NC. (Mason Y. Cooper)
Shooting at Oney Gap / A 1917 Tragedy on the Virginian Railway - Ed Wiley
  Photo This photo shows the southern (or eastern) portal of Oney Gap Tunnel. The position of Watson Chambers was approximately where the power pole is situated at top left. The roadbed is several feet higher than in 1917. (Justin Tyler Wiley Photo)
  Map No caption. An area map showing the location of Oney Gap outside of Princeton (Ed Wiley Collection)
N&W's Heavyweight Sleepers / Early Pullman cars on the Norfolk & Western - James F. Brewer; James Nichols
  Photo Dinwiddie County is one of the 10 section-lounge cars that were operated by N&W on the Pocahontas, but whose ownership was retained by Pullman. Note the location of the air-conditioning supply "bubble" above the sections. This photo is from an excursion in 1966. (Harry Bundy Photo)
  Photo Island Rose was originally in service on the Rock Island Railroad. Note the upper berth windows in the letter board directly above the windows for the sections. (Harry Stegmaier Collection)
  Photo Lowry wears its N&W colors and stenciling as applied when it became the property of the railway. The small "Pullman" stenciling near the top of each vestibule door indicates this car is leased to Pullman Company, but owned by N&W. (Harry Stegmaier Collection)
  Photo Sunstar Rose rests in the bright Roanoke sunshine among other heavyweight passenger equipment and N&W's famed Dynomometer car. The ducts for the air-conditioning supply are mounted on the top of the roof, on both sides of the clerestory, and covered with the familiar "bubble". (Harry Stegmaier Collection)
  Photo Chilhowie was originally named East Bradford when built. It was modernized by Pullman in 1934 and its appearance here has not changed much since that time. Still wearing Pullman green and Pullman stenciling, it would be scrapped in 1962. (Harry Stegmaier Collection)
  Photo Norfolk County is one of the 10 section-lounge cars operated by N&W between Norfolk and Chicago on the Pocahontas. This car was owned by Pullman but painted in N&W livery. It is seen here in Chicago on April 10, 1968 awaiting its eastbound return. (Howard Ameling Collection)
  Photo The Billingswood was part of the same lot of cars built by Pullman which included the Cuttyhunk. The lot was originally built for pool service assigned to the Pennsylvania Railroad. This photo shows the cars' "as built" appearance, before being modernized and air-conditioned. (Pullman Co. Photo, James F. Brewer Collection)
  Photo East Newark is one of a hundred cars built as Lot 4868 by Pullman primarily for service on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. East Bradford, East Canton, and East Charlotte were built as part of this same Lot. These cars were renamed Chilhowie, Galax and Lowry when modernized and air-conditioned in June, 1934. (Pullman Co. Photo, James F. Brewer Collection)
  Drawing This floor plan shows the basic layout for cars built to Plan 3410 and it's A, B, and C variations. (Pullman Co. Diagram, James F. Brewer Collection)
  Photo This builder's photo shows the original 1929 appearance of Island Rose when built for service on the Rock Island Lines. Note the small upper berth windows. Compare this as-built photo with the photo appearing on page 12. (Pullman Co. Photo, James F. Brewer Collection)
  Drawing This floor plan shows the interior layout of cars built to Pullman Plan 3973A, which included the Island regal and Island Rose. (Pullman Co. Diagram, James F. Brewer Collection)
  Photo Island Regal and Island Rose were built with Pullman 2411 trucks. They retained this style of truck throughout their service life. (Pullman Co. Photo, James F. Brewer Collection)
  Photo Chilhowie, Galax, Lowry, Sunstar Rose and Vulcan rode on Pullman 242A style trucks pictured here. This truck was almost identical to the 242 trucks which Cuttyhunk rode on. The difference is the trucks was the width of the leaf springs. The 242 leaf springs were 4" wide, compared with the 4-1/2" width of the 242A springs. (Pullman Co. Photo, James F. Brewer Collection)
N&W Freight Car Roster: 1940 / 6th in a series - James F. Brewer
  Photo N&W continued building its own covered hoppers at Roanoke Shops. There were thirty-five of the HC-3 class cars built in 1939. Although these cars had four bays or compartments, they had the same capacity as the HC-1 cars built two years earlier. (N&W Photo, N&WHS Collection)
  Photo The "B" end of the HC-3 followed very closely the earlier HC and HC-1 Roanoke built cars. Note the location of the brake components, slope sheet bracing, and the road number on the truck bolster. (N&W Photo, N&WHS Collection)
The Tennessean / Special: Virginian USRA 2-8-8-2's - James Nichols
  Photo Virginian's Class USA No., 708 rests at Elmore, WV on June 23, 1950. (Martin E. Swartz Collection)
  Drawing Dimensions and design data of Mallet Type Locomotive Class US-C (Jim Nichols Collection)
  Photo Virginian's Class USC from drawing board to reality. The photo, taken in September of 1949, shows the locomotive after its 1935 rebuild. (Martin E. Swartz Collection)
  Photo This September, 1951 photo of the Virginian's Class USB No. 722 shows how the Virginian gave its locomotives a bit of panache after WWII with the addition of white (aluminum?) edging of the running boards and wheel tires. The 722 was scrapped in August of 1954. (Martin E. Swartz Collection)
Virginian Local / More letters than passengers? - Martin E. Swartz
  Drawing Overview of Virginian's Mail Service from 1907 to 1955 (Martin E. Swartz Collection)
  Photo Virginian's passenger service may have been miniscule, but it too needed mail and express to offset the cost. On July 1, 1947, a typical consist rolls through Matoaka, WV with the baggage-mail car tucked in behind the tender. (Martin E. Swartz Collection)
In Scale / Modeling an RS11 in HO Scale - George Hughes
  Photo No caption. A side view of an Altas RS-11, black with gold lettering, road number 369. (George Hughes)
  Photo No caption. A close-up view on the front end of an Atlas RS-11. Very nicely detailed. (George Hughes)
Vol. 17, No. 4 July / August 2001  Issue Select