Vol. 14, No. 6 November / December 1998  Issue Select 
Issue Details
Cover Title: Passenger Station Paint Schemes: Just what color WERE they?
Cover Subtitle: A Day in the Life of a Yard Crew
On the Cover: The Christiansburg passenger station is ready for business after receiving its new paint scheme of light gray with dark green trim and roof in 1949. This facility was once a beehive of activity in the heyday of passenger service. Today, the building is used as an office for Norfolk Souther crews.
Articles In This Issue
N&W Depot paint schemes / Just what color were they? - James F. Brewer
  Photo The depot at Blue Ridge (circa 1957) wears the paint scheme N&W adopted in 1947. It would retain the scheme of light cream with rich brown trim until it was razed, as the later photo on page 7 shows; this in spite of subsequent schemes there were adopted as "standard". (Charles W. Houser Photo / James F. Brewer Collection)
  Photo The wooden combination depot at Antietam is dressed in the white body with green trim and roof scheme that was first developed in the early 1950's. Note that the green color has been applied selectively to parts of the windows and doors. This was the preferred practice, rather than painting the entire windows and doors green. (H. W. Rouse/ James F. Brewer Collection)
  Photo The depot at Shenandoah Junction was of original Shenandoah Valley Railroad design, but the SV had been merged into the N&W for at least 10 years, perhaps longer, when this photo was taken. The body is obviously a dark color and the trim appears to match. It is not known if this scheme was an anomaly or applied to other depots. (N&W Photo / VPI&SU Collection)
  Photo Natural Bridge exhibits the 1949 test scheme of "yellow and white" that was used for evaluation of a scheme to replace the 1947 variation of light cream with brown trim. Together with the depot at Starkey, the Paint Committee experimented with different combinations of the colors to develop the 1950 standard of "pale yellow and white trim". (James F. Brewer Collection)
  Photo The depot at Lowry wears the pale yellow and white trim scheme. Although the life span of this scheme was short, it was applied to a number of wooden depots. (Gregory M. Smith Collection)
  Photo The challenge of climbing the Blue Ridge grade, as well as N&W being the last Class One operator of mainline steam, caused many rail enthusiasts to flock to the area around the Blue Ridge depot, making it one of the most photographed wooden depots on the system. In this early 1970's view, we see it worn and tattered, but still in the 1947 light cream and brown trim scheme. (Harry W. Bundy, Jr. Photo)
  Photo The last official wooden depot scheme, gray with black trim, adorns the freight station at Waynesboro, VA. The black dado is applied to the entire freight structure, but would have only been applied on the freight portion of a passenger and freight combination depot. (John T. Holt, Jr. Photo / James F. Brewer Collection)
  Table List of passenger stations on paint work sheets for 1953
  Table List of Passenger Stations which have been painted new standard colors
  Photo The interior of the station at Williamson, WV was both attractive and functional. This photo was taken around 1950. (N&W Photo / VPI&SU Collection)
  Sidebar Modeling an N&W Station? Here are some suggestions "The following are suggestions for ready-mixed model paint that can be used to represent the colors used by N&W on the exterior of its wooden depots".
A day in the life of a yard crew / Tales from the Front Special - Lawrence W. Crocker
  Photo Passengers board the mid-1960's rendition of The Pocahontas at the Norfolk passenger station at Lambert's Point. Even though passenger service was by this time inconsequential, N&W still demanded that the train be thoroughly clean and operated on the advertised. (N&W Photo / VPI&SU Collection)
  Photo The Alco T-6 #15 completed many a switching duty at Lambert's Point Yard in Norfolk. (N&W Photo / VPI&SU Collection)
Pocahontas Spotlight / A rough time for hoboes in McDowell County - Robert Harvey
  Photo Passenger extra 1347-4501 east is shown nearing the east end of the nearly-perfect mile between mileposts 352 and 351, just west of Rural Retreat, Va. The train was sponsored by the Roanoke chapter of the NRHS; the date was July 4, 1975. (Robert L. Harvey Photo)
Current News / What's going on in today's railroading - Robert G. Bowers
  Photo Former N&W GE C30-7 as HLGX #6808 on 5/31/1998 at Davenport, IA. Anyone know the original N&W road number?? (Jeff Toff Photo)
The Tennessean / A report from the National NMRA convention - James Nichols
The Virginian Local / More X's and O's - Martin E. Swartz
  Photo N&W Safety Sign on cover of Norfolk and Western Magazine (N&WHS Archives Collection)
  Drawing N&W Standard low wire warning sign, for use in electrified territory. (Per N&W Standards drawing L-416) (Martin E. Swartz Collection)
  Drawing Virginian multi-lamp low wire sign. (Martin E. Swartz Collection)
  Photo DE-S #26 shuffles cars at Roanoke in April 1957 beneath a low-wire sign. (Martin E. Swartz Collection)
  Photo Enameled steel safety sign. Stamping at teh bottom identifies it as a product of VERI-BRIGHT Signs, Chicago. (Martin E. Swartz Collection)
  Photo VGN safety stencil, approximately 6" in diameter. (Martin E. Swartz Collection)
  Photo Good advice at teh Princeton foundry. I have a sign at work that says "DANGER: Don't do Dumb Things". What other sign do you need? (Martin E. Swartz Collection)
  Sidebar George's Bull Dog poem. This poem about the Page, WV mine run was written when there were 3 runs per day out of Page. These runs were known as the "Bull Dog" by the men. Mr. Ross was agent at Page and supervised these runs. He was referred to as "George Ross, The Bull Dog Boss". Mr Ross always wanted and extra train each day. (Author Unknown, Circa 1947-1948 / Virginian Railway)
Virginian Fans dig for Treasure in Page, WV - Tom Salmon; Martin E. Swartz
  Photo Virginian fans excavate the foundation of the engine house at Page, WV, uncovering as many questions as answers. L to R: John Munson, Jerry Tennant, Tom Marshall, Bob Slavy, Ed Chaffin, Steve Summers and Tom Salmon (Jack Feller Photo)
Modeling Virginian's 4-Bay Hopper / Adding a new Bowser model to you layout - William Mosteller
  Photo Virginian #216680 4-bay hopper model (William Mosteller Photo)
Q and A / The Arrow staff answers member's questions - Norfolk & Western Historical Society
Vol. 14, No. 6 November / December 1998  Issue Select