| By: | EDWARD J. OZOG |
| Dates: | 5/4/1957 - 5/5/1957 |
| Album Info: | In my senior year of high school I had enough money and my parents permission to travel alone from Rhode Island to the far reaches of Virginia to experience the Norfolk & Western while it was virtually all steam. I had started taking B&W steam photos in 1954 with a box camera but steam was now gone from the B&M and nearly over on the CV. I now had an Argus C-4 with an adjustable 2.8 lense and a hand held Weston exposure meter. Its hard to believe I only took 49 slides in two days on the N&W - 41 survive and I'm showing 37 here.
All were taken during a trip arranged by the Southern Region of the NRHS which left Washington, DC at 3:50 PM on Friday May 3,1957 for Roanoke. Cars were added to the "Birmingham Special" and on Saturday the cars were pulled to Bluefield where they were added to the Clinch Valley Local to Norton which made the round trip behind doubleheaded Pacifics. Sunday morning was reserved for watching action at Roanoke. At 2:15 our cars became part of the "Tennesean" for a 7:15 PM arrival at Washington. The cost of the trip for over 500 miles on the N&W and about 350 on the Southern was $37.50 including two nights at the N&W's Hotel Roanoke near the station. Accomodations and travel by Pullman was also available. Some of the engines were only months away from retirement since the N&W was buying diesels for the branches but I can't recall seeing any N&W diesels - the closest thing was coal turbine "Jawn Henry" which I saw pushing. |
