Railroad Heaven

Have you thought about how large the rail footprint in the Roanoke Valley has become? We are a train lover’s Bigfoot, a rail fan’s gold mine. Those of us who live here may forget sometimes how much we do have to offer.

You can tour the Museum of Transportation and its extensive collection of locomotives, rolling stock and other artifacts. Adding to its value is its location within the former Norfolk & Western Roanoke freight terminal.

You can travel the David and Susan Goode Railwalk, filled with graphics, data and hands-on exhibits. Strolling alongside the mainline of one of the four largest railroads in America, you can observe all kinds of Norfolk Southern trains in action. At times you will see not only NS locomotives but also those in the livery of CSX, Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific, among others.

Nearby you can find much more of Norfolk Southern’s regional operations to take in. A dual track hump classification yard with both receiving and departure yards on each end lies just west of downtown at Shaffers Crossing. Fueling and sanding facilities and a locomotive and car maintenance center are located there as well. Downtown the current NS office building, modern and sophisticated-looking, towers above the streets.

Across the tracks from VMT and the Railwalk stands Hotel Roanoke, the grand old lady built by Norfolk Southern’s predecessor, the N&W, for its passengers. On one side of that classic structure is the restored, Loewy-designed Roanoke passenger station. Within its walls lies the Winston O. Link Museum, featuring stunning photos of N&W steam locomotives against the vanishing rural landscape of this region.

Traipse over to the other side of Hotel Roanoke and you can gaze at two earlier Norfolk and Western office buildings, built when Roanoke was not just a regional but a national railroad headquarters. One structure now houses the Roanoke Higher Education Center where more than a dozen universities and colleges offer classes. The other building contains upscale apartment living. You can go inside the Higher Ed. Center and see the exquisite wood paneling and metal work that made this such an elegant home for railroad management.

Just down the tracks from the office buildings, hotel and passenger station you will find the sprawling East End Shops, where many of the locomotives featured in Winston Link’s photos were built. On one end, Norfolk Southern continues to perform heavy maintenance on GE locomotives, fabricate slugs and do some wreck repair. On the other end, FreightCar America manufactures ore cars for BNSF, coal hoppers for NS, BNSF and GATX, and double-stack container cars for Saudi Arabia.

The recent tour of “lost railroads” in the valley offered a reminder that there is still more railroad gold to be mined in this area. In addition, two other planned projects will make Bigfoot’s print even more expansive: the restoration of the Virginian Railroad passenger station and the building of an intermodal terminal in Elliston.

How many places in America can you go and see in such close proximity the headquarters of one of the most successful and innovative steam railroads in history, the shops where some of North America’s most impressive locomotives were built, the collected work of one of America’s great railroad photographers, some of the classic locomotives he shot, the operations of a modern class 1 railroad bisecting the historic sites, a manufacturing center for new freight cars and (hopefully soon) a cutting-edge intermodal railroad center?

You can do so much railfanning here, drinking in the past and present and even the future, taking in the trains and the people and facilities that make them go. It leaves me wondering whether we are adequately marketing ourselves to the world.

Is there any coordinated attempt to “sell” to train buffs all we offer in the valley? Are visitors to the area introduced to the full range of interconnected rail attractions we offer? Do we have railfan maps of the area to hand out to tourists?

Scranton, PA has Steam Town, a somewhat motley repository of locomotives gussied up by huge amounts of federal government money. Perhaps we should call ourselves Train Town or Railroad Roanoke, or something like that (I bet you can think of a better name than the ones I just suggested).

Surely we can do more to promote our railroad riches. Looking around convinces me that we are a wonderful secret that has been too well kept.

From Caboose to Dr. Seuss

The Museum of Transportation has many needs. Foremost is our need for people.

We need effective employees. We are so fortunate to have a small group of staff members who are as dedicated and adaptable as they are skilled. We are seeking another one, by the way: a new weekend gift shop manager who is responsible and enthusiastic with retail experience, customer service and computer skills, and the willingness to work Saturday and Sunday. (Anyone interested may send resumé to sloveman@vmt.org).

We need people with large vision and resources who will give to VMT. This is a critical time for us financially.

And we need people who give of themselves in other ways. Over the 45 years of the museum’s existence, volunteers have been as vital to us as coal and water are to a steam locomotive. Without them we would get nowhere.

We can utilize volunteers in so many areas, including some that surely match your interest and ability. To help you understand the ways you can serve the cause, we offer in the spirit of Dr. Seuss this poetic volunteer job description. You remember Dr. Seuss? He wrote The Cat in the Engineer’s Hat. Or was it Dr. Seuss Hops a Caboose? Whatever.


This Cat Can Do That

Our fine museum could use loads of cash.
If, though, like lots of us, you lack a stash,
That is quite cool—you don’t need to despair.
There are so many ways you can still share.

Since we’re short-handed, short-handed by half,
Lacking a fully-stocked roster of staff,
You can donate a resource we hold dear:
Give us your time, lend a hand, volunteer.

How many ways could we put you to work?
How about being a gift shop sales clerk?
Sell nifty merchandise, take up the dough
While shoppers chat with you, tell what they know.

You could help maintain the building and grounds
Inside and outside while making your rounds,
Patching, attaching, and catching up stuff,
Fixing the broken and smoothing the rough.

Maybe your thing is conducting a tour,
Leading the tourists around, making sure
They see the biggest, the brightest and best—
Railyard and car gallery, all the rest.

You could help learners—you know—educate,
Touch them and teach them, inspire, innovate;
Guiding the grownups and little ones too,
Transporting them to a world we once knew.

You could be artsy and make spiffy signs,
Do fancy lettering, create designs,
Or you could write about trails, rails and flight;
Read and research, dig up facts left and right.

You could share elbow grease: scrape, clean and scrub;
Keep the exhibits in shape—polish, rub;
Clean ‘em up, preen ‘em up, shake off the dust;
Fend off the fingerprints, cobwebs and rust.

You could help tidy the many displays,
Giving attention in various ways
So all the guests who explore the museum
Will be impressed by the sights when they see ‘em.

You could restore items in our collection
If you possess the right skills and affection,
For these are treasures both old and quite rare
Needing devoted and delicate care.

You could greet people at special events
At booths or tables or even in tents;
Be the museum’s warm face for a while,
Share information, an ear and a smile.

You could help organize, plan and promote
Shindigs and happenings, moments of note:
Easter egg hunts, birthday parties and such
That need ideas and the creative touch.

And though your work brings no wages your way,
We offer perks that are sort of like pay:
Admission that won’t cost your family a cent;
Gift shop discounts at a healthy percent.

If you can talk or walk, listen or learn;
If you’re still breathing with free time to burn;
There is, we guarantee, something to do—
Something that just fits the person who’s you.

(To find out more about volunteering at VMT, call Susan Loveman at 342-5670 or e-mail sloveman@vmt.org)

If Wishes Were (Iron) Horses

What is on your museum wish list? If funds and feasibility were not issues, how would you improve VMT?

You hear about various will be’s, could be’s and should be’s. A locomotive cab with interactive controls. Resurrection of the Virginia Scrap Iron ghost locos. A rail excursion—full size, not the converted Zoo Choo.

One of my dreams is to get the Y6 N&W steam locomotive moved back here from the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis. It would complete the “big three” of classic late steam types built in Roanoke. Yeah, I understand the chances of that steam dream coming to pass. Nevertheless ….

Would you like to see more representation of other railroads besides the N&W? Which roads and what exhibits?

Do you wish for more interactive exhibits for your children, grandchildren or the young ones you teach? What would you add to or change about the museum for them?

What would you like to see done differently with non-railroad transportation?

Of the railroad equipment that needs significant restoration, that looks like it belongs as much in a scrap yard as a rail yard, which pieces would you most like to see brought back to pristine condition? The Lake Pearl sleeper? The Pennsy GG-1 electric loco? The Jawn Henry? Just kidding about that last one.

The museum’s exhibits have been criticized as static and stale. How would you breathe life and freshness into them?

Obviously funds and feasibility are issues. However, knowing what you’re thinking helps us have a better museum. And some of those wish list items that seem far-fetched now may lie closer to our grasp than we think.

Today my daughter and I hiked along the Roanoke River from Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital to Winchester St. There at Wasena Park I told her stories of the flood of ’85, including the devastation of VMT. Who then could have seen beyond the mud and muck to envision where and what the museum is today.

Out of the current “storm” can also emerge a stronger, better transportation showplace. Share your dreams with us and then help us make some of those dreams a reality.

Taxes, Trains and Transportation Tours

I have been away too long, involved with other writing projects. Of course, this is also tax season. I am happy to report that my train #1040 left the station on time. I hope yours did too.

The museum’s quarterly newsletter is in the mail, sporting a new name and look. Tell us what you think of the name, Revolutions, and the newsletter. If you don’t receive it and want to, call 342-5670 or e-mail info@vmt.org.

This issue features Bev Fitzpatrick’s new column, View from the Cab, news of recent and upcoming events, and photos of the Advance Auto Gallery and the A 1218 in the snow. You will also find a picture of the “lost locomotives” on the Virginia Scrap Iron and Metal property.

Speaking of the auto gallery, its grand opening is May 1 from 5-7:30 pm. That exhibit also includes From Mud to Mobility, a review of the past 100 years of VDOT.

Just days before that event, on April 26, is a rail tour. Sponsored jointly by VMT, the N&W Historical Society, the Roanoke Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society and the O. Winston Link Museum, the tour will focus on little known rails from this area’s past. They include the Valley Railroad, the narrow gauge link from the Ore Mines in South Roanoke and the N&W lines near Shaffers Crossing. The tour will be offered twice, at 9 am and again at 1 pm, departing from the Link Museum. For details, please call VMT at 342-5670.

Drop by BB&T this month or next. You can do some banking and get a taste of “VMT on location.” The museum will have displays in several branches including the J 611 tapestry, brochures, images from our collection, gift shop items and membership info. Bank employees will take membership orders and gift shop purchases. BB&T locations featured in April are Towers, Tanglewood, Oak Grove and Main. Consider it a new kind of branch line railroading. Shucks, BB&T even sounds like the name of a railroad.

Finally, thank you for sharing some of your valuable time by reading the blog. I also appreciate your comments, including those that disagree with me or criticize VMT. Your views are important to us and we learn from them. If you ever have comments about the blog that you would rather share privately, you can e-mail me at info@vmt.org.

Happy trails to you this weekend.

The Little Engine that Will

At a time when many people are attempting to put new things on top of Mill Mountain, the Museum of Transportation has brought some- thing back down the mountain.

The Zoo Choo will become the new Choo. The little train that could ... and did, transporting children and adults around Mill Mountain Zoo for more than half a century, will soon roll on the mini-main line of the museum rail yard.

Painted in the burnt tuscan red of the N&W Railroad, the current Zoo Choo includes a gas-powered Model G-16 miniature train engine, two passenger cars and an observation car. The train's relocation is a joint effort of VMT and the Jaycees, who will split revenue from its operation.

The new train will help VMT meet two of its goals for improving its operations: more interactive exhibits and more features geared to children. It should be fascinating to see the tiny train snaking its way among the unmoving giants of yesterday’s locomotives and rolling stock while modern trains rumble along the tracks a pebble’s throw away.

A number of details still need to be worked out. One of them is trackage rights. Even a diminuitive train needs room to turn, and one end of the rail yard does not have quite enough of it. Norfolk Southern and the museum are working together to resolve the problem, which could involve NS granting a few feet of right-of-way for the track. Sounds like real railroading, doesn’t it?

And as with any new rail line, there is the matter of a name. What should we call the transplanted train? Zoo Choo no longer fits. Do you have suggestions? Then please let us know.

Meanwhile we will continue to dream of the day when VMT can offer short excursions on a lifesized train. Start thinking—we will need a name for that one also.

Rails that Divide, Bridges that Connect

Railroad tracks unite.

And they divide.

The rails that spread like kudzu across the vast west following the War Between the States enabled the U.S. to grow faster and farther than anyone would have thought possible a couple decades earlier. The pounding of a golden spike at Promontory, Utah in 1869 was both a literal and symbolic uniting of America. Tracks continued to multiply in the last half of the 19th century, creating arteries and veins that provided the life blood of the towns and industries connected to them.

The railroad also divided. In its earlier years, the division was primarily cultural and political. Many Americans feared and loathed these danger-carrying, noise-screaming, smoke-spewing beasts. Few viewed trains through the rosy lenses of nostalgia as so many of us do today. The strange, newfangled trains and their owners, seen as greedy and rapacious devourers of land and resources, were usually detested.

The rails divided in other ways. They bisected towns and prairies, in many cases dictating where and how commerce would take root and people would settle. Often unintentionally, rail and crosstie became a steel and wood line of demarcation separating prosperity from failure and status from ignominy.

As a child, I remember hearing often that phrase, “the other side,” or “the wrong side” of the tracks,” meaning the poorer, seedier and more dangerous section of town. Sometimes I wondered why the less desirable neighborhoods were always the “other” side from where anyone I knew lived. Most of the time I just accepted it as an immutable fact of life.

Sadly, that other side was usually disproportionately African-American. Even after the end of slavery, blacks in both north and south were robbed of equal housing and job opportunities. In Roanoke and in many other places, minorities lived on the “wrong side” of the tracks.

That’s one more reason all Roanokers should rejoice in the re-opening of the aptly renamed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Bridge. It spans rows of tracks and links the Gaineboro area with downtown literally and symbolically.

Does anyone feel more pleasure in that connecting walkway than those whose reminiscences are the heart of the Museum exhibit, African American Heritage on the Norfolk and Western Railway, 1930-1970? When I watch the video and read the signs in that display, I am equally impressed by two things: the level of injustice these N&W workers endured and the courage and dignity with which they served.

I am also struck by how different today’s landscape looks. In recent decades, railroad corporations such as Norfolk Southern have gone to great effort to lay new tracks of opportunity and fairness. For that we should salute them, Dr. King and railroaders like the ones depicted here.

Railroad tracks can divide. They can also unite, especially when people are willing to build bridges.

Listening to the Museum

Stories. In my last blog I highlighted the need for stories. Museums need to tell the dramas of people and their interactions with the exhibits on display.

Part of the genius of Winston Link’s photographs of Norfolk & Western steam trains was that he didn’t merely take “train pictures.” He captured the railroad’s interaction with the environment around it, a way of life that was disappearing as quickly as those steam locomotives.

VMT has plenty of stories. Some of them are already being told vividly and elegantly, such as the exhibit, “African American Heritage on the Norfolk & Western Railroad, 1930-70.” Others lie there like undiscovered treasure. I have already suggested some possibilities. Here are others.

Though the Museum of Transportation focuses on the N&W more than any other railroad, much gold remains to be mined. Consider this. What other rail museum lets you stand next to mammoth locomotives, gaze just steps away at the tracks along which they once stormed, then glance a few blocks down the street where those fire-bellowing creatures were created.

What about the drama of the big little railroad that “ran from nowhere to nowhere,” as someone characterized its lack of access to major metropolises, succeeding because it did almost everything more efficiently than its competitors? Then there is the story of the mouse that ate the cat—how the N&W, once owned in part by the Pennsylvania RR, turned the tables when Norfolk Southern bought half of Conrail, the successor to the Pennsy and other bankrupt northeastern roads.

Even the former freight station that houses VMT tells tales, as the words of a newer staff member describe:

When the museum is calm and I sit in the quiet of the building, I feel that old freight station trying to communicate with me. It speaks audibly in groans and creaks, bumps and bangs. The building seems to be telling a silent story, too. The floor fascinates me. I want to know the story of the holes, the chips, the ruts in the concrete. How about the wooden bricks and the scales? Who or what chipped the floor; what was weighed on the scales? How many times did those baggage carts transport goods from a box car to the loading dock? Light floods through the upper windows today, just as it did 80 years ago. Today it illuminates the artifacts that tell a story about transportation. But in 1918 it illuminated the people and machines that wrote the story.

Then there are the stories that our guests bring to us. That is what I like best about the museum: meeting our guests and listening to their stories. For so many people, coming to the museum is more like a pilgrimage than a tourist stop. They remember the 611 when it passed through their town or behind their home. They remember their daddy or granddaddy who was an engineer, a fireman, or who worked in the shops. They remember the last excursions of the 611 and still experience a shiver of excitement when they recall riding behind the majestic locomotive. The stories people tell about the trains are an absolute delight. I have learned so much from them.

Perhaps the thing that has surprised me most is the passion our guests feel for trains, especially the 611. Actually, passion is not a strong enough word. People have bonded with that engine. It is not an inanimate machine; it is a piece of their lives and an anchor that ties them to their own family history. They love that engine!

So many stories.