Roanoke 2009 - N&W Historical Society 25th Annual Convention

Activities

Two Old Friends

Join us in Roanoke, Virginia to visit with old friends, both man and machine.

Virginia Museum of Transportation

The Virginia Museum of Transportation is well known as the home of the famous N&W Class J No. 611 and N&W Class A No. 1218 both designed and built by N&W employees in Roanoke, Virginia. Its collection also includes N&W Class G-1 No. 6 built in 1897. N&W diesel fans will appreciate the SD-45 No. 1776 and Alco C-630 No. 1135. Virginian Railway fans will enjoy seeing the last surviving Virginian Railway steam locomotive Class SA No. 4 as well as Virginian Electric Locomotive Class EL-C No. 135 and caboose No. 321. You will also want to check out the new display “Virginian Railway: Roanoke’s Other Railroad.” The museum is open from 10am to 5pm every day except 1pm to 5pm on Sunday.

Get your tickets for free admission from the sales table in the exhibit room. By foot you can cross the glass bridge over the tracks and then follow the RailWalk to the Museum. By car travel west on Shenandoah Avenue, left across the 5th street bridge and then take the next left onto Norfolk Avenue to the museum.

O. Winston Link Museum

The O. Winston Link Museum is located across the street from the Hotel Roanoke, in the former N&W Railway Passenger Station. The Collection of the O. Winston Link Museum is certainly focused on the Norfolk and Western Railway. Link captured the last days of steam operation on the N&W Railway in the late 1950s, but within the walls of its Galleries, visitors experience much more than just photographs. The images created by Link are vignettes into history and sociology. They are art; they are a part of the history of photography and they are a tool to share an era with every person. The museum is open from 10am to 5pm every day. Get your tickets for free admission from the sales table in the exhibit room.

Lost Railroads of Roanoke Tour

We all know that Roanoke hosted our favorite railways the N&W and the Virginian. This tour will cover the “lost” the railroads in Roanoke that many have forgotten. This trip for railroad archeologists will travel the lines of the Catawba Railroad, pass remnants of the never completed Valley Railroad, and view what remains of the much-discussed narrow gauge Rorer Mine railroad. The trip will also include a stop to view the 1905-vintage Snow Steam Pump with its 13-ft diameter, 11-ton flywheel that for over 50 years pumped water from Crystal Springs to downtown Roanoke. Two identical tours will be offered on Friday; the first departs from the hotel at 9:00am and the second section departs at 1:00pm to accommodate those arriving on Friday morning.

O Winston Link Museum Tour

Escorted tour of the O. Winston Link Museum. Be sure to pick up your ticket from the Sales table in the exhibit room before heading across the street.

Main Line Cookout at OWLM

What could be better than good friends and good food right next to the N&W Main Line through Roanoke! We’ll have a cookout of hamburgers, hot dogs and all the fixings right next to the main junction in Roanoke at the O. Winston Link Museum. Be sure to bring your cameras for an unobstructed view of NS traffic passing through Roanoke.

Meet the Authors

Meet your favorite N&W/VGN book authors! We’ll have Louis Newton, Ed King, Bud Jeffries, Jim Nichols, Mason Cooper, Bill McClure and Alex Schust who will gladly sign copies of their books and answer your questions. There has never been such a gathering of experts as this!

Shop Tour/Roanoke Chapter Excursion

We’ll tour the famous Roanoke East End Shops where the legendary Class Js, As and Y6bs were constructed. Fifty years later that proud tradition continues as the shops are now one of Norfolk Southern’s finest locomotive shops for handling heavy repairs. We’ll also visit the new NWHS/NS Archives facility in the GOB-East building. We’ll finish our tour with a box lunch and a ride on the Roanoke Chapter’s N&W Caboose 518409 behind either the Alco T-6 Switcher N&W 41 or GP-30 N&W 522 at the Chapter’s 9th Street facility. There will be a moderate amount of walking involved on the tour. For safety’s sake you must be wearing only hard sole, closed toe footwear. No sneakers, sandals, or similar footwear will be permitted on the shop tour. If you have them, please bring your own safety glasses and hard hats so our limited quantities of these items will be available for those who do not.

Annual Banquet

Join us for an enjoyable buffet dinner with your choice of sirloin or chicken. Following our meal, we will dedicate a plaque to name the NWHS James N Gillum Archives. The Golden Arrow, Brakeman, H. Reid, and Precision Transportation awards will also be presented. Jim McClellan, retired Senior Vice-President for Planning at Norfolk Southern will be the keynote speaker. Jim was the thread throughout Rush Loving’s book, “The Men Who Loved Trains.” He began his career with New York Central, suffered through Penn Central, spent time with western railroads, and has an utterly fascinating career full of stories to tell.

Membership Breakfast

We’ll prepare to say goodbye for another year as we enjoy a hearty breakfast buffet of scrambled eggs, French toast, sausage and bacon. The annual Society business meeting will follow, including presentation of awards from our modeling contest.