New and Featured Items

N&W fans cannot forget that the NKP No. 759 ran some very memorable excursions on N&W trackage, including the very first trips after restoration in 1969 out of Conneaut, Ohio, trips out of Roanoke in November 1968, and of course, best known, the last Pocahontas out of Roanoke to Norfolk on May 1, 1971. Crew member Hank Webber has published an expansive, personalized history of The High Iron Company, leader of more than 80 steam locomotive excursions in the Northeast, including the Golden Spike Centennial Limited round trip from New York City to Utah in 1969 (also over part of the N&W). There is excellent coverage of NKP 759, other engines, Horseshoe Curve, and more. This volume includes narrative memories and more than 200 historical photos from those who were there during the height of the HICO steam locomotive excursions. Order your copy today! This book should be in every N&W fan’s library

228-page hardcover, over 200 illustrations

This is a very interesting read, beginning with the young man coming out of Bristol, VA, traveling to Roanoke and hiring out as a fireman on the Radford Division. The tale rings authenticity all the way around, but as Ed said “it is fiction in case I don’t get a place or location or time frame exactly right,” not to mention its not a real person, at least in that time. Regardless, this will be a tremendous addition to your N&W library! As you read, you will forget that this is not an actual story.

Book is now at the printer, expected inhouse in early October. This will be a nice, hard cover book, 9 x 12 size, 208 pages, with 225 illustrations. It will be printed like our other books, glossy, heavyweight paper and color covers. NOW IN STOCK!

208 pages, hardcover with 225 photos and maps

While technically not a “new” book, this edition has been significantly revised to consider it as new. This book was originally released in late 2015 and sold out in less than a year. Now, totally revised to bring it up to 2021 adding 32 pages and reformatted to a new vertical format publication. Foreword by Preston Claytor.

128 page expanded edition, updated to 2021, this is the complete story of world-famous Norfolk and Western Class J, No. 611. 128 detailed pages give background on Norfolk and Western motive power development, the arrival of the Class J and their service through the end of 1959.

A detailed history of the 611 itself, to retirement, follows with the effort to save her from the scrapper’s torch and the first resurrection in 1982-1994, and her third charmed return in 2015 as an excursion locomotive. This edition has over 200 illustrations, drawing on the vast N&W Historical Society Archives collection, of both mechanical drawings and excellent photos. The book is color throughout with both color and black and white images to illustrate the text.

Limited edition produced by Pocahontas Productions in conjunction with the Norfolk and Western Historical Society. This is a signed numbered edition and once it is gone, it is gone. Orders will be provided numbered copies, based on the time stamp of their order. So the earlier your order, the lower the number!

The Virginian classified these hoppers as H-15 and assigned them road numbers in the series 26000 through 26999. In 1956, the Virginian built 300 more hoppers to this same design in their shops at Princeton, West Virginia. This new series of cars was given class H-15A and assigned road numbers 27000 through 27299. The Princeton shops built a final batch of 200 of this type of hopper, classified as H-15B, with road numbers 27300-27499, yielding a total of 1500 cars.

When the Virginian Railway merged with the Norfolk & Western Railway in late 1959, the N&W received 1489 of these hoppers and classified them as N&W class H-35. These cars remained in service and by 1980, about 400 of these hoppers were left in active service. This number dropped to 232 in 1983, and after this, the remaining cars were either scrapped or put into maintenance of way service. So, these cars made it into the Norfolk Southern era, giving you 23 years to be in your model fleet.

The model committee of the Norfolk & Western Historical Society is pleased to be able to offer HO scale models of these hoppers decorated and numbered for the N&W’s roster. Accurail has decorated these cars using photos and diagrams from the N&WHS database. We offer two kits from the factory lettered with two different road numbers, 126073 and 126489. Each kit comes with additional complete side and end number decals for six additional car numbers. These decals can also be cut in sections that make any road numbers possible. The decals are printed directly on a substrate of the paint used on the cars for an exact match, making the result virtually indiscernible. A video on our website shows how to use these decals and the outstanding results that can be achieved.

A single kit is priced at $25.95, and $23.95 for society members. They are also available in six packs for $138 and twelve packs for $260.

A History of Mining, Smelting and Transporting Iron in the Virginia Counties of Alleghany, Augusta, Botetourt and Rockbridge

For over 100 years iron was “king” in the Valley of Virginia. Millions of dollars were invested and thousands of workers toiled in the vast enterprise of smelting iron. But by 1929 it was all over; the last of Virginia’s blast furnaces had closed. How did it all begin and what were the forces which enabled the rise and caused the subsequent fall of the iron industry?

This 357-page history of four Virginia counties, Alleghany, Augusta, Botetourt and Rockbridge, details the advent of the early bloomery forges, then the cold-blast charcoal furnaces and finally the large hot-blast coke furnaces which transitioned Virginia through its iron age. Transportation and mining techniques are described. Fifty seven furnaces and over 125 mines are listed and detailed. Over 150 photos, documents and maps illustrate this story. Virginia’s iron age is over but its history should never be forgotten

A History of Mining, Smelting and Transporting Iron in the Virginia Counties of Clarke, Frederick, Page, Rockingham, Shenandoah and Warren

Most people know of the rich Civil War history of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia but few know that the Valley was also rich in iron smelting history. The first furnace west of the Blue Ridge Mountains was built in this region.

For over 144 years the area produced iron ore and smelted ore into pig iron. The region’s iron history covered the eras of the bloomery forge, charcoal cold-blast furnace and finally hot-blast coke furnace. “Shenandoah Iron” includes the transporting, mining and smelting activities of this industrial enterprise and explains in detail how iron ore is transformed into iron.

Over 24 cold-blast furnaces are described and the two modern hot-blast furnaces are depicted. Over 80 iron mines are identified. The contributions of German-Americans who settled the valley and dominated the iron business are highlighted. The practice of industrial slavery and the impact of the Civil War on the iron industry are explored. This 350 page book includes 137 photographs, maps and drawings to illustrate the contributions that the Shenandoah counties of Clarke, Frederick, Page, Rockingham, Shenandoah and Warren made to the iron smelting industry of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

History of Mining, Smelting and Transporting Iron in the S. W. Virginia Counties of Bland, Carroll, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Wythe

Few people know of the significant contribution made by southwestern Virginia to the iron history of Virginia and the nation. Southwestern Virginia is part of the 300-mile-long valley sandwiched between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny mountains and extends from Front Royal in the north to Bristol in the south. While this area lacked the early river transportation infrastructure enjoyed by the other iron-producing regions of the valley, it contained one of the richest deposits of iron found in Virginia. Once the Norfolk & Western Railway was established, iron was mined and smelted in prodigious amounts. Twenty-four charcoal furnaces operated in the region before the Civil War and twenty-six were in blast after the conflict, including ten hot-blast coke furnaces capable of producing over 100 tons of iron per day.

From the beginning of the iron era, which utilized small bloomery forges, to the end when the mammoth coke furnaces were king, southwestern Virginia had contributed to the Virginia iron age for over 150 years. The iron histories of Bland, Carroll, Craig, Floyd, Giles, Grayson, Montgomery, Pulaski, Roanoke, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Washington and Wythe counties are included in this 340-page book along with 130 maps, diagrams and pictures.

Also described are the use of bloomery forges during the early settlement of southwestern Virginia, the development of transportation used to ship iron materials, how the charcoal and coke furnaces worked, the effects of the Civil War and Great Boom on iron production, formation of consortia including the Virginia Iron, Coal and Coke Company, construction of railroads used to reach the iron deposits and extraction of iron ores from the ground. Over forty-five iron furnaces are described and numerous iron mines are detailed. The book also concludes with an examination of the future of iron production for the region.

Brand New!

Never Before Offered. N&W Coffee!

Start your day with a cup of the original 1920s roast of N&W Coffee. Period ads touted the coffee as “the best that is made”. This coffee mix was thought to have been lost to time. The N&W used this coffee up to the late 1940s and switched to another brand for a time, then another change to a Roanoke based coffee company which remained in service through May 1, 1971, we hope at some point to bring that coffee for sale at some point in the future.

The original instructions have been found in the files of the Dining Car Superintendents association files. The N&W Coffee has been carefully recreated as micro-roast to match the original, with the flavors being described as “creamy cocoa, sweet toffee and rich dried fruits, this blend is enjoyed equally well with or without milk.”

This coffee is produced using the finest beans to produce the coffee in small batches, choose either decaf or regular in 12 oz vacuum sealed bags. Enjoy a 12 oz of Ground 100% Arabica Coffee Micro-roasted and fresh.

Especially for those Virginian Railway Fans!

Remembering the Virginian on the 60th Anniversary of the merger with N&W in December of 1959. Clever new N&WHS Exclusive design features a black mug with a Virginian yellow rim with the Virginian herald in matching yellow. This is a limited edition, order soon to be sure you get one!

Regular coffee is shipped as part of the coffee-combo unless you specify “Decaf” in the notes

This poster is "fine art" for N&W J locomotive fans!

THE history of N&W Class A locomotive has been revised by author Ed King!

The original book about this most productive of locomotives has been greatly expanded to include much information not available to the author at the first writing, plus a foldout featuring side elevation drawings of the locomotive and the various tenders it pulled, plus many more photographs (color & B/W). Appendices covering N&W's tenders and the testing of Pennsy Q2 4-4-6-4 conducted on the Scioto Division in August, 1948.

Hardcover with dust cover, 212 pages

By Ed King

Hardcover with dust cover, 350 pages

By Colonel Lewis Ingles Jeffries