Hi T.K.
Thanks for your reply. I don't know if my granddaddy was called'Jay'...he was known as Bill to friends and family, but my grandmother called him 'Jaydubya' a lot, esp, when he was getting ready for a run. He would have been an engineer during your time, perhaps conductor during the last few years of his time...about the time you were braking 'through' . Ever heard of a big wreck at the Roanoke River near Salem, on the N&W main line...two coal trains, one full load,heading through Roanoke to Norfolk, one empties heading back up to Bluefield? summer of 67, as best I can sort it out. I was there for the summer ( Lived in Ohio by then.) Made the local papers front page. Grandaddy pulled out the cab crew (lead engine went into about 20 foot of water) He was engineer of the out bound.
I was at track side with him the next day. Still vivid in my memory...coal and cars all over the place...the crane was still on the way...all you could see of that sunk engine was the under carriage of one end.
Unfortunately, the old ICC records end in 66, at least those available on the web. I can't get information from the Unions, Va. dept. of Trans. or NS Corp. I'd really love to get more details...I will eventually have a diarama of this event as the center piece of my model Layout...family not much help...nobody back there seems to remember much and my granddaddy and mamaw are"with the good Lord". Sure wish I could find out what type engine and the # he was on...maybe I'll connect with some one from NS or someone with a very good memory that was there. The Roanoke paper is a dead end... at least til I get back there...their 'morgue' only goes back to about 96. the local library doesn't have records either. It's frustrating.
Well, that's more than enough for now.
Virginian