Roanoke Rail walk

NW Mailing List nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
Thu Feb 1 20:59:49 EST 2007


That's mighty nice of you to supply them with the correct hardware. I'm sure the city just used what NS gave them. The correct lenses are probably not stocked by NS anymore. I have a whole stack of them, but alot of them are damaged, either by surface dulling, cracks, chips, etc. I was surprised the City had a position light. I didn't think a city planner would know of such a thing.
Ben Blevins


NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
The signal lens and lamp are to be changed out, I am to deliver the corrected ones this weekend is the plan. The City folks simply did not know any better.

Hopefully, the effort will continue, it has been discussed to continue the walk further east and further west, but that remains a wait and see.


Ken Miller

On Feb 1, 2007, at 12:32 PM, NW Mailing List wrote:

Thanks Ken for filling me in on this.
I think it looks very nice, and for the most part it has been done well. I like the old car wheelsets being made into benches. That is neat, although very heavy I'm sure.

The Position signal has the wrong lenses in it. I'm not complaining, but I noticed they had the orange hue Safetran style instead of the yellow convex type used in the CPL's. The signals laying in the junk pile behind the museum should have enough of the type they needed to finish them out. Of course, I assume they are separate groups.

Overall, I am very pleased with what they've done. I'm sure politics plays a lot into it. It always does.

Ben Blevins



NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:

On Feb 1, 2007, at 6:02 AM, NW Mailing List wrote:

I visited Roanoke yesterday and made a few new discoveries. I have also attached links to a few photos. And, I have a few questions.

One, there are three old steam era coal hoppers outside the VMT yard tracks. Did these come from the scrap yard where the "lost engines" are located?
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e168/signalyard/100_1704.jpg

The hoppers are from the scrapyard, they were discussed here when they first were moved.

Another is, where did the wig wag signal out in front of VMT come from? I couldn't help but manually work it a little bit to hear the old bell clang! I want one for my private collection iffen anyone has one to donate. : )
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e168/signalyard/100_1707.jpg


VMT had the Wig-wag from its Wasena Park days when it was used with the 7.5 inch gauge train at the main entrance. It was a constant maintenance headache.


Did these locomotive wheelsets also come out of the same scrapyard as the hoppers? Are they from Y6's?
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e168/signalyard/100_1714.jpg


The driver wheelsets came from Virginia Scrap Iron and Metal, the same place as the hoppers and steam locomotives. I'm not certain what they came off of, there was a pile about 5 feet tall and maybe 30 foot x 20 foot of them at the yard a number of years back.


Who restored these signals? Was it the Roanoke Chapter, individuals, or some other group?
Here's the Color position light.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e168/signalyard/100_1717.jpg
Here's the Position light signal.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e168/signalyard/100_1718.jpg

The signals were restored by Roanoke City maintenance workers, as it is a Roanoke City Parks and Recreation Department project. There is more to come, 14 (I think) 3 foot x 4 foot informational plaques, a bunch of 16x20 inch individual item signs as well. They are in production right now. There are also signs going in the "glass bridge" over the track. They are complete, I don't know when they are getting installed.


The idea came from former Roanoke Mayor David Bowers, it was started, then shelved as the new mayor Ralph Smith came on, when Nelson Harris became mayor, the work began again. The key to that? Bowers and Harris are both from the same political party. Don't try and convince me that politics do not play a big part in these things.


Ken Miller

And, whose idea was it to do all this to begin with? I didn't know any of this was there until yesterday!

Ben Blevins





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