Virginian in 1909--Last Trestle East of Roanoke

NW Mailing List nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
Wed Dec 31 22:26:43 EST 2008


This is regarding the message concerning the last trestle built east of
Roanoke on the Virginian.

In the NWHS archives, there is a book entitled, "Tentative Report Prepared
by the Carrier's Committee Appointed to Study and Report Upon the Construction
Cost Data of the Virginian Railway Company - 1917." The 262 page document
was prepared for the government. A detailed bar graph is a huge, multi-paged
foldout on page 74, giving dates for the start of grading, various stages of
progress, and final completion for the entire railroad of that date. Last
summer I spent two days there in the archives making a working copy of the
original which is in poor condition. That bound copy should be in the outer library
for examination.

The trestle in question is shown clearly on the 1917 bar graph as being the
final link between Roanoke and Norfolk and it coincides with a vintage
article in the Roanoke Times giving the date as January 5, 1909. It is over Bold
Branch according to that article which name and location are confirmed by
railroad track charts as located between mileposts 216 and 217.

No, it is not 35 miles east of Roanoke but only about 27 miles from the east
end of Roanoke yard. At about mileposts 207 and 208, the railroad crosses
Goose Creek twice on trestles slightly over 200 feet in length. The trestle over
Bold Branch is 11 spans and 480 feet long, according to track charts.

More research of primary sources can only help.

Aubrey Wiley
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headlines. (http://www.aol.com/?ncid=emlcntaolcom00000026)
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