"Takin' Twenty" with the Virginian Brethren by Skip Salmon

[NW Mailing List]

Last night, on the terminal Wednesday night of 2011, I had the pleasure 
of "Takin' Twenty" with ten of the Brethren and Friends of the Virginian 
Railway. This was a milestone session. If each of the past meeting 
reports with the Brethren were represented with a telegraph pole, we 
reached 10 miles worth last night....number 400 since the first one of 
April fool's day of 2004! I met for several dinners before I wrote my 
first "Takin' Twenty" report for this site. The very first report 
contained a challenge that I will issue again: "I am impressed at each 
dinner break that I enjoy with these gentlemen of how much they 
remember, and of how much they care, about the Virginian and those still 
living who served her. If you know of ex-Virginian employees in your 
community, I challenge you to 'take 20' with them, and you will be 
rewarded greatly". Since that first report, nine of the original 
attendees have "taken the westbound".

We celebrated two birthdays: Dr. Gibson "Gibby" Davis turns 75 today. 
"Gibby's" grandfather, Malcomb Vaughn, was a machinist for the Virginian 
in Victoria. Ronnie Victory, son of VGN Conductor Tom "Cornbread" 
Victory, was the "1943 IRS Baby of the Year" born on December 31. Ronnie 
said it was after 11 PM. He turns 68 on New Year's Eve.

"Gibby" brought for Show and Tell a Christmas present slick hard cover 
book that his son made for him of photos he took at the Virginia Museum 
of Transportation "night shoots" of the 611 and 1218.

I told the Brethren about Norfolk Southern naming their new yard office 
in Williamson, WV the "J. W. Fox Building". The late John William (Bill) 
Fox retired as Senior Vice President Coal Services, and was a good 
friend of several of the Brethren.

Passed out to the Brethren were Hoppe's #9 Air Fresheners. These little 
packets smell like my favorite gun cleaner and are marked "For Real Men 
Only". They also cancel out "pot pourie" turtle fresheners placed in 
SUVs by Soccer Moms! My oldest son, the gunsmith, gave these to me for 
the Brethren. He recently ordered three packets but received three 
24-packs. When he called the shipper and told them he would still like 
to have all of them, and to charge them to his account, they said that 
it was their computer miscue, to keep all 72, and also sent him a gift 
certificate for his honesty!

The ebay report this time includes the following Virginian items sold: 
Slide of AG #903 in Roanoke for $33.50; Slide of H24-66 #70 and EL-3a 
#100 with the pantograph up, but no wires showing for $30.99 and a 
12-3-33 VGN Public Timetable for $31.00.

The closest thing left in Roanoke to a railroad "beanery" is a local 
establishment called The Texas Tavern. You can get a hamburger fried in 
1936 grease or a bowl of chili, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They 
"seat 1000, ten at a time" and "don't cash checks OR play with bumble 
bees". I happened to pass the TT last Sunday and took a picture of a 
very rare shot which I passed around, of the TT closed on Christmas day.

The Jewel from the Past, like one in Abe Burnett's grandfather's 
Illinois Bunn Special is from September 15, 2005: "Since I passed out 
prints tonight of last week's posed photo, there was some talk about 
cameras and the 'new-fangeled' digital ones. After trying to explain to 
'Cornbread' about pixels and how the digital camera works without any 
film, Victory said he figured his brain was 'about a 10 mega pixel size, 
but must be full, because things keep bouncing out'. I'll finish 2011 
with my favorite 'Cornbread' story: "A couple he knew who had been 
married about five years without having a child. When they finally 
adopted a newborn Russian baby, he suggested that one of them should 
enroll in Roanoke College and take Russian lessons. When asked why, he 
answered 'Well, when the baby starts talking, they will know what he is 
saying!'"

Time to pull the pin on this one!

The Brethren and I wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR and may 2012 be your 
best yet!

Departing Now from V248,

Skip Salmon

CCCC

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