N&W Pj coach

[NW Mailing List]

So, ACL No. 27 is deeply in the bag... something like 4 or 5 hours, due to a bad wreck, boiler explosion or whatever.

No. 4 is cooling its heels at Petersburg waiting for the connection coach off 27. No. 4's crew will be getting short on time, and No. 4's engine is needed at Norfolk to turn on a westbound passenger train.  Oh, and No. 4 is blocking the Eastbound Main Line, too.

Who makes the call on letting 4 go without the connection from 27? Obviously the Chief Train Dispatcher of the Norfolk Division tells the forces, but somebody "upstairs" gets called away from his Martini to make the decision.

How far up the line do you think decisions like this had to be sent for approval ... ? My guess is the General Superintendent of Transportation at Roanoke made the call.  (There was no System Operations Center back in the good old days, so don't give me that song-and-dance.)

And what do you think they did with the connection car off ACL 27, and its 40+ angry, hungry passengers, once it finally arrived at Petersburg (one of whom is a young lady expecting an imminent visit from the Stork, and another is a young sailor whose naval ship pulls out in a few hours) ?   Couple on the S-1 Petersburg Yard Engine and skedaddle, or call the City Motor Coach & Transit Company ?

-- abram burnett,
        delayed turnips 
.