VGN 800

[NW Mailing List]

I think one of the photos – the one looking at the scene from behind the tender - was in Reid’s book.

As a sidelight, the late Clyde Weatherly was the operator at JK that morning and handed up orders to the 800.  He was the last one to see the crew alive.  He told me that the brakeman snagged the orders in the gangway and that the engineer looked as though he was already dozing off in the engineer’s seat.  He had a reputation for “enjoying” Roanoke on his layovers, and getting his rest on the way home to Victoria.  He didn’t make it that morning.

The fireman was a new hire who had the same engine westbound for his first trip.  Supposedly he tried to lay off in Roanoke, not believing he could get the job done with a train of loads.  They didn’t let him off, saying they had nobody to fill the job.  So he went.

This entire file will be a great find for the archives.

EdKing

From: NW Mailing List 
Sent: Sunday, March 06, 2011 8:13 AM
To: NW Mailing List 
Subject: VGN 800

While at the Virginia Room of the Roanoke Public Libraries last week, Alicia Sell, the archivist (who has toured the NWHS Salem Avenue Archives and was impressed) showed me some snapshot pictures that had been donated to the Virginia Room showing details of the 1941 explosion of VGN 800 at Stewartsville.  Some show seldom-seen arrays of staybolts (something you don't want to see very often.). After I answered her questions by identifying such things in the pictures as staybolts, fire box sheets, etc., I asked her if the NWHS could have copies of the pictures.

After getting permission from the donor of the pictures, Alicia sent me a CD with the images that I plan to place in the NWHS Archives next week.

I am attaching thumbnails of the pictures in order to learn if anyone has seen these pictures before.  Please respond if so.

The attached picture of the overall accident scene is different from the picture of the overall scene on page 92-93 of H. Reid's book on the Virginian as revealed by the different locations of people in the two pictures.

I think that this may be a unique addition to the NWHS Archives.

Gordon Hamilton





















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