Locomotive names

Wed May 20 16:45:24 EDT 2015

I have followed this discussion with great interest, learning much along the way.  I was used to calling the steam locomotives by their class designation when discussing them and always wondered about my father's use of the four hundreds, six hundreds 12 hundreds and the like.  Dad grew up in Pembroke VA and had the chance for the N&W and Virginian to be part of his life.
One thread which I've picked upon and a chance statement concerns me, history buffs surrounding our roads are very concerned with the naming of locomotives, be it the "Spirit of Roanoke" or the "Warhorse" this distress is leading some to remove themselves from supporting the museum which houses these artifacts and the organization which is returning one to an operating condition.
We all have the option to fold our tents and go home if the situation does not appeal to us, my concern is that we will lose those voices who are best able to convey facts to those who have no direct knowledge.  
While I don't know the player involved on a personal basis I'm sure that a well reasoned appeal from the historical society to more accurately portray the designation of these valuable pieces of history will be much better received than  negative comments and I told you so's.
R.D. Williams

Date: Wed, 20 May 2015 12:36:16 -0600
To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
Subject: Re: Locomotive names
From: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org

    I'm going to chime in with this. I was reading something the other
    day about phrases and what not that are often mispronounced or
    otherwise misconstrued. For example a lot of people say 'For all
    intensive purposes' when it in fact is really supposed to be 'For
    all intents and purposes' and if I recall correctly workhorse being
    mistaken as warhorse was one of them. So perhaps someone in the
    museum PR department has mistakenly thought it was Warhorse and not
    Workhorse as it should be.

    Nathan

    On 5/20/2015 10:44, NW Mailing List
      wrote:

      Ron,     

          Here is my correspondence with Mike Allen of the Roanoke Times
      (read from bottom up):

      "Hi,

            James, just following up. Museum officials stand by what
            they told me about the 2156 nickname. However, I will keep
            in mind for future stories that you and others who contacted
            me don’t remember such a name ever being used.

       Mike

              Allen 

        Arts

                & Extras columnist
        The

                Roanoke Times

          From:
                  James Lisle

                  To: Allen, Mike

                  Subject: Re: N&W Warhorse...Nah!

       You would
            have done better asking an actual N&W man!!!

       Jimmy

        On 5/18/2015 5:44 PM, Allen, Mike
              wrote:

      Hey,

              Jimmy, thanks for your note. The info about the “Warhorse”
              nickname came from the transportation museum. 

       Mike

              Allen

          From:
                  James Lisle

                  Sent: Monday, May 18, 2015 5:23 PM

                  To: Allen, Mike

                  Subject: N&W Warhorse...Nah!

       Mike,

           There are many that would appreciate that you not use
          the name "Warhorse" when referring to N&W locomotive
          #2156! "Workhorse" maybe, or as the men that ran and built
          them, they were just known as "Twenty One Hundreds"
          (pronounced Hunerts to be more
          precise).

         Take care,

         Jimmy Lisle

      "

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

      On 5/19/2015 10:29 PM, NW Mailing
        List wrote:

        The "warhorse" label was generated by the Roanoke Times. Whether
        they confused it with "workhorse" or simply added the adjective
        to spice up the story I do not know.

        I suggest we write letters to the Roanoke Times pointing out the
        error.

        Ron Davis

        On 5/18/2015 12:30 PM, NW Mailing
          List wrote:

              More than 65 years ago, the N&W’s Class Y-6 was
                referred to as the “the workhorse of the N&W”.  That
                is exactly what it was, a WORKHORSE.  I don’t know where
                this new term came from, but this needs to be stopped. 
                If the term Warhorse remains, it is a disservice to the
                2156 and the old N&W.

              The 2156 is a historical artifact and its appearance
                and information should be accurate and authentic.  As an
                N&W historian, I cannot let this go by and be a part
                in this new naming.

              Bud Jeffries

        ________________________________________
NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org
To change your subscription go to
http://list.nwhs.org/mailman/options/nw-mailing-list
Browse the NW-Mailing-List archives at
http://list.nwhs.org/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/

      ________________________________________
NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org
To change your subscription go to
http://list.nwhs.org/mailman/options/nw-mailing-list
Browse the NW-Mailing-List archives at
http://list.nwhs.org/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/

    -- 
Nathan Simmons
trainman51 at gmail.com
http://www.t-51.org
KI4MSK 

________________________________________
NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org
To change your subscription go to
http://list.nwhs.org/mailman/options/nw-mailing-list
Browse the NW-Mailing-List archives at
http://list.nwhs.org/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/ 		 	   		  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://pairlist6.pair.net/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/attachments/20150520/7d765469/attachment.html>