I stumbled across this photo site that is the most fantastic site on N&W photos I've EVER seen!!
LOTS of shots of Portsmouth, Ohio (where I'm from), and they're sort of alphabetical, but it's a mixed bag. Prepare for a long time staring at your screen. Be sure to click on page one and the first jpg, then just click on next, and you'll go from full screen photo to full screen photo. WOW!!
Hope you enjoy it as much as I have. Oh, click on the 'sessions' home page at the very bottom, and you'll see ever MORE links to these type photos!Lots of station clocks, time comparisons, etc. than you can shake a stick at!
Norfolk and Western photo site

Regards! Mark

These are great...

but i cannot get the 'next' to work for me....

still great though...

have a friend that is a mechanical engineer for N/S and was working in Roanoke for a while... I was able to get the .50 tour one saturday... UhMazing.....

On a side note....

look thru some search results here..

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=o+winston+link

O Winston Link took some amazing photos...

I have all his N&W audio recordings, and you can still purchase reprints of his famous photos from his gallery, though he's long gone, and the prices are a bit more expensive than they used to be.

I almost took a job in the engine shop of the Portsmouth yards in the early 80's. Even had the medical exam papers in my hand, but I decided I would be better off remaining at the job I was. Good thing too, as within 3 years everyone who WAS hired was laid off, never to be rehired.

Oh, Terry, I found that the 'next' function didn't work on the first three or four photos when I first tired them, but if you jump to about photo 6 or 7, they work.

Regards! Mark

For Mark and anyone interested in railroad steam locomotives when all those treasured watches of today were at work:

About 1990 I was fortunate to ride on a steam excursion from Columbus, OH (via Portsmouth and the "Pea Vine" tracks along the Ohio river to Cincinnati behind the Norfolk & Western 1218 Class A (2-6-6-4) articulated steam locomotive. This powerhouse was essentially two locomotives in one with steam going to four cylinders that powered six drive wheels for each pair of cylinders (so 12 drive wheels gave it plenty of weight and traction. The first two wheels are the steering truck and the last four support the rear of the boiler under the cab making this giant a long 2-6-6-4 type locomotive that hinged on curves.

A year later I also rode another steam excursion behind the Norfolk & Western 611 from Danville, KY to Chattanooga, TN, staying overnight and returning the next day. The 611 could pull 15 passenger cars at 110 mph on level terrain! Those passenger cars are long and heavy, with the sub-floors being of thick concrete for low center-of-gravity.

On both excursions, I got to climb up in the locomotive cab while the engines were under full steam and ready for departure, even talking to the engineers (you guessed right that I showed them both a Ball Official RR Standard pocket watch). Norfolk Southern sadly ended their steam excursion program in 1994.


Steam railroads hauled all the goods and people that built this great country--think about it. This interest led to my appreciation of railroad grade watches.

For a little more, go to: (www.retroweb.com/611lastrun.html)- even has sounds. Also good pictures at (www.retroweb.com/steamtrains.html).

Best regards,
Larry

I rode behind 611 up the Peavine back in 1983 on one of those excursions with my eldest daughter, but we had left Ohio before 1218 came on the scene. 1218/Class A was as simple/articulated locomotive that could cruise easily at 70 mph with long time freights on it's drawbar. As you can see in this photo record, this road built it's own motive power and rolling stock. It was proud of it's time record, and the watch inspector down at Jarvis Jeweler in New Boston has his board full at all times with inspections and repairs.
I was fortunate to also see 611 at speed 2 other times. My great grandfather was chief engine inspector of these monsters at the Portsmouth yards for many years (his was the Elgin that was stolen from my Dad while I was in Florida and had left it at my Dad's safe keeping. It was stolen at the bank where he was putting it away in the safe deposit box. ), so just being near that J let me be a little bit closer to a member of my family that I vaguely remember visiting at the nursing home in Lucasville. 611 was a frequent visitor to Portsmouth when it was in passenger service.
Old Pleasant (his real name, though I understand nothing could have been further from the truth from railroaders who knew him) "Pete" Cross was a hard core Norfolk and Western railroad man to the end...carried an Elgin 21j in his pocket all his career, and swore to his dying day that the road ran him off (even though they allowed him to work well into his 70's...WAY past retirement age, and in respect to his longetivity in the Portsmouth yards, and even grandfathered his 18s Elgin that he carried his entire career. I STILL miss that watch, and it's been missing now for 16 years).

Regards! Mark

Mark,
Thanks for sharing the link to the N&W web site. It is great.

The picture below is about 30 miles from my home.

Green Cove

If you get hold of the recording that O. Winston Link recorded called 'The Fading Giant', you can hear the actual recording made when that photo was shot!

Regards! Mark

HI Mark, Thanks for the great site. I've been a rail fan all my life. I was always far removed from the N & W, but now get to frequently see the NS black mustangs blasting through the area on the old mainline of the Pennsy.

Tom

My pleasure!! Go to the sessions-station.com home page (link found at the bottom of any of the N&W pages), and you'll find a link for Pennsylvania Railroad photos as well!

Regards! Mark

Hi Mark,
I have enjoyed your N.&W. Posts. Would you
happen to have a picture of the elevated N.& W.
passenger Station at Kenova, W.Va.?

Also is Green cove near Coal Grove Ohio?

Thanks,
bernie levine

Hi Robert,
I guess should ask you the question is Green Cove
near Coal Grove, Ohio?
Thanks,
bernie Levine

Hello Bernie,
Green Cove, Va. is located in Washington County, Va. (southwest Va.), about 30 miles northeast of Abingdon, Va. The picture shows the old railroad depot that has long been closed and now is being used as a sort of museum that sells art drawings.

The Abingdon N&W line used to run once daily from Abingdon to West Jefferson, NC and back, but was discontinued in the 1970's.

The old tracks were removed a few years later and now the railroad bed (from Abingdon to Whitetop, Va.) is being used as a "Walk, Bike, Horseback trail" and is well known in the area as the "Creeper Trail".

Robert

Sorry I missed the question about the Kenova Station. I believe there's one in the related link from the sessions site of N&W stations. I've seen that station (well, at least I had several years ago), and it was something to see. I wonder if it's still there? N&W has been notorious of late for tearing down stations left and right....most recently my hometown station of Portsmouth, Ohio.

Regards! Mark

Hi Mark,

I wish I could find a picture of the Kenova,
W.Va. station. I remember as a little boy holding my mothers
hand as we boarded the train at Kenova for Columbus Ohio. Probably around
1935.
How would find it on a previous post.

Thanks for your post.
bernie

I actually sat at my computer and went through every photo listed in this sessions site, as well as the stations posts (thanks for giving me a good excuse to do that again ), and I have not found the photo I know I saw recently. I'll keep looking, and once I find it, I'll post you the link here. It hasn't been that long since I've seen a good photo of the old Kenova station.

I've just posted a request at the railroad forum I'm a member at to see if anyone can help us find you a photo. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Try this link
Kenova Station

Regards! Mark

Bernie,
Check the link below. I believe you will be astonished with the photo's.

Robert

Kenova, WV

Very nice!! Thanks for the post.

Thanks Mark and Robert

For the Kenova station picture... etc. I believe
the name Kenova stands for Kentucky, Ohio and
Virginia (before the new state of West Virgina
was formed out of Virginia in 1863 during the
Civil War. Am I correct on this?
Thanks again,
bernie

That's what I had always heard too, and vaguely remember that mentioned when I took Ohio history back in the middle ages. (grins)

Regards! Michaelson