I am now working on preparing art work for some custom made decals to use on my equipment and will be modeling the Virginian with a twist. There will still be lots of Virginian Equipment present as well as equipment for the other railroads that will become part of the new railroad. I have added a blurb about the concept of my revisionist history.
Revisionist History For The Virginian Railway October 1959
Between the years 1899 and 1955 the company that was known as the Virginian Railway acquired the following railroads, Ohio River Railroad, Wheeling Bridge &Terminal Railway, Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway, Wabash Terminal Railway also known as The Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railroad, and The Akron Canton & Youngstown Railroad.
In addition to the above railroads the Virginian has extended lines from Kenova, WV into the Kentucky coalfields along the Big Sandy River and into numerous adjacent areas in the pursuit of Bituminous Coal. The original Virginian extended its line from Deepwater to a connection with the Ohio River Railroad adjacent to the city of Huntington WV. A line was extended from Pittsburgh Junction to the city of Columbus OH.
In the summer of 1958 a merger was approved by the interstate commerce commission allowing all of the above listed railroads and their assets and holdings to be merged into the VIRGINIAN & LAKE ERIE RAILROAD. The existing Logo for the Virginian will be used on all applicable places and the slogan “Great Lakes to Tidewater” will be applied where applicable on equipment and structures.
J. Rob Dove
I.C.E. (in charge of everything) Virginian and Lake Erie Railroad.
Let me know what you folks think.
Cool! The Virginian sure could have gone down this path if they wanted to I think, and as a Virginian fan from Kentucky I've always thought it would be neat had the VGN made it to KY. The Virginian Railway Enthusiast Yahoo group recently had a discussion over some newspaper articles about a possible Virginian expansion from the early days. Alsot, will the V&LE be carrying the VGN's scheme? Keep us posted!
Remember that the Virginian used electric motors in the mountains. One of the interesting things about following some of the old Virginian trackage is finding the remains of those days. Several of the photos in Kurt Reisweber's Virginian Rails 1953-1993 book reveal the stanchions or supports for those catenary posts on bridges. It might be something that you would want to include on your layout.
On April 9, I was back in Roanoke and took this photo of NS 9560, a GE C40-9W, at the old Virginian passenger station on the south end of Williamson Road. The station itself is finally receiving some reconstruction after it was heavily damaged in a fire started by a transient several years ago. Note however, the existance of the old catenary posts at this location, which currently hold up wiring for the large spotlights that illuminate that part of the yard. Eastbound coal trains depart regularly from here headed for Tidewater, just as the Virginian intended.
Bill