Roanoke Shops

Roanoke Shops

The Roanoke Shops of the Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W) in Roanoke, Virginia were founded in 1881, and acquired by the railroad in 1883. Before 1881, the "Magic City" of Roanoke had been the sleepy farming community of Big Lick and a small stop on the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad (A,M & O). All that changed when the owners of the Shenandoah Valley Railroad building up the valley purchased the A,M & O, renamed it Norfolk and Western, and selected Big Lick as the new junction.

The town grew rapidly as the new center of the combined railroads and changed its name, becoming a city in just a short time. The massive Roanoke Shops were built there and became the major employer in the Roanoke Valley for approximately 100 years.

At the Roanoke Shops, the N&W developed facilities and workers learned the skills needed to build its own steam locomotives in-house. During the 1930s, they employed over 6,000 workers, who were producing 4 steam locomotives each day, as well as 20 freight cars. Products included locomotives of all sizes, and of increasingly better technology, from switching engines to the famed streamlined J-class passenger locomotives, the huge articulated Y-class for low speed coal drags, and the A-class for fast freight service. A total of 447 locomotives were manufactured at Roanoke during a 70 year time span.

After the end of steam motive power on the N&W in 1960, J-class # 611 and A-class # 1218 were used in excursion train service from the early 1980s lasting until the early 1990s. They are now exhibited near their birthplace in a specially constructed pavilion at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in downtown Roanoke.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Roanoke, Virginia — For the metropolitan area, see Roanoke metropolitan area. For unsuccessful colonization attempt, see Roanoke Colony. Roanoke, Virginia   City …   Wikipedia

  • Roanoke River — The Roanoke River is a river in southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina in the United States, 410 mi (660 km) long. [http://www.deq.state.va.us/vrrbac/pdf/rrbpaper.pdf] A major river of the southeastern United States, it drains a… …   Wikipedia

  • Roanoke — /roh euh nohk /, n. 1. a city in SW Virginia. 100,427. 2. a river flowing SE from western Virginia to Albemarle Sound in North Carolina. 380 mi. (610 km) long. * * * City (pop., 2000: 94,911), western Virginia, U.S. It is located on the Roanoke… …   Universalium

  • Fallon, Roanoke, Virginia — Fallon is a Roanoke, Virginia neighborhood located in southeast Roanoke. It borders the neighborhoods of Hollins on the north, Kenwood to the south and Belmont on the west. The eastern and part of the northern border is shared with the town of… …   Wikipedia

  • Belmont, Roanoke, Virginia — Belmont is a Roanoke, Virginia neighborhood located in southeast Roanoke. It borders the neighborhoods of Hollins and Williamson Road on the north, Morningside and South Jefferson to the south, Downtown on the west and Fallon on the east.cite web …   Wikipedia

  • List of neighborhoods in Roanoke, Virginia — This is a list of neighborhoods in Roanoke, Virginia as defined and mapped by the city of Roanoke. The city has has 49 officially designated neighborhoods within its city limits. AirportThe Airport neighborhood is located in far, north, central… …   Wikipedia

  • Downtown Roanoke — Coordinates: 37°16′19″N 79°56′21″W / 37.27194°N 79.93917°W / 37.27194; 79.93917 …   Wikipedia

  • Comfort Inn Airport Roanoke — (Roanoke,США) Категория отеля: 3 звездочный отель Адрес: 5070 Valley Vie …   Каталог отелей

  • Valley View Mall (Roanoke, Virginia) — Infobox shopping mall shopping mall name = Valley View Mall image width = 200px caption = Interior of Valley View Mall location = Roanoke, Virginia address = 4802 Valley View Boulevard NW coordinates = opening date = July 17, 1985 closing date =… …   Wikipedia

  • Norfolk and Western Railway — This article is about the former US class I railroad. For the indie folk rock band, see Norfolk Western (band) . Norfolk and Western Railway Reporting mark NW …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”