Related Records

1. Abingdon Branch Locomotive 382 backing past White Top Station. - Class M locomotive 382, Winston Link's favorite on the Abindgon Branch, is backing up to shift cars at White Top, Virginia, the highest point east of the Rocky Mountains served by a regularly scheduled passenger train. The cool air of October emphasizes the little bursts of steam coming from several points as the locomotive prepares to pick or drop off cars at Whtie Top. The principal product shipped from here would have been hardwood logs.

   OWL2004.42.03

   Record Type: Photo

   
2. Abingdon Branch, mixed Train 201 arrives in Abingdon, Virginia. - Abingdon Branch, mixed Train 201 arrives in Abingdon, Virginia. Engine #382, headlight up high, arriving at Abingdon on the main line, passing the Abindgon freight station. This the trip of 10/20, 1956. The day is not specifically identified. The locomotives and passenger equipment used on the Abindgon Branch were kept overnight in the yard at Bristol, Virginia, and the trains were run as extras on the Radford Division's main line for the 15 miles between Bristol and Abingdon. Here the train is passing the Abingdon freight station before arriving at the Abingdon passenger station for a 7:30a.m. departure for West Jefferson, North Carolina. The train was scheduled to return to Abingdon that afternoon at 3:10p.m., but it may have returned much later, as its arrival was dependent on the amount of freight to be handled. Class M locomotive 382 was a favorite of Winston Link's, particularly with its headlight mounted high up on the smoke box. It was moved to the center of the smoke box in early 1957. When the locomotive was scrapped in 1958, the railroad gave Link the headllight, bell, whistle, builders' plate and classification lights. The bell from this locomotive is exhibited here.

   OWL2002.07.06

   Record Type: Photo

   
3. Abingdon Branch Train 201 Southbound crosses Bridge 11 over the South Fork of the Holston River. - Abingdon Branch Train 201 Southbound crosses Bridge 11 over the South Fork of the Holston River. Engine #382, safety valve is lifted. Used in the Last Steam Railroad in America.

   OWL2003.09.03

   Record Type: Photo

   
4. Abingdon Branch Train No. 202 Northbound pulls into Lansing. - The mountain town of Lansing, North Carolina was one row of business buildings facing the classic board and batten N&W station which was located just a few feet from Big Horse Creek. Here Train 202 northbound is just pulling into the station. The locomotive will pull forward far enough to position the passenger car and baggage-mail car right by the station.

   OWL2003.15.07

   Record Type: Photo

   
5. Abingdon Branch, Train No. 202 passing brilliant fall foliage. - Engineer F. T. Nichols has spotted the photographer and his assistant on the hill and gives them a little toot from his mellow chime whistle as locomotive 382 passes two maple trees at the height of their fall color. The black smoke will vanish in a moment, but is the sign that the fireman has just thrown a shovel full of coal into the firebox. In this mountainous country, the railroad's tracks usually followed streams because they offered the lowest grades and easiest courses through the terrain.

   OWL2002.07.42

   Record Type: Photo

   
6. Abingdon Branch, Train No. 202 passing Keller's field. - Near bridge 7, through Keller's Field; engine #382, train #202 moving north through Keller's Field near Wautaga, Virginia. In October 1955, Winston Link made his first visit to the Abingdon Branch in the fall. He was deeply impressed with how little the things he saw seemed to have changed over the years. Here was old fashioned farming, with the corn stacked in shocks to dry. And there, between shocks of corn came an equally old fashioned locomotive, rolling through this landscape a few miles south of Abingdon, Virginia, before passing on, leaving, as Link liked to say, just a little whiff of coal smoke.

   OWL2002.07.27

   Record Type: Photo

   
7. Bridge 11, Train 201 Moving South - Black and white negative of NW 635. Bridge 11, Train 201 moving south, engine #382, safety valve is lifted. Used in The Last Steam Railroad in America.

   OWL2007.04.635

   Record Type: Photo

   
8. Bridge 70 - Black and white negative of NW 659. Bridge 70, moving north, engine #382. This is the bridge supported with cables in case of high weather.

   OWL2007.04.659

   Record Type: Photo

   
9. Bridge 7, Locomotive 382 West - Black and white negative of NW 671. Bridge 7, west, similar to NW 670, wide angle shot.

   OWL2007.04.671

   Record Type: Photo

   
10. Bridge 7, West - Black and white negative of NW 672. Bridge 7, west, perpendicular to the bridge, locomotive and cars are not sharp; exposure slow; dramatic timbering of bridge.

    OWL2007.04.672

    Record Type: Photo

    
11. Engine 382 Crossing Bridge 11 - Black and white negative of NW 632. Bridge 11, south of Alvarado. This is taken from the bank of the Holston River, looking up at engine #382, headlight mounted high up, crossing the solid span portion of the bridge.

    OWL2007.04.632

    Record Type: Photo

    
12. Engine 382 From The Bank Of The Holston River - Black and white negative of NW 637. Engine #382 from the bank of the Holston River, below bridge 11.

    OWL2007.04.637

    Record Type: Photo

    
13. The General Store at Husk/Nella, NC, with Train No. 202 - This tiny North Carolina town had two names. To the post office it was Husk, but it was Nella on the N&W's timetable. The story was told that the station stop here had originally been named "Allen" in recognition of a railroad official, but it was then noted that there was another "Allen" on the line, so the name was simply spelled backwards. No one seemed to know why the railroad didn't call it Husk. Man and boy are Claude Ham and Worth Ham (boy). Vaughn Graham is standing on steps. Lady with dark hair is Blanche Graham Hart. The other lady is Laurie Ham. Arthur Carter is sitting beside ladies.

    OWL2002.07.40

    Record Type: Photo

    
14. Train 201 Crossing a small stream on the way to West Jefferson, NC. - South of Husk (Nella to the railroad), North Carolina, the Abingdon Branch followed Big Horse Creek, crossing it seventeen times from one side to the other. Here, in October 1956, double-headed Train No. 201, with Class M locomotives 382 and 429, sounds a crossing whistle as it rolls across Bridge 79 on the way into West Jefferson, North Carolina. This image was a favorite of Winston Link's because it illustrated so well the abrupt appearance (and equally abrupt disappearance) of these black locomotives in an otherwise rustic landscape.

    OWL2002.07.37

    Record Type: Photo

    
15. Train 201 Crossing Bridge 11 - Black and white negative of NW 633. Bridge 11, south of Alvarado, train 201, locomotive 382. Variation of NW 632, but shot on a different day. 10/22/1955.

    OWL2007.04.633

    Record Type: Photo

    
16. Train 201 Crossing Bridge 11 - Black and white negative of NW 634. Bridge 11, south of Alvarado, made immediately after 633 of the baggage and passenger car.

    OWL2007.04.634

    Record Type: Photo

    
17. Train 201 Crossing Bridge 11 - Black and white negative of NW 636. Bridge 11, Variation of NW 635.

    OWL2007.04.636

    Record Type: Photo

    
18. Train 202 Moving North Through Keller's Field - Black and white negative of NW 673. Near bridge 7, through Keller's Field; engine #382, train 202 moving north through Keller's Field near Watauga.

    OWL2007.04.673

    Record Type: Photo

    
19. Train and laundry on the line - In a perfect image of American rural life, the Abingdon Branch train (most probable No. 202 northbound) reduces smoke as Class M locomotive 382 passes a neat homestead with the family's freshly washed laundry hanging on the line, just a few feet from the tracks.

    OWL2002.07.41

    Record Type: Photo

    
20. Train No. 201, Class M Locomotive 382 at the steel water tank, just before entering the Abingdon Branch. - Train No. 201, Class M Locomotive 382 at the steel water tank, just before entering the Abingdon Branch. Engine #382 leaving the main line for the Abingdon Branch passing under a steel water tank at Abingdon, 10/56. This is a very nice photograph that has not received any action at all. A single print, cropped vertically, was printed by Mary L. Bachmann at Thomas H. Garver's urging for OWL's show at Candance Perich Gallery, Katonah, NY. 12/00 one beautiful print. The Abingdon Branch trains passed this water tank just moments before leaving the Bristol line to enter the northern end of the Abingdon Branch in Abingdon, Virginia. Winston Link made the photograph in October 1956, but apparently never printed it. The image was discovered among his negatives by Thomas H. Garver, Link's agent at the time, and printed by Mary L. Bachmann, Link's assistant and printer, for an exhibition which opened in December 2000. Winston Link died the following month. Only two signed copies of this photograph exist.

    OWL2003.10.07

    Record Type: Photo