Major funding for this program is provided by The Goode Family Foundation.

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[Narrator] In the heart of the Appalachian Mountains, Norfolk & Western Railway was the heartbeat of communities and industries, connecting towns, transporting freight, and embodying the strength of its workers.

More than just a railroad, N&W shaped lives and landscapes, rising from humble beginnings to an industrial powerhouse.

Join us as we explore its enduring legacy, and the inseparable bond between the trains and the people they served.

[♪♪♪] Before the era of the sprawling mega railroads that crisscross the nation today, the landscape of America's rail system was a patchwork of smaller lines.

These railroads, with their shorter tracks, were scattered across the eastern states, emerging as our young nation began its push westward.

Each one played a vital role in connecting communities and driving the expansion of the country.

-The eastern railroads, particularly, developed differently than the western railroads in many respects.

Out west, the federal government had a strong interest in expanding the territory of the country.

So, huge swaths of land were given over to folks who were running railroad companies.

They became known as the land grant railroads, and thousands and thousands of acres through the West.

In the East, the way the railroads tended to develop were smaller.

[Narrator] In those days, even a stretch of 20 miles was considered a long railroad.

Local business leaders pooled their resources with a common goal: To strengthen their community by establishing a railroad.

As the story of the Norfolk & Western Railway begins to unfold, it is important to look back at its humble origins.

[Bud Jeffries] Well, the original part of N&W was the City Point Railroad from Petersburg to City Point on the James River.

That was eight miles long.

And about the same time, there were three other railroads in segments that were created.

And it was the Norfolk & Petersburg Railroad between those two cities, the South Side Railroad between Petersburg and Lynchburg, and then, there was the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad from Lynchburg to Bristol.

And these were back to back, they fed one another.

But that was the original predecessors of what became known as the Norfolk & Western.

[gunfire] [Narrator] During the Civil War, railroads were vital to both Union and Confederate armies, transporting troops, weapons, and supplies, making them essential assets and strategic targets.

Railroads influenced the movement of armies and shaped the outcomes of battles, playing a key role in the war's logistics.

[military drumbeats] Born in 1826, William Mahone was a prominent political figure in Virginia, both before and after the Civil War.

Before the war, he was Chief Engineer of the Norfolk & Petersburg, and was instrumental in the design of the innovative roadbed over the Dismal Swamp that is still in use today.

He rose to prominence as Confederate General during the war, but returned to the railroad after the war to focus on the restoration of Virginia's war-torn roads.

He then championed the consolidation of smaller railroads to help revitalize the Southern economy.

[David Goode] Mahone is a great, not as well-known as he probably should be, creator of much of the history and culture of Virginia.

So it's good to talk about him because the origins of Norfolk & Western are very much Billy Mahone building that railroad to get the goods that came into the harbor of Norfolk West.

[train chugging] [Narrator] Mahone's first step towards building what was to become one of the country's most powerful railroads involved his control of several shorter lines; the Virginia & Tennessee, Norfolk & Petersburg, and South Side.

Using his political connections, Virginia agreed to the consolidation, and the new road was named the Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio, a 406-mile railroad between Norfolk and Bristol, its headquarters in Lynchburg, Virginia.

William Mahone was well on his way to building the railroad he imagined, a direct route connecting the eastern seaports to the south.

But just as his plans were taking shape, a devastating turn of events unraveled everything Mahone had worked so hard to achieve.

[suspenseful music] The Panic of 1873 triggered the "Long Depression," devastating the railroad industry that had driven post-Civil War growth.

The collapse of Jay Cooke & Company, a key railroad financier, caused a stock market crash, bankrupting over a hundred railroads and halting construction.

Widespread layoffs and restructuring followed, highlighting the dangers of overexpansion and borrowed capital.

The crisis fueled unemployment and unrest, prompting calls for regulation and reform.

[Tim Hensley] The AM&O was pretty much in a southern agrarian road.

It was part of the Great Southern Mail Route which extended from New York to New Orleans, but it didn't have the staples of traffic, like coal, and it was subject to the whims and droughts and various ups and downs of the economy.

[Narrator] The Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio didn't emerge unscathed.

And in 1881, Mahone's railroad went into receivership and was sold at auction.

[Ken Miller] It was purchased by a firm called E.W.

Clark & Company, a group of financiers out of Philadelphia.

And it was put into service and reorganized as the Norfolk & Western Railroad.

Now, that was all well and good, but once again, financing is still very tight here.

Clark & Company had also been building the Shenandoah Valley Railroad.

[train horn blasting] [Narrator] Chartered in 1870, the Shenandoah was a vital transportation link connecting the rich agricultural resources of the Shenandoah Valley with larger markets.

Originating in Hagerstown, Maryland, with the planned terminus in Salem, Virginia, its construction began in the 1870s, spurred by the economic opportunities of the post-Civil War period.

While the financial downturn of 1873 slowed construction, financial backing from Pennsylvania Railroad interests fueled its growth.

And by 1881, Clark & Company's Shenandoah Valley Railroad was fully operational.

Frederick Kimball, an established leader within the Clark Company, played a major role in the construction and completion of the Shenandoah Valley line.

With Norfolk & Western now under Clark's control, connecting the two lines was the next logical step.

Salem was the proposed junction, but the people of Big Lick, a nearby quiet hamlet, wanted the growth and prosperity a railroad could bring.

With the knowledge that Shenandoah Valley directors, including Kimball, now president of the Shenandoah, would be meeting 50 miles away in Lexington to make a decision, the leaders of Big Lick devised a plan to intervene.

[clippety-clop of hooves] -There was a cash incentive that was raised by the people of Big Lick, kind of like the midnight ride of Paul Revere.

They rode to the meeting, presented their proposal.

[Narrator] The effort paid off, and Kimball's response would forever live in the history books.

"The people of Big Lick were alive and at Big Lick, the Shenandoah would have friends."

[people cheering] The residents of Big Lick were so grateful, they offered to rename their small town "Kimball."

But Frederick Kimball suggested "Roanoke" after the nearby river and county.

With the railroad's arrival, Roanoke quickly transformed from a small town into a prosperous hub of commerce and industry, paving the way for its growth and success.

First on the agenda for Kimball and the N&W was the construction of its first large-scale facility that could handle both the Norfolk & Western, and Shenandoah Valley locomotives and equipment, in addition to contract work for other railroad companies.

[Wayne McKinney] The Shenandoah Valley came in on the north side of the shop complex, and the N&W came in on the south side.

And where they met, they had to build a steam hoist because the Shenandoah and the N&W had different gauges of track.

[Narrator] The discrepancy in track gauges between the two railroads presented a challenge, one that would be addressed in the years ahead.

However, at the time, the focus was entirely on constructing a groundbreaking facility, the first of its kind in Virginia.

[Ken Miller] Roanoke Machine Works was the major corporation of Roanoke, the first true large industry in the city.

It was even advertised as the largest manufacturing plant in the South.

[Narrator] The Shenandoah Valley Railroad headquarters were in Hagerstown, Maryland, while the Norfolk & Western Railroad was based in Lynchburg, Virginia.

However, once the junction between the two railroads was determined and established, both companies made the strategic decision to relocate their headquarters to a more suitable location.

[Ken Miller] Roanoke became the big terminal.

Lynchburg had been a large facility for shop work and such on the various railroads.

But with the beginning of the N&W in 1881, the shops and offices were moved to Roanoke, which made for a huge impact locally.

Roanoke was a sleepy little town, population of several hundred.

[Wayne McKinney] The population increased from 400 to 600 people to 3,000 in one year.

And by 1883, it was at 5,000.

By 1885, it had grown to 10,000.

They were... the population was increasing so fast they couldn't build houses fast enough to house people.

[♪♪♪] [Narrator] With the arrival of a big railroad terminal, headquarters, and operations facilities, Roanoke found itself on the verge of major growth.

It soon became very apparent that lodging and hospitality venues were needed for the many visitors now traveling to and through the fast-growing region.

-One of the first things N&W did when they decided the site here in Roanoke for their headquarters was to build a hotel.

They needed it for the workers, for the railroad executives, and other dignitaries and business development that they had underway.

And they identified a small wheat field on a rise, just over the village of Big Lick.

And that's where the first rendition of Hotel Roanoke was constructed.

[Narrator] The Hotel Roanoke opened in December of 1882.

And despite its various incarnations and numerous setbacks, including a fire in July of 1898, and a temporary closure in 1989, the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center remains a vibrant and significant contributor to the Roanoke Valley economy.

By 1883, Norfolk & Western Railroad was growing and expanding, primarily due to Frederick Kimball.

His vision and determination were instrumental in shaping the future of the railroad, specifically by recognizing the immense potential of coal.

It was Kimball who first studied the vast coal deposits in the Appalachian region that would become known as Pocahontas and transform N&W into a powerhouse of industry.

-Coal was well known before that, but he's the one that really brought it to the forefront of the Norfolk & Western and the Shenandoah Valley.

And getting coal to be brought out of the coal fields east to Roanoke, and then to the coast and then up the Shenandoah Valley.

-Kimball had a background in civil engineering, and he had originally worked on the Pennsylvania Railroad.

And so, he had kind of a general background, and he had made studies of a lot of these coal lands that lay out along the Virginia, West Virginia border.

[Narrator] His intuition, background, and experience served him well.

And in 1883, Kimball was named president of the Norfolk & Western.

[train horn hoots] With Kimball firmly entrenched within the N&W system, it was time to focus on producing the best locomotives possible.

And in 1884, just four years after construction began at the Roanoke Machine Works, the company produced its first small but powerful locomotive, Number 117.

-All steam locomotives use the same type of wheel arrangement.

And what that is, 2-8-0 means that it had two pilot wheels, counting one on each side, eight driving wheels, and no trailing wheels.

[Narrator] As locomotives grew in size, additional wheel arrangements were developed, each specifically designed for the task at hand.

With locomotives now in production and in service, it was time to get the coal out of Appalachia and to the seaports.

The Pocahontas Coal Company traces its origins back to the 1880s, during the intense rush to acquire land and coal resources in the Flat Top Coal Field of Southern West Virginia.

Spearheaded by Frederick Kimball, the company purchased and developed more than 300,000 acres of coal-rich land, primarily in McDowell and Mercer counties.

-Railroads acquired property for development and expansion, because the leadership was always looking to add freight.

That's how you grow.

And if the economy is not growing fast enough, if plants aren't expanding fast enough, you try to help that as best you can.

Facilitating coal mining in West Virginia and eastern Kentucky would be critical to the success of the railroad.

[coal train rattles] [Narrator] Coal mined in the Appalachian Mountains, particularly in southern West Virginia, varies significantly in its properties, depending on the geological conditions where it is formed.

Different mines yield different types of coal due to variations in pressure, heat, and organic material present during the coal formation process.

[Mark Manion] The coal coming out of Appalachia was a high grade of coal, a high grade of bituminous coal.

And it was really sought after by manufacturers of steel.

And most of the coal, not all of it, but the majority of coal out of Appalachia that went to Norfolk was destined to international locations.

And the manufacturers needed specific types of coal for their operation.

[Narrator] Prized for its high carbon content and energy output, Pocahontas coal was much in demand for use in steel production and power generation.

Frederick Kimball saw that potential, and made it a priority to get the coal east to the Norfolk piers.

[barge horn blasts] Completed in 1885, Lambert's Point in Norfolk became a vital coal export terminal for Norfolk & Western.

Strategically located on the Elizabeth River, it allowed N&W to efficiently transfer coal arriving from Appalachian mines to ships bound for domestic and international markets.

[archival narration] Most impressive of all Norfolk & Western coal handling facilities is the great Ocean Terminal at Norfolk, Virginia.

[Blair Wimbush] Lambert's Point, essentially, is a very large coal storage and loading facility.

And it revolutionized the means by which the coal was able to be loaded into container ships to move it overseas.

Because of the conveyor belt system and the downward bottom loading of the cars, it eliminated a lot of movement.

[Narrator] Lambert's Point was built for efficiency, with coal stored on-site in railcars before overseas orders arrived.

By processing and sending coal to the terminal in advance, Norfolk & Western Railway reduced delays.

When orders arrived from Europe's steel mills or power plants, the coal was ready to be loaded, cutting transit times and ensuring faster deliveries to international markets.

[Mark Manion] When it got to Norfolk, they knew what properties that particular coal had, and manufacturers of steel could choose which coal they wanted.

The operation at Lambert's Point had the ability to blend these different types, and they could blend up to four types.

Apparently, that was pretty unique for this type of an operation.

And as the coal got into Norfolk, it was dumped.

There were what's called rotary dumpers, and two cars at a time, on two different dumpers, side by side.

And so, the coal would go through a series of belts.

But ultimately, for the customer, could receive a blend of up to four types of coal.

[Narrator] Lambert's Point played a key role in N&W's early economic success, and to this day, is one of the busiest coal terminals on the East Coast.

Norfolk & Western was always looking for growth opportunities.

But before it could think about expansion, it needed to address a logistical challenge that was prevalent across southern-based railroads.

Gauge widths, or in layman's terms, the distance between rails.

[Wayne McKinney] There were a variety of railroads, and they all used a variety of gauges.

The most common was what is now the standard gauge, which is 4 feet 8.5 inches, and the wide gauge, which is 5 feet.

[Narrator] For N&W, this was a bit of a challenge.

[Ken Miller] The Shenandoah Valley was built to one gauge, Norfolk & Western was built to another.

So the cars would come in on the Shenandoah Valley, and you would either transfer the freight cross of platform to another car, or you would have the cars actually lifted and new wheel sets put underneath to go on the other gauge track.

Naturally, that's a labor-intensive project process, and expensive.

[Narrator] On June 1, 1886, and over the next few days, in a carefully coordinated effort, railroads across the South, including the Norfolk and Western Railway, adjusted their track widths to match the national standard gauge of 4 feet 8.5 inches.

This monumental and literal shift allowed for smoother, more efficient transportation of goods and passengers, linking Southern railroads with the rest of the country, and greatly boosting economic growth.

[tense music] By the late 1880s, the real dangers of railroad work had become evident as thousands of workers were injured or killed on the job annually, highlighting the urgent need for safety reforms.

-In the earliest days of the railroad, including the N&W, working for the railroad was an extremely hazardous job.

The brakemen, people who coupled the cars, you generally knew who the good brakemen were because they were missing a finger or two because they had been mashed in couplings.

[Narrator] Steam locomotives were also a hazard.

If water levels in the boiler dropped too low, the firebox could overheat, leading to a catastrophic boiler explosion, often fatal to the crew.

[Ken Miller] The Virginian had one such incident on April Fool's Day, 1941, at Stewartsville, where the 800, a massive 2-10-10-2 wheel arrangement locomotive blew up.

[loud explosion] The determination by the investigating agencies was that it was a pitted nozzle in the injector, which is to put water in the boiler, failed.

But there wasn't enough left of hardly anything to find actual cause.

You can see from the photos, the explosion that came out from the firebox that blew away rock and all from the right of way.

The boiler separated from the frame of the locomotive, flew forward several hundred feet, hit the ground and went back.

The crews hopefully never knew what hit them, or hopefully they died instantly.

But their bodies were thrown hundreds of feet away from the locomotive.

[Narrator] Railroad injuries were so common that in many railroad-centered towns, prosthetic services and specialists were a vital part of the community, providing artificial limbs to workers who had been maimed or injured on the job.

These services were a testament to the harsh realities faced by those who labored on the railroads.

In fact, Roanoke's current day thriving medical industry can be traced back to the many injuries sustained by workers.

[Wayne McKinney] Roanoke is very proud today of its medical establishments that they have here.

The nursing schools and hospitals and everything, that got started from the railroad industry.

It was extremely dangerous work, but it grew into a real medical industry in this area.

[Narrator] Dr. Joseph N. Lewis and Dr. Sparrell S. Gale were two of the many area surgeons retained by Norfolk & Western to prioritize railroad injury patients when presented.

In 1909, they opened the region's second hospital in the city.

Roanoke Hospital was already established, and both entities were supported by Norfolk & Western.

The 1893 Railroad Safety Appliance Act improved worker safety, reducing accidents by 60 percent.

It mandated that all trains be equipped with air brakes, automatic couplers, and other safety measures, significantly protecting railroad workers.

[train rattling on tracks] Unfortunately, some of these crucial safety improvements came too late to prevent a tragic accident during the early morning hours of July 2, 1889.

-N&W's most significant accident with a passenger train was probably the wreck at Thaxton in 1889.

That was where a, what I believe would be considered a microburst thunderstorm, caused a massive downpour of water, washing out a bridge in the middle of the night.

[Narrator] In the book Lost at Thaxton , Michael Jones writes about that fateful night and his great-great grandfather Tandy Jones, an N&W section master at the time of the crash.

[Michael Jones] The evening of the crash, there'd been a lot of storms in the area the day before and the night before.

And so, they were working to clear the culverts, making sure everything was in order.

And he went on to bed sometime in the early evening, after dark.

At that time, there were no storms in the area, and everything was clear.

[Narrator] In those days, Wolf Creek was normally a quiet trickling mountain stream halfway between Roanoke and Bedford, known as Liberty at the time.

But during the overnight hours, when the storms rolled in, massive flooding ushered in debris from upstream, clogging the culvert and slowly weakening the earth above it.

Simultaneously, N&W train Number Two was leaving Roanoke on its usual route, just before midnight, with more than 70 passengers and crew.

[Michael Jones] And, then they arrived about a half mile from Thaxton at this place called Newman's Fill.

And that's where the fill gave way, and the train fell into the pit.

Folks who were fortunate enough to escape, unharmed, began trying to help folks that are in the wreckage.

One of the passenger coaches was basically crushed by the one behind it.

So there are a lot of folks trapped in there.

After about an hour or so, the wreckage actually catches on fire from the boiler and all the debris that's just stacked on top of it.

And now it's even more of a frantic situation, and they try to call out and rescue who they can.

They're not sure if anybody's still trapped or if they are trapped, if they're still alive.

And they all just kind of have to sit there and watch as all of this goes up in flames.

And they knew that some folks were still in there.

[Narrator] To make matters worse, the washout and wreck destroyed the telegraph lines, delaying communication and calls for help by at least five hours.

The disaster claimed at least 18 lives, with 21 others injured or missing.

[sorrowful music] While 1889 may have ended on a tragic note for Norfolk & Western, 1890 was proving to be a year of rapid growth and expansion.

-When they first tapped the Pocahontas coalfield, all the coal had to go east because there wasn't anything west.

So in the late 1880s, into the 1890s, the Norfolk & Western looked to expand its system to tap the industrial heartland of America.

[Narrator] By late 1890, construction had started on the Ohio extension that ran from the Pocahontas coalfields west towards the Ohio River.

It connected with the Scioto Valley & New England Railroad, giving N&W a direct throughway to Columbus, Ohio.

The Scioto was absorbed by Norfolk & Western soon thereafter.

And when completed in 1892, the system had a direct line from Norfolk to Columbus with roughly 600 miles of track.

[Tim Hensley] The N&W acquired the Cincinnati, Portsmouth & Virginia Railroad.

So that gave us another prong to Cincinnati.

And by that time, the framework of the Norfolk & Western, as we knew it, out of Norfolk all the way to Columbus and Cincinnati, and the Shenandoah Valley line up to Hagerstown and the original appendage down to Bristol.

That completed the framework of the N&W as we pretty much knew it, up until 1959.

[Narrator] That same year, Norfolk & Western strategically acquired the Clark & Company owned Shenandoah Valley Railroad, a key regional line to connect to the Northeast.

This move streamlined operations, improved efficiency, and strengthened N&W's growing network, solidifying its position as a major player in the Eastern US rail industry.

[people clamoring] Just three years later, however, in 1893, another financial panic halted that growth and brought the entire industry to a standstill.

Triggered by overbuilt railroads, falling agricultural prices, and a decline in European investment, the crisis led to widespread bankruptcies in the railroad industry.

By year's end, a third of the nation's railroads were bankrupt.

Norfolk & Western felt the strain but survived by making strategic adjustments and carefully managing resources.

N&W, like many others, faced significant financial pressures and operational challenges during the crisis.

Shortly thereafter, the company faced another disaster.

In January of 1896, a fire destroyed the Norfolk & Western headquarters.

While many records were lost, a significant amount was salvaged, and all employees managed to evacuate the building.

By 1897, construction of a new headquarters building was well underway, with a second almost identical building added just a handful of years later.

Today, the building still stands and serves as an apartment complex for Roanoke residents, while also serving as a gentle reminder of Norfolk & Western's storied past.

A financial crisis, an economic decline, and a devastating fire, all proved to be too much for N&W and the company was forced into receivership.

But key players within the organization saw the opportunity as a fresh start.

-The road operated as the Norfolk & Western Railroad Company from 1881 until 1896, when through several severe financial panics and downturns in the economy, the continued westward expansion and all factored into the railroad again needing to be reorganized, which it was in 1896, into the Norfolk & Western Railway.

[Narrator] The renaming marked the railroad's shift from a regional line to a broader, more integrated system, reflecting its expanding reach and ambition.

The reorganization also brought significant changes to Roanoke Machine Works, the city's first major corporation.

-The Machine Works would later be essentially bought out by the N&W for its own purposes, for the production of cars and locomotives.

And it became the Roanoke Shops of the Norfolk & Western.

And it was also referred to as East End Shops as its presence was at the east end of Roanoke, and it was a very major presence there.

[Narrator] As Norfolk & Western's presence grew, so did the workforce, and it didn't take long for the company to earn a good reputation as a dependable employer.

[Bud Jeffries] The railroad not only employed a lot of people, but also a lot of families, had a lot of family members in it, fathers and sons and uncles, you know.

And it was a good life, a hard life, but it was a good life, and it gave them a lot of job security.

And it was also a different era.

It was an era that you could get a job and stay with for 50 years.

[Narrator] It was that job security that drew thousands of people to the Roanoke Valley, steadily boosting the local economy through the turn of the century and beyond.

For the N&W, the first few decades of the 20th century brought continued traffic growth, so the demand was high for bigger motive power.

The Roanoke Shops met those demands for larger locomotives and cars, until the economy stumbled, yet again.

The Great Depression of the 1930s brought widespread economic collapse, with industries halting and unemployment soaring across the nation.

Despite the turmoil, the Norfolk & Western Railway endured by leveraging strong financial management and the ongoing demand for coal.

By focusing on efficiency and strategic investments, N&W weathered the crisis and emerged more resilient, well-positioned for the future.

-Not only did the Norfolk & Western survive, but it paid dividends throughout the Depression, which is, I mean, they may have reduced the dividend, but they kept paying dividends.

Some of the old hands would say that the reason Norfolk & Western was so successful economically was probably 80 percent or more of the profits came from coal.

That was just a profitable commodity.

But it was more than coal.

It was this attention to operational efficiencies.

[Narrator] The original Norfolk & Western of 1881 used small locomotives to haul coal.

But as demand grew, so did the need for more powerful engines.

To meet this challenge, N&W started designing and building its own steam locomotives, creating engines that reflected their vision of power and efficiency, and set them apart in the industry.

[Ken Miller] Well, the N&W produced what was called the Big Three.

That was the Class J passenger locomotive, the Class A freight locomotive, and the Class Y heavy freight locomotive.

Again, they were all designed and built here in Roanoke.

They are the epitome of steam design, in general.

They served system wide for virtually everything.

They were well designed, the servicing was well planned.

[Narrator] N&W needed a faster passenger and freight locomotive.

And so, production of the Class A began in mid-1936.

[Wayne McKinney] They wanted a locomotive that was still powerful to pull freight, but could also pull a fast passenger train.

And many people consider the Class A's as their best steam locomotive ever produced.

[Bud Jeffries] Those engines were used on the flat part of the railroad, east of Roanoke, and especially between Crewe and Norfolk, and west of Williamson and out of Columbus, Ohio.

[Narrator] Next in line was the Class Y6, built in late 1936.

-The Class Y locomotives 2-8-8-2 freight locomotives were generally built for slow speed drag freight service.

That meant hauling train loads of coal, empty hoppers back to the mine at reasonable speed.

Now nobody ever accused any of the Ys of being speed demons.

They were 56-inch drivers, and they were pretty much designed for not doing much over 55, 60 miles an hour.

[Narrator] The last of the Big Three was the Class J in 1941.

[Ken Miller] They built a superlative passenger locomotive in the Class J that was outperforming virtually every other similar locomotive in the country.

The N&W designed their Class J to power their heavy passenger trains on mountainous territory.

Their main purpose was to be able to start a train on a grade, and get to operating speed quickly.

The J's, while not designed for tremendous speed, could reach 100 miles an hour and regularly did.

[Bud Jeffries] It was not only a good looking locomotive, it was one of the few streamlined locomotives that really worked well.

Pleasant, and it looked like a locomotive.

Not something that's out of this world.

[Narrator] The most famous Class J is No.

611, and after surviving a serious wreck in 1956, has been restored and retired, but is once again a fully operational locomotive.

With legions of fans of all ages and from around the world, she is the most modern steam locomotive built for North American service in existence.

-♪ And pal around with Democratic fellas named Mac ♪ ♪ So take me right back To the track Jack ♪ ♪ Choo-choo choo-choo Ch'boogie ♪ ♪ Woo-woo woo-woo ch'boogie ♪ ♪ Choo-choo choo-choo Ch'boogie ♪ ♪ Take me right back To the track Jack ♪ [Narrator] As World War II began, passenger rail gave way to transporting military personnel.

During the Great Depression, Norfolk & Western Railway took a unique approach by retaining its workforce and reducing salaries, positioning the company strongly for the war.

The powerful Class J engines efficiently moved troops, supplies, and goods, ensuring N&W could meet wartime demands, and keep the military and industry moving.

Known for building powerful and efficient steam engines at their Roanoke Shops, N&W was deeply attached to steam power.

This made the company reluctant to adopt and transition to a new form of motive power, diesel locomotives.

[train horn blares] [Wayne McKinney] Steam has an aura all its own.

Upper management was proud of their steam engines, proud of the efficiency that they had achieved.

And economically, it made sense.

N&W owned all these coalfields.

They had their own fuel supply, so they wanted to maintain that as long as possible.

[Ken Miller] The other reason that the steam locomotives were rapidly going to disappear off the N&W was getting the accessory parts that N&W itself did not make, such as the bearing packings or various accessories like generators and things like that.

They didn't make them themselves.

They were purchased from outside.

With all the other railroads going away, supplies were going away.

[Narrator] Once N&W yielded to dieselization, the transition was not an easy one.

Shop workers with decades of experience in steam were not trained or equipped to produce diesel locomotives.

Labor and maintenance costs for producing steam locomotives far outweighed those of diesel machines.

[Bill Wooldridge] It was hotly contested.

There was a lot of emotional and some practical desire to continue with steam, but it had to be.

The only thing that could have been different is it could have lasted a year or two longer, but it was going to happen if the railroad was going to survive and be a player, as Norfolk & Western very much was.

[Narrator] One of the most difficult decisions for N&W resulted in immediate layoffs.

By 1960, much of the workforce in Roanoke devoted to locomotive repairs had been dismissed, a serious blow to Roanoke's economy.

[♪♪♪] Norfolk & Western built 447 steam locomotives at its Roanoke Shops between 1884 and 1953.

N&W's design work carried on, though they were the last to build steam locomotives in North America.

Once dieselization caused a reduction in shop workforce, the car shop continued building hopper and freight cars that carried the company into the 21st century.

The Roanoke Shops continued to repair diesels and freight cars until the closing of the shops in 2006.

[♪♪♪] No story about Norfolk & Western would be complete without mentioning the works of O. Winston Link.

Born in 1914 in Brooklyn, New York, Link began photographing trains during World War II.

This interest in trains evolved into a passion project in 1955, driven by his desire to capture the majesty of steam trains.

[Ashley Webb] When Link first discovered in 1955 that they were going to start phasing out the steam locomotives, he then sort of made it his mission to not only document the steam locomotive, but to capture everything that encompassed rural Appalachia because Norfolk & Western was the only road at the time still utilizing steam power.

So one of the aspects that Link really favored was the humanity aspect.

He wanted to show the locomotives in their own environment, and how large scale they were compared to people.

[Narrator] One reason Link chose to photograph at night was the control it offered over the environment.

During the day, the sun might be in the wrong position, or the background too cluttered.

But at night, he could manipulate the scene, crafting an image that emphasized exactly what he wanted the viewer to see.

Link's works can be viewed at the O. Winston Link Museum in Roanoke, Virginia, within the same building that once served as N&W's main passenger station.

When Roanoke was in its infancy, passenger rail service was the only way to go distances.

Roads were poor or non-existent, horse-drawn wagons took days, and Western Virginia and Southern West Virginia were truly remote locations.

People took the train as easily as driving a car today.

The passenger business was an important source of income for the N&W until the mid-1920s, when roads improved and automobiles became more common, chipping away at passenger travel.

The Norfolk & Western continued to focus on passenger service as it was a public showcase of the railroad.

Roanoke's very first railroad passenger station was originally built in 1882 just down the hill from the newly built Hotel Roanoke.

Designed in an English country style, it could hold two trains at a time.

But as Roanoke grew into a major railroad hub, a larger station was needed.

Built in 1904, the Norfolk & Western Railway passenger station was built just steps from the Hotel Roanoke.

-It was in a classical style with ionic columns and an Italian tile roof.

In 1915, they expanded the building, and in 1917, they expanded it again.

So the building stayed in that 1905 appearance all the way through 1946, 1947.

[Narrator] Designed by renowned French architect Raymond Loewy and his team, the new look and feel of the station embodied the international style modernism that was popular at the time.

-And being so modern and forward looking gave Roanoke a more cosmopolitan impression as well.

And that was part of what Norfolk & Western was trying to do, to promote Roanoke, and themselves as well.

[Narrator] By the time the remodeled station opened in 1949, passenger traffic was steadily declining due to the growing popularity of car and air travel.

By 1971, with the advent of Amtrak, N&W ceased its passenger service.

And once the last train departed on May 1, 1971, the station was repurposed as office space.

[train horn hooting] From 1909 to 1959, the Virginian Railway was a key competitor to Norfolk & Western in coal transport.

Known for its efficiency and innovative design with minimal curves and steep grades, the Virginian allowed for faster coal movement, from West Virginia to Norfolk.

One of the few to use electric locomotives for heavy coal trains, the road was highly profitable.

N&W attempted to acquire the Virginian in the mid-1920s, but was blocked by regulators who valued competition.

Norfolk & Western pursued the acquisition again, in 1959.

-The Virginian was a superb rail line.

It was laid out in a way that's very efficient.

And when the Virginian became part of Norfolk & Western, that gave them another set of tracks in order to handle coal.

But it gave them a lot more flexibility.

So, previously you had loaded cars of coal and empties competing for essentially the same tracks.

-And the Virginian was rapidly pushed out of the picture as far as existing.

Virtually everything was being painted over.

Service changed, things were moved, and the Virginian virtually has disappeared.

To this day, there are very few reminders of such.

[Narrator] One of the few notable public buildings constructed by the Virginian Railway was its Roanoke passenger station.

Completed in 1910, it still stands today, despite suffering a devastating fire in 2001 that nearly destroyed it.

A restoration effort brought the building back to life as an event space.

[♪♪♪] Prior to 1964, opportunities for African Americans across the nation were very limited.

The same was true in Roanoke.

[Sheree Scarborough] However, the railroad provided a road for success.

It provided a middle-class lifestyle, and even the jobs that they could get were the lowest jobs... cleaners, janitors, brakemen, porters.

It was still one of the best paying jobs for African Americans in the area.

[Narrator] The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended segregation in public spaces and banned employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, marking a major step toward equality.

It opened advancement opportunities for African Americans and women, challenging discriminatory practices and paving the way for greater workforce diversity.

-Of course, given the divisions in our society and the difficulties of women in the workplace, African American women had a harder row to hoe than African American men in Norfolk & Western, or any company you want to look at because you had the double discrimination.

You had not only race, but you had female discrimination.

[Narrator] By the late '70s, workforce opportunities for women had grown significantly, thanks to civil rights protections that opened doors to leadership roles, reshaping workplaces, and paving the way for future generations.

[Brenda Powell] I'd started August 1st, 1978.

It was a management position.

I actually was considered middle management, working in, we called it IT, but everybody, it's really just information technology department.

Through civil rights, they started improving the management levels.

More Afro-Americans, more women started getting management positions, but it took a while to get there.

[Brenda Barksdale] So word got around that they were hiring people for stenographers.

So I decided I would apply, and I failed to notice that the only women who were going and who were being hired were not married.

And I was already married.

So, I march over there and talk to the gentleman who was in charge of hiring.

He, I guess, saw my wedding ring and he said, we don't hire married women.

And I said, but that's against the law, because in 1964, we had the civil rights with the rider for women.

So, he gave me the application and I filled it out.

In June 1968, I was hired.

[Narrator] Women at Norfolk & Western Railway challenged gender norms, proving essential to the industry and paving the way for gender equality, a vital chapter in N&W's history and American transportation.

The success of the Norfolk & Western's merger with the Virginian in 1959 led to a number of mergers across the railroad industry.

It also led to N&W's biggest expansion.

The Nickel Plate and Wabash Railroads were both prominent Midwestern railroads with rich histories.

The Nickel Plate, officially known as the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad, was founded in 1881 and became known for its fast freight services across the Midwest, particularly between Chicago and Buffalo.

The Wabash Railroad, with roots dating back to the mid-19th century, served as a critical link between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River, offering both freight and passenger services.

-The general reason the N&W wanted the Nickel Plate and the Wabash was they were hauling a considerable amount of coal.

That was the vast majority of their revenue.

But they wanted to expand and get more freight, automobile traffic, and things like that.

The Nickel Plate and Wabash would provide that.

[Narrator] The 1964 merger gave Norfolk & Western access to key cities like Kansas City, St. Louis, and Detroit, allowing for traffic and revenue, and to strengthen its position in the industry.

-And again, we're coming back to Mahone's dream of the railroad.

I mean, that's when the railroad got to the Mississippi and covered the Midwest and became a road that went far beyond the coalfields, and created the structure, what I think of as the modern railroad systems.

I think the Norfolk & Western, in many ways with that series of mergers, set the stage because other railroads responded competitively and created systems of their own.

[Narrator] However, merger mania was not always the best path.

It led to a merger of corporate giants New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroads to form Penn Central in 1968.

While the Norfolk & Western's merger with Nickel Plate and Wabash was successful, the Penn Central merger was expected to change the rail industry in the Eastern US.

In defense of the proposed Penn Central merger, the Norfolk & Western and the Chesapeake & Ohio began merger talks in late 1965.

But in 1970, Penn Central unexpectedly declared bankruptcy, marking the largest corporate collapse in American history and sending shockwaves through the rail industry.

In response, Norfolk & Western and Chesapeake & Ohio canceled their proposed merger.

By the late 1970s, Norfolk & Western Railway remained strong, thriving on coal transportation while others struggled.

Recognizing the need for strategic growth, N&W sought new opportunities.

Southern Railway was seen as a natural evolution.

[Wick Moorman] Well, it was created in 1894 out of a bunch of bankrupt railroads by J.P. Morgan.

And his organization had a lot of reach in the Southeastern United States, New Orleans, Memphis, St. Louis.

Didn't get to Chicago, but got to Cincinnati, and then essentially covered the rest of the Southeast down into Jacksonville, Florida.

[Bill Schafer] And J.P. Morgan owned so much interest in so many different railroads that he said, I can't have all these bankruptcies here.

We need to put all these failing lines together, and create one system that will be profitable and will be able to manage its growth.

And it was very different than the N&W.

There was some coal, but it was a merchandise railroad, primarily.

And because of that, it was a very different kind of operation.

[Narrator] The 1982 merger between Norfolk & Western and the Southern was a pivotal moment in American railroad history.

Both companies were known for their efficiency and financial strength, making the union a natural fit as they sought to adapt to growing competition from trucking and air freight.

The merger formed Norfolk Southern Corporation.

-We had so much in common, actually.

So, all this was a natural for us to work together to try to make it one.

But, needless to say, there were different ways and different methods of different systems.

And we gathered benefits from theirs, and they from us.

It took a while to put all that unification together, but it did, in fact, occur, and we felt good about it at the end.

[Narrator] By combining Norfolk & Western's transportation expertise with Southern's focus on modernization, Norfolk Southern became a leader in efficient and reliable freight transportation, navigating deregulation and economic changes to serve the eastern United States.

-I think the Southern brought, what's the right word, a little more... certainly a much stronger history of innovation and a little bit more, I'm trying to think of the word.

It's not pizzazz, but it's something like that.

But the N&W was a very disciplined organization, very disciplined financially, and they brought a lot of that strength to the table.

[David Goode] But the key thing from the standpoint of Norfolk & Western is that it had been created by a strong leadership and a strong operating culture and strong financial culture to where it could be thought of as one of the premier companies in the industry and therefore able to combine with another premier company in the industry and create what, you know, we call the thoroughbred of transportation.

And it really was a merger of equals.

[Narrator] The Norfolk & Western Railway holds a cherished place in both American history and the history of Virginia, particularly in the Roanoke Valley.

Its legacy is deeply etched not only in the golden age of passenger rail and coal-driven industry, but also in the transformative impact it had on the region.

-The N&W was special because it was a great railroad in its day.

It was one of the giants of the industry.

They did great work to design and build locomotives and cars in Roanoke.

You can see the example of the 611 to this day, the 1218, as the grand ladies of the steam era.

And unfortunately, that era is gone.

-And the history of Norfolk & Western, in so many ways, is the history of Roanoke.

I mean, it was created because of the railroad.

-The Norfolk & Western was well designed, well-managed, well-run railroad.

There was a source of pride throughout the company.

Steam power probably represented the center of that because people took pride at their design and built their own steam power.

[Narrator] For Roanoke, N&W was more than a railroad.

It was the lifeblood that turned a small town into an industrial hub, spurring economic growth and creating jobs that shaped the valley's future.

Across Virginia, Norfolk & Western connected communities, moved goods, and powered industry, leaving a lasting memory for those who cherished it.

[♪♪♪] Major funding for this program is provided by The Goode Family Foundation.

Additional funding provided by the following.