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STORIES FROM THE ROAD THIS YEAR COOPERATIVE LIVING IS TAKING A ROAD TRIP ALONG THE LENGTH OF ROUTE 11 AS IT CROSSES VIRGINIA FROM NORTH TO SOUTH. EACH ISSUE, CORRESPONDENT DEBORAH HUSO WILL RELATE HER EXPERIENCES ALONG THE WAY. Story and photos by Deborah Huso, Contributing Writer Riding the Rails Step back in time in the city the railroad built — historic Roanoke. hen I consider some of Directly adjacent to the city’s the more memorable downtown and running along Wmoments of my life, my Campbell Avenue are the Norfolk first and only time driving a diesel Southern rail yard, and then locomotive on the Norfolk along Shenandoah Avenue are the Southern Railroad practice track famous Roanoke Shops, which near Atlanta, Ga., always comes to produced 447 steam locomotives mind. A new employee in the for the Norfolk & Western department of labor relations at Railway from 1884 to 1953. age 25, my training included Today the shops’ employees learning what life was like “in the This historic 1218 steam locomotive resides in the overhaul and repair GE diesel field.” Virginia Museum of Transportation. locomotives. Having had, like my father, a lifelong fascination with trains that evolved in my early LINKING UP WITH THE AGE OF STEAM adolescent years into the creation of an expansive model My first stop when I enter town, however, is the railroad in my parents’ basement, it was rather invigorat - O. Winston Link Museum, a favorite spot of mine, as it ing to occupy the engineer’s chair, pull the lever that houses the photographer’s famous collection of black- moved this great iron horse forward on wheels as tall as I and-white photos of the final days of steam on the was, and take it up to a brisk speed as I pulled the whistle N&W Railway in the 1950s. Museum volunteer Bill to warn an upcoming crossing of the locomotive’s Arnold, who was born 50 feet from the N&W track in approach: long, long, short, long. Radford, Va., and grew up in a company house, was a Though my days as a Norfolk Southern employee are friend of Link until his death in 2001. He first met well in the past, my continued romantic fascination with the famous photographer at a National Railway railroads is not, so tooling into Roanoke on Route 11, Historical Society convention in Roanoke in 1987, where which passes directly through historic downtown via Link was the keynote speaker. Arnold remembers how Campbell Avenue, is a bit like entering a history lesson on seriously the photographer took his work, which how the railroad turned Big Lick, a stop on the Virginia required remarkable lighting techniques to capture the and Tennessee Railroad, into the city of Roanoke (the often romantic and poignant images you’ll find at the name it assumed in 1884). museum. 30 Cooperative Living/September 2014 “Once when the Virginia The O. Association of Museums asked him Winston Link to give the keynote address at the museum (right) Hotel Roanoke and asked for houses slides, he replied, ‘I didn’t make Link’s slides! I made photographs!” collection Arnold says before Link’s death, he of black- often spoke of wanting the muse - and-white um that would showcase his work photos of the to be located in Roanoke, and he final days always loved the N & W Railway of N&W station there — which is where the Railway museum is indeed housed today. steam “Link wanted an N&W 1218 on locomotives a trackside turntable as part of the in the 1950s. Museum volunteer Bill museum,” Arnold recalls, “but Arnold (right) with a self-portrait of Link. Norfolk Southern [to which N&W Arnold was a friend of Link until Link’s was a predecessor] wasn’t willing to death in 2001. Below is Roanoke’s give up track to show a locomo - Norfolk Southern rail yard. tive.” Arnold says he spoke to Link the day before he passed away, and “he was still talking about it.” NS did, however, eventually donate the 1218 (built at the Roanoke Shops) to the Virginia Museum of Transportation, where it is part of a vast collection of steam and diesel locomotives directly adjacent to active NS track. It is the only N&W 1218 saved from the scrap yard and would have once pulled 150 cars filled with coal at average speeds of 70 miles per hour. Link never asked N&W for any Gary Walton (left) has been manager money for his railroad photogra - of the Hotel Roanoke (below and far phy. He merely asked the company left) since 1994. Originally owned by president for full access to the rail - the railroad, the hotel and an adjacent conference center have evolved into a road to show life along the line. nexus for business and tourism travel - Over the course of five years, he ers over the past 25 years. made over 2,400 black-and-white photographs along the N&W and also made recordings of the trains themselves. It has all become a crit - ical historical record. N&W was the last steam railroad in the United States. “He preserved a way of life,” says Arnold, noting how Link pre - ferred to do his shots at night and designed his own lights to create his photos. “Sometimes he would have as many as three cameras and 60 light bulbs to craft one shot,” Arnold remarks. “He said, ‘I can’t control the sun or where the tracks are. ’” Thus, night photography gave him better command over conditions. September 2014/www.co-opliving.com 31 THE GOLDEN AGE OF RAILROAD HOTELS when in Roanoke than this 1882 Queen explode with his unusual flavor combinations Just across Shenandoah Avenue from the Anne-style hotel with its turrets and gables like veal sweetbread with pumpkin sauce and Link Museum is the historic Hotel Roanoke, adjacent to the Norfolk Southern track. Many coconut jalapeño sorbet for dessert, tells me which the N&W built when the railroad was times it was a temporary home base for me his inspiration for mixing so many food headquartered here. when on business for the railroad in metaphors comes from a childhood as what “When the N & W merged with Southern Roanoke, and it has served as my headquar - he laughingly calls “the ultimate fat kid.” This Railway in the late 1980s, corporate head - ters for pleasure trips to the Roanoke Valley trim chef is anything but today, though he quarters transferred to Norfolk,” says hotel as well. I’m not alone in loving the hotel’s credits childhood attempts “to figure out how general manager Gary Walton. The railroad nostalgic feel. many ways to put marshmallows, peanut operated the hotel until 1989 and then gifted “People love the railroad history of this butter, and chocolate together” as the real it to Virginia Tech. By that time, Walton place,” Walton says. “We have guests who inspiration for his River and Rail menu, remarks, the hotel had deteriorated quite a love to stay on the rail side of the hotel so which he calls “classic bit, but “it was an icon here in the communi - they can hear the trains go by. Being here is comfort food with a ty, and Norfolk Southern didn’t know what to like stepping back in time. We’re in the vin - twist.” do with it.” tage era of grand hotels.” n Chef Aaron Deal strives They gave Tech five years to raise the $27 And while one can dine in the Hotel for “classic comfort food million to renovate the hotel. Walton, who Roanoke’s elegant Regency dining room or with a twist” at The River came to the Hotel Roanoke as manager in the more casual Pine Room pub, I elect to hit and Rail Restaurant. 1994, says only the lobby and dining room a relatively new spot in town after my after - are original. “Everything else was gutted.” noon in Mr. Walton’s company — appropri - The City of Roanoke got in on the action, ately named The River and Rail Restaurant, a too, because it wanted a convention center, so short drive from downtown on Crystal Spring it built the facility adjacent to the hotel, turn - Avenue. ing the whole complex into the Hotel Opened just two years ago, this casual Roanoke and Conference Center, now man - bistro has a menu that changes with the local aged by Doubletree. seasonal offerings from area producers. Chef As for me, I’ve never stayed anyplace else Aaron Deal, who prompts my taste buds to IF YOU G O ... While you’re exploring the rail air farmers market in Virginia, where story of the city, be sure to spend the you can purchase locally grown fruits, Your first stop in Roanoke should be night at The Hotel Roanoke & vegetables, and flowers seven days a Roanoke Valley Convention and the Conference Center (110 Shenandoah week except major holidays. Visitors Bureau (101 Shenandoah Ave., 540-985-5900, www.hotel While there are a host of restau - Ave. NE, 540-342-6025, www.visit roanoke.com), which was formerly rants in Market Square, if you want to roanokeva.com), which is located in owned by Norfolk Southern. From the try something a bit more innovative, the old Norfolk and Western Railway hotel, you can easily walk to restau - check out The River and Rail (2201 train station. The station is also home rants and attractions in downtown Crystal Spring Ave., 540-400-6830, O. Winston Link Museum to the (540- Roanoke via a glass-enclosed pedestri - www.riverandrailrestaurant.com), a 982-5465, www.linkmuseum.org), an bridge over the railroad tracks that short drive from downtown.

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