On January 17, 1897, the Roanoke Machine Works were purchased by the Norfolk & Western Railway.

This would, of course, be part of the process that would lead to the mighty "Roanoke Shops" which would turn out the A, J, and Y classes of locomotives in the 1940s for the N&W, all part of what they called 'Precision Transportation'.

One of each of the penultimate classes of N&W steam locomotive survives today; the Virginia Museum of Transportation has the last surviving A and J types, and the National Transportation Museum in St. Louis, Missouri, has the last Y. There are three tracks in Roanoke under the Claytor Pavilion, and the Y6 belongs with her sisters.

Information courtesy of the 2004 Norfolk & Western Historical Society Calendar.

Posted by: Country Pundit at 11:27 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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