OCTOBER 2OO9

THE CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO H I S T O R I C A L M A GA Z I N E

MAGAZINE2

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In This Issue...

THE CHESAPEAKE & OHIO HISTORICAL MAGAZINEOCTOBER 2009 VOLUME 41, No. 10

The Peninsula Subdivision 3

ON THE COVER:

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are no longer complete due to microfilm theft by untrustworthy library users. The consensus of most rail historians is that the depot was constructed sometime during 1882 or 1883.

Richard Decatur Lee built the mansion from which the village takes its name in 1850. He was forced to sell Lee Hall mansion during the Recon-struction period after the Civil War. This stripped the community of its social center. When the original temporary depot was built for the Yorktown Cen-tennial Celebration, it became the social and economic focal point of the village. The Yorktown Centennial event dem-onstrated the importance of Lee Hall Depot to the commerce and growth of the small village of Lee Hall. After the event, the spur track from Lee Hall to Yorktown was dismantled under cover of darkness when it appeared the city of Yorktown would sue to retain it, but even so, the station remained. .

As passenger and freight activ-ity became significant, the village of Lee Hall began to grow. A number of establishments sprang up nearby to sup-port the activity generated by the depot including a schoolhouse, Dozier's dairy, H.M. Clements store, Emma Curtis' cafe and S.R. Curtis' house and post office.

feet west of what later became Lee Hall Depot. This spur was removed after the celebration ended.

A supply train from Richmond was the first rain to traverse the line to Newport News on October 16, only hours after the rails were joined. During the next two days, 13 trains delivered dignitaries, visitors, and supplies to the celebration via the temporary spur. On October 19, a special train, consisting of a locomotive and two passenger cars transported Newport News dignitaries to and from Yorktown. The engine had arrived in Newport News via sailing ship just four days prior to the trip. Reg-ular passenger service between Newport News and Richmond and points beyond was begun on May 1, 1882.

At this time, October 1881, Lee Hall Depot was nothing more than a primitive temporary shelter and plat-form built for the Yorktown event. another year would go by before a per-manent, one-room, one-story structure was constructed at the current depot site. Today, it is virtually impossible to determine the exact date when the construction on the structure was begun or completed. The records of the Old Dominion Land Company archived at the Newport News Main Street Library

The extension of the C&O Railway from Richmond, to Newport News, VA in 1881 would eventually transform the peninsula of Virginia from a series of farms and small villages into a bustling metropolitan area with a large ship building corporation, prosperous in-dustries and a number of C&O passen-ger stations including the much-loved building featured in this issue - Lee Hall Depot.

The long surviving building is one of only two remaining passenger stations in the Peninsula Virginia. The other is the small brick station in New-port News. Eight stations and a flag stop shelter formerly operated in the Peninsula until 1939. Lee Hall, Reser-voir, Oriana, Oyster Point, Morrison, Hampton Roads Transfer, Newport News, Hampton, Phoebus and Fort Monroe.

Construction of the "Peninsula Extension" was initiated in December, 1880 in Newport News, and in February 1881 in Richmond. The two segments were joined on Oct. 16, 1881 at a point 1 1/4 miles west of Williamsburg. To transport visitors to the Yorktown Cen-tennial celebration of October 16-19, A spur line was laid to Yorktown from a point on the main line about 4,600

Lee Hall Depot by Ed Lyon

Artist's conception of the Newport News to Yorktown train of October 19, 1881 entering Yorktown Branch at Lee Hall. Used with permis-sion of Andrew J. Parlantieri, Chairman, Newport News Railroad Centennial Celebration Committee. Painting by Sidney King. Photo by Clyde A. Murphy

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Mr. Curtis' home, now The Box-wood Inn, served throughout the years as his home, a small grocery, Warwick County's treasurer's office, a post of-fice, and hotel. During World War One, Mrs. Valda Curtis opened her home as a hostess house and dance hall.

The size of the village fostered a close-knit feeling of community. As the village expanded, a tomato process-ing plant, pickle factory, Esso station, telephone exchange, and D.P. Pender grocery store were added.

The present form of the Lee Hall Depot building is a culmination of several additions. After the original one-story section (the east end of the building) was erected, a two-story sec-tion was added in 1893.

Lee Hall played an important role during the First World War. Camp Eu-stis was established on Mulberry Island in the spring of 1918, and Lee Hall Depot became an important transpor-tation link for troops from around the country. A "wye" connection from a point about 5,000 feet east of the depot was constructed in September, 1918 to facilitated the turning of cars and loco-motives. Several C&O drawings have the connection marked as the "Camp Eustis Spur." The C&O, anticipating its expanding role in the transport of military personnel and, soon added a second wing to the to the west end of the depot in 1918. This wing included two waiting rooms, indoor toilets and

a ticket office. This new section was 64 feet long according to a C&O drawing of 1932. A storage shed, now razed, was added in 1943.

On February 4, 1924, an event was held at the depot to commemorate the completion of the final link of U.S. Route 60 between Williamsburg and Newport News. Under normal circum-stances this event would hive received page one coverage in the then existing afternoon Times-Herald of Newport News. Unfortunately, limited coverage of the road completion was put on an inside page due to the death of Presi-dent Woodrow Wilson:

"Road Opening in Enjoyable Event For All. – Hundreds of Distinguished Visitors from Richmond Headed by the Governor and Mrs. Trinkle Simply De-lighted With Magnificent Entertainment Afforded Them.

"... When chiefs of practically all the Departments of State government and other visitors of note joined hands with the people of the Peninsula to open the list link of road, they took part in a road opening exercise that could not be rivaled in the whole his-tory of Virginia. It was at once the big-gest and most enjoyable thing of this kind ever staged in this State."

Throughout the 1930s and early 1940s, Lee Hall Depot continued to play a prominent role in both coal and troop transport, although little about the depot itself changed.

World War II was an even greater challenge for the C&O than WW I. The high volume of troop trains, crowded passenger trains, and heavy freight movements strained the com-pany's equipment and employees to the limit.

1,687,000 service members passed through the Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation (outgoing and return) during the war, according to Fort Eustis historian Rich Killblane. However, Lee Hall Depot was bypassed for the most part as troop trains went directly to the Camp Patrick Henry Marshalling and Reception Center ( located in the area between what is now Mary Immaculate Hospital and the Newport News In-ternational Airport) and thence to the Port of Embarkation.

Still, the depot played a major role in military travel during World War II. During the latter part of the war, it became almost commonplace to see prisoners of war being sent to POW camps at Fort Eustis

After the war, the importance of Lee Hall Depot began to diminish as passenger travel and shipping shifted to autos and trucks. For the next 25 years the aging depot would continue to decline. Passenger service to Lee Hall ended on Amtrak day, May 1, 1971.

The building was used as offices and storage by the C&O, Chessie Sys-tem, and CSX for the next several years

On May 20, 1963, noted historian Alexander C. Brown took this photo of the depot a low angle view looking west, note the Esso gaso-line sign at lower left. (C&OHS Collection, COHS 27321)

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C&O depot at Lee Hall, Virginia postcard. Note the high level of activity loading freight, most likely to be transported to Camp Eustis. Although the card is undated, we believe the image is from the World War One era from the equipment and uniforms of the soldiers. (C&OHS Collection, COHS 28008)

The cosmetic restoration of Lee Hall Depot got underway in September 1981 (Photo from the collection of Ed Lyon).

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One of the largest crowds ever gathered at Lee Hall Depot for a non-military event was this spectacular scene on Oct 16, 1981. The highly publicized occasion was one of two major highlights of the special weekend program marking the 100`h anniversary of the completion of C&O's line (then referred to as an "extension") from Richmond to Newport News This turnout probably matched or exceeded the large crowd at Lee Hall on Feb 20,1924 celebrating the completion of U.S. Route 60 to Eastern Virginia. Resplendent in its new cream, orange and brown paint scheme – plus the contrasting white window trim - following early Fall cosmetic restoration – the old depot kooks almost brand new.(C&OHS Collection, COHS 27315)

In 1981, the depot received a cos-metic restoration in preparation to take part in a celebration of the 100th an-niversary of the extension of the C&O from Richmond to Newport News.

On October 16, 1981, the City of Newport News held a major celebration at two locations - the new AMTRAK Station (named Lafayette Square) and Lee Hall Depot.

The eagerly awaited event, com-memorating the 100th anniversary of the extension of C&O's route from Richmond to Newport News, climaxed months of preparation by the Newport News Railroad Centennial Celebra-tion Committee directed by Chairman Andrew J. Parlantieri,. The extensive publicity included a whole-page ad in the October 11th edition of the New-port News Daily Press.

The morning celebration in Lafay-ette Square featured the French Military Band and dedication. Mid-morning, the celebration moved to Lee Hall. The highlight of both events was the arrival of ex-C&O Greenbrier locomotive 614 and its special Chessie System Safety Express train.

The Lee Hall program featured remarks by Herbert H. Bateman. Sena-tor, Virginia General Assembly, John Dalton, Governor of Virginia; Jerome J. Hogge, Jr. vice mayor of Newport News; representatives of the French government; Hays T. Watkins, president of CSX Corporation, and Lewis A. Mc-Murran, chairman of the Yorktown Bi-centennial Committee and the Virginia Independence Bicentennial Committee, The presentation of a commemorative plaque by Clifton H. Booker, superin-tendent of the Chessie System -Penin-sula Division, the unveiling of the Lee Hall Mural by Mrs. Gordon Gentry, Jr. and Mrs. Andrew Parlantieri, and finally, the special commemorative spike driv-ing ceremony with Governor Dalton and Mr. Watkins.

The railroad ceased using the depot in the late 1970s. The last known use of the depot was by a model railroad club which operated an N-scale layout until about three years ago.

In 1993, CSX Corporation, then the depot owner, determined that the vacant, and deteriorating structure was unsafe because of its close proximity to the tracks. The Corporation offered

Ex-C&O Greenbrier # 614 races by Lee Hall Depot on Thursday, Oct 15,1981 en-route to next-day day ceremonies at LaFayette Square (the new Amtrak Station) and Lee Hall Depot. These events commemorated the 100th anniversary of the completion of C&O's line from Richmond to Newport News. (Photo by John B. Corns, collection of Lt Col (USA Ret) William R. Vivian). (C&OHS Collection, COHS 27324)

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the building to the City provided that it be moved. What followed was over 10 years of meetings and complex negotia-tions by the city's attorneys, and the En-gineering and Parks/ Recreation staffs plus the PMA Planners & Architects

The current chapter in the life of the depot took place in June, 2009, as the depot was moved to a new location. The $1.5 million relocation is part of a long-range plan to create a museum depicting the C&O's impact on the development of Newport News.

The next step is to raise the funds to make this possible. The goal – to raise $2.3 million for stabilization and rehabilitation – is a project of the Friends of the Lee Hall Depot Founda-tion, Inc. a 501(c)(3) organization dedi-cated to the preservation, restoration and interpretation of the depot.

This wonderful structure has long played an important role in the life of the community and will continue to do so for years to come.

Virginia Governor Dalton (left) and Mr. Hays T. Watkins (right) driving the One-hundredth An-niversary commemorative spikes on October 16, 1981. (C&OHS Collection, COHS 27319)

Above: This plaque, dedicated October 16, 1981, commemorates the One-hundredth Anniversary of the completion of construction of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway tracks from Richmond to Newport News, Virginia.

Left: Program cover "100 Years on the Virginia Peninsula" October 16, 1981.(Both images from the COHS Archives collection)

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TRAK passenger train before allowing the freight section to move. This caused about a one-hour delay in completing the depot relocation.

The much shorter passenger sec-tion was moved on June 24th without incident on the planned 30-minute schedule. Shortly after the section was pulled across the CSX tracks, the late morning eastbound AMTRAK train slowed to about 15 MPH as it passed Lee Hall village and sounded its horn. Several onlookers with the author regarded this as a safety factor as well as good PR.

The historic relocation produced two exciting highlights. On June 25th, the freight section was slowly and care-fully backed over the two CSX tracks starting at about 1:30 p.m. and finally cleared the westbound track at exactly 1:45 p.m. Prior to the two freight trains, the Thursday morning eastbound AM-TRAK raced through at 60 MPH.

ers firm performed the actual move of the building, which weighed an estimat-ed 280,000 pounds, in three segments on June 23, 24, and 25 respectively.

The move was a near perfect operation, marred by only two minor problems. During the first part of the depot relocation on June 23d the freight section and connected 1893 two-story addition was pulled about 250 feet east and temporarily situated out of the way to make room for the passenger sec-tion's move on June 24th.

Starting about 10:15 a.m., workers from both firms used hydraulic dol-lies and heavy machinery to move the freight section. At one point, the build-ing listed to one side slightly, prompt-ing crews to stop the wheels and make adjustments for about 30 minutes.

The second problem occured on June 25th, when CSX's decided to oper-ate two freight trains through Lee Hall after the passage of the east-bound AM-

Historic Lee Hall Depot, a badly deteriorated but much adored commu-nity gem located in the Lee Hall area of Newport News, was relocated during a well planned and superbly executed three-day project in late June, 2009.

The depot was moved (as the pro-verbial crow flies) about 100 feet west to a new foundation in a field across Elmhurst Street from the Boxwood Inn and a few feet south of the Verizon Tech Center.

The project was carried out by two firms with long experience in mov-ing buildings and other structures: the Newport News-based Phoenix Corpo-ration and the Expert House Movers of Virginia Beach (who relocated the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse).

The mission of the Phoenix crew was to prepare the rambling 165-foot depot for its short – but theoretically dangerous trip – across the CSX dou-ble-track line. The Expert House Mov-

Moving the Depot by Ed Lyon

For the first part of the Lee Hall Depot relocation, the 80-foot freight section was pulled about 250 feet east by an Expert Movers truck on Tuesday, June 23rd. This was done to get the freight section temporarily out of the way in order that the shorter passenger section could be moved first across the CSX tracks next day.

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founded in 2001 as a non-profit 5010 organization dedicated to the preserva-tion, restoration and interpretation of the depot – now beginning what many rail fans and local residents hope will be a long second life.

The freight section was reunited with the passenger section at the new foundation - except for a five- foot tem-porary separation – at about 2:30 p.m. The event was observed by over 100 spectators behind barriers and a lucky few from the Boxwood Inn's second floor balcony. Phoenix and Expert crew members filmed the entire one-hour process.

The linkup was the culmination of major preparations by both firms for the complex move. Elmhurst Street was closed in early May and traffic was diverted to the other crossing on York-town Road. Utilities were disconnected; skirting was removed and the founda-tion was excavated. The chimneys were boxed in framing to stabilize them.

Initial inspections of the building by the moving firms and city officials revealed years of major deterioration caused by termites, moisture, vandalism, and mismatched wood connections as new sections were added in 1893 and 1918. Rotten/termite-damaged framing was shored up with X bracing so that I-beam supports and rollers could be placed underneath. Finally, the building was cut into two sections and hydrauli-cally raised and separated.

Now that both sections are safely supported over the new foundation, and separated by only five feet, they will be rejoined. That task will probably be completed before this article is pub-lished. Block work will start after struc-tural matters have been evaluated. The building will be secured from severe weather conditions and vandalism. The old site, as of mid July, was being filled and leveled with gravel.

The relocation and subsequent measures listed above represent - fi-nally - the successful 16-year campaign to save one of the social and economic focal points of Lee Hall Village.

Looking ahead, the $1.5 million relocation just completed is part of a long-range plan to create a museum documenting Lee Hall Depot's history plus other exhibits and historical photos – rarely seen by the public - point-ing out the C&O's significant role in the City's growth. To achieve the goal of raising $2.3 million for the depot's major renovation, The Friends of the Lee Hall Depot Foundation, Inc. was

Lee Hall Depot's final month at its original location. Preliminary supports have already been placed under both the freight and passenger sections. (C&OHS Collection, COHS 27299)

Workmen install X bracing inside the passenger section to hold up the walls during movement (Photo by Joe Fudge, courtesy of the Daily Press).

To learn more, volunteer, or contribute to the restoration of Lee Hall Depot please contact:The Friends of the Lee Hall Depot C/O 1810 Warwick County Courthouse14415 Old Courthouse WayNewport News, Virginia 23608757-886-2715

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The Lunch And, A Swift ExitAt about 12:30 p.m. on Thurs-day, June 25th, onlookers at Lee Hall. including The Boxwood Inn's charming and accommodating owner, Kathy Hulick, got the word that CSX would squeeze in two freight trains after the eastbound AMTRAK before the final move of Lee Hall depot's freight section to its new location. The estimated de-lay would be. about an hour or 90 minutes according to an announce-ment from the move director.

Kathy reasoned that the Boxwood had time to serve a quick light lunch. Some onlookers, including the author and his wife, Jean, took her up on the offer. Arrangements were made with the waiter to notify six of us in the dining room when the freight section would start its move across the CSX tracks. The word came a bit sooner than antici-pated.

Our group was finishing off our light lunch when our waiter shouted: "The depot is moving!"

All six of us made a mad dash to reach the second floor porch. At that moment we weren't concerned with our bills. Very few Boxwood lunch guests ever left their tables any faster!

AcknowledgementsThe author is grateful for major as-

sistance provided by the following four persons:

Thomas W. Dixon, chairman and president emeritus and chief historian of the C&O Historical Society, provided historical data and photos of Lee Hall Depot taken back in the 1950s and 60s.

Mary Kayaselcuk, the Lee Hall De-pot historic site coordinator, provided photos she took during the three-day relocation project and arranged elec-tronic transmission to Managing Editor Mac Beard.

Mr. Joe Fudge, a photographer with the Daily Press newspaper in Newport News, provided stunning photos of interior depot preparations and movements of the freight section.

Mrs. Kathy Hulick, owner of the historic Boxwood Inn, graciously allowed the author and other photog-raphers to use the Inn's second-floor porch each day of the relocation.The freight section makes its move across the CSX tracks.

(Photos by Joe Fudge, courtesy of the Daily Press).

The freight section is put in position for its move across the CSX tracks.(Photo by Joe Fudge, courtesy of the Daily Press).

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NewLocation

Top: Modified drawing shoeing former and current location of Lee Hall Depot. (C&OHS Collection, X-2596 )Middle: Mary Kayaselcuk, the Lee Hall Depot historic site coordinator, poses between the two halves of the Lee Hall depot.Bottom: The passenger section was moved in less than one hour on June 24th to its new foundation in the field across from Elmhurst St. and south of the Verizon Tech Center.

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Excerpts from C&O official drawing number 4340 dated April 11, 1918 showing the as-built extension to the combined station at Lee Hall, Virginia. The majority of the work was done in the addition of the west end passenger extension and platforms to accommo-date the higher levels of passenger traffic generated by the establishment of Camp Eustis and shipment of troops and materiel through Hampton Roads during WWI. However, there was also an extensive re-working of the older portions of the station with the removal and relocation of walls, doors, and windows, so that the remaining depot had a somewhat different appearance from the original 1880s era structure. Note the older center section which was the original passenger and ticket office area has been converted to a baggage room, express room, and operators room. The original building was 92 feet in length and the extension added 71 feet to this for a total overall length of 163 feet. Metal shingle roofs were an important safety feature in the days of steam locomotives and flying cinders. Also no-tice the "separate but equal " facilities in the new passenger wing. (COHS Collection, Drawing number 4340)

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The Peninsula Subdivisionby William R. Vivian

One of C&O's most important destinations was its piers at Newport News, where so much of its high-quality coal was dumped in to ships taking it to the Northeastern U. S. or to overseas ports. This aerial view from 1957 shows the passenger pier in the far left, the ore pier, merchandise piers (covered), and the two big coal dumping piers most distant. (C&O Ry. Photo, C&OHS Collection, CSPR-3949)

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coast-to-coast railroad, by creating the Newport News & Mississippi Valley Company-but that is another story.)

In 1871, Huntington directed that surveys and studies be made for extend-ing the railroad eastward from Rich-mond to five different points located on deep water-Norfolk and Newport News, both on the James River at its mouth on Chesapeake Bay; West Point and Yorktown, both on the York River; and a point on the Piankatank River at its mouth on Chesapeake Bay, about 40 miles due north of Newport News. We don't know all of the considerations that influenced his final choice, but the

to the Ohio River," and at Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Company- a name that perfectly expressed the purpose of the legislatures' acts.

Collis P. Huntington had a dream that meshed perfectly with that of the Virginia Central officials. When he took charge of the Chesapeake & Ohio Rail-road in 1869, one of his major objec-tives was to control a railroad that ran from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast. The C&O was pushed westward, and was completed in early 1873 to the newly-founded city of Huntington, West Virginia, on the banks of the Ohio River. (Huntington eventually had his

We know it today as the Peninsula Subdivision, from Richmond to New-port News, Virginia, but in 1881 it was, in truth, an "extension"- a reaching out by the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway from its existing trackage to a point on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.

The railroad we now know as the C&O had its beginnings in the Louisa Railroad, the eastern end of which was at Hanover Junction (now Doswell). Even prior to the Civil War, the railroad had cast longing eyes toward Richmond and beyond to the ocean, envisioning the day when the rails would deliver cargoes to the sides of ships for further movement on the waters of the Atlan-tic, and receive cargoes from ships for transportation to inland cities. By the beginning of the Civil War, the tracks, then known as the Virginia Central Railroad, had been extended both east and west, and ran from Richmond to Jackson's River (now Clifton Forge). In 1867, the legislatures of both Virginia and West Virginia passed legislation pro-viding for the construction of a railroad line from "the waters of the Chesapeake

The Grand Scenic Route to the Sea

The Chamberlin Hotel was built at Old Point Comfort, right beside the older Hygeia, and eventually eclipsed it in importance, becom-ing a major attraction in the era from about 1900 into the 1950s. (C&OHS Collection, COHS 26702)

Editor's Note-

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miles east of Williamsburg, and Colonel Carter M. Braxton (a former civil engi-neer of the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad) took it from there into Newport News. Initially, Major George McKendree was the chief engineer of the project, but he soon resigned and was replaced by Captain J. S. Morrison. The construction plan in-cluded building a spur line to Yorktown,

C&O civil engineer, began to retrace the Temple survey as the prelude to actual construction of the railroad. He wrote: "The note books and maps of the origi-nal survey were so complete that, with little difficulty, we picked-up the line." His crew found many of the original stakes, and in several cases the mark-ings on them were still legible. Nelson carried the survey to a point about ten

fact that he had visited Newport News in 1837 (when only 16 years old and working as a traveling salesman for him-self) and was impressed with the Hamp-ton Roads area as a potential port prob-ably carried much weight. Sometime in 1872 he decided in favor of the New-port News site, and with some close as-sociates quietly began to buy land at the point of the peninsula for the terminal of the railroad and for the town that he expected would grow up with the com-ing of the tracks. Public announcement of the selection of Newport News was made in December 1872 and sometime in 1873 Major Robert W. Temple started to survey the line of track from Rich-mond to Newport News. The Panic of 1873 posed serious financial problems, and eventually forced a reorganization of the railroad in 1878, when it was re-named the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Company.

The Virginia General Assembly, on Marsh 4, 1880, authorized the C&O to lay track "to the Atlantic coast," and the Virginia Board of Public Works authorized the purchase of land and of water frontage in Newport News. So in October 18806 James Poyntz Nelson, a

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construction) and the strikers declared " .. it should not proceed on its usual train." All work up to Williamsburg was suspended. No mention was made of how long the strike lasted, or of how it was settled. Mr. Huntington had identified June 1881 as the completion date for the extension, but there must have been some slippage; a news item in the June 10, 1881, issue of the Land-mark reeds: "The management of the Newport's News Railroad [sic] do not

hands ere at work on the C&O Railroad [sic] between Richmond and Yorktown laying the track." There was at least one episode of labor unrest, as a Norfolk newspaper under date of August 23, 1881, reported that the "hands" em-ployed at Newport News struck that date for higher pay, fewer hours of work, and more frequent payment. The paper said that 200 men seized "the engine" (apparently only one locomotive was in Newport News for use on the

about four miles north of the main line, for the delivery of visitors and supplies to the Yorktown Centennial celebration of October 1881.

At this time the area of Newport News was sparsely settled by farmers, with en occasional fishing settlement along the banks of the James River. In 1880 the entire county of Warwick-in which the village was located-had a population of 2,258 souls. The town of Hampton was about seven miles to the east; the necessities of life were pur-chased there, as it was the largest town in this end of the peninsula.

Actual construction of the single-track line began at Orleans Street in Richmond in February 1881.9 Con-struction had begun in Newport News the preceding December, when men

and equipment were landed at Old Point Comfort and moved over the road to Newport News with horses and carts. Apparently there were no major or engineering problems encountered, as Nelson later wrote, "Although there were numerous excavations, no solid rock was encountered in grading [the roadbed]." The Norfolk Landmark of October 18, 1881, quoted the Hampton Monitor: "Two thousand two hundred

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Pages 59 and 60 from The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Com-pany List of Officers, Agents, and Stations, Etc. No. 82. Issued August, 1948.

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Adams Express." The entry has no mileage figure, but it occurs between those for Lee Hell and Williamsburg, so it must have been at the wye. Note that the author seems to be a bit confused in speaking of the Peninsula Extension as running to Yorktown instead of to Newport News, but we can probably accept his statement about the junction as being correct. The spur was removed at some unknown date after the close of the Centennial Celebration, because Huntington considered it to be of a temporary nature-to serve the needs of the celebration-and when he heard that the Yorktown residents were going to enter a suit to compel him to keep the spur in place he sent his crews on a Sunday night and removed all the rails and ties by the next morning. Thus the residents had nothing to sue for.

The operation of the first train from Newport News to Yorktown-

ary War surrender documents had been prepared), but accounts state that the line ended near the U.S. Military Cemetery, some 3000 feat short of the Moore House. The drawing does not show any sidings or engine turning facilities on the spur, so presumably the engine pulled the train into Yorktown and then backed out to the main, or perhaps vice versa. The junction with the main was a wye, located in a curve about 4,600 feat west of today's Lee Hell station building; both the Newport News and the Richmond trains could have been turned there. A travel booklet dated 1884, describing towns and cities along the C&O, contains this entry: "Yorktown Junction, a station at the point where the Peninsula Extension, running to Yorktown, diverges from the main line of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad [sic]. It is not a post-office, its mail going to Yorktown, York County.

think it will be possible for that road to be completed now before the 15th of September. If it can be finished by the 15th of October it will do for the Yorktown Centennial." (The town was known as "Newport's News" at that time; that spelling of the name was retained until about 1900.)

Spurring the engineering and construction crews on to completion of the line was the promise that C&O management had made, that the track would be finished in time to carry pas-sengers to the Yorktown Centennial Celebration, scheduled for October 18, 19, and 20. They made it just in time-the silver spike joining the track from Richmond with that from Newport News was driven by Major J. J. Gordon (heed of the construction department organized by the railroad especially for this project) at Magazine Field, one and one quarter miles east of Williams-burg, at 2 p.m. on Sunday, October 16, 1881.A freight train from Richmond with supplies for Newport News tra-versed the track soon afterwards on that day. On October 18, six passenger trains from Richmond-including one or more from the Washington, D.C., area-and one freight train arrived in Yorktown with visitors, troops, and supplies for the celebration. October 19 sew the arrival in Newport News of the first passenger train from Richmond, with Captain James T. Bailey as its conductor.

Newport News had to celebrate the completion of the railroad in some manner, and it did so on October 19, with the C&O's help, by operating a two-car passenger train from a make-shift "depot" on the water's edge to Yorktown. The locomotive for this "special" had arrived only four days be-fore on a four-mated schooner (presum-ably from Richmond); the cars probably arrived by rail. The train carried local dignitaries, and some from Norfolk. It had to be a gala occasion-undoubtedly many speeches were made. Unfortu-nately, there was no Newport News newspaper in existence to record all of the events and happenings.

The short-lived branch line, or spur, to Yorktown started on the main line near Lee Hell and was projected, per a C&O drawing, to extend to the Moore House (where the Revolution-

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using_ steel rail for new construction and for the replacement of existing iron rail. In his 1882 annual report to the stockholders Huntington reported the completion of this program, saying that the whole of the main line, 503 mil V (Phoebus to Huntington -WRV), was laid with steel rail.

Newport News must have had all the appearances of what we would call a "boom town" during the early 1880's. While rails were being laid toward Wil-liamsburg, the future city's streets and avenues were being laid out. The first church ever in the town was started in 1880 and held its first services in March

Regularly-scheduled through service between Newport News and Richmond (and points beyond) was started on May 1, 1882.

Although the rails were physi-cally joined in 1881 and regular service started in 1882, the C&O apparently kept charging construction costs to the Extension, and it reported that as of December 31, 1887, its total cost (not including equipment) was $2,161,695, and that $915,824 had been expended on the wharves. The extension was laid with steel rail weighing 62 pounds per yard, in conformity with the road's program-started in the early 1870's29-of

October 19, 1881-prompted another "first time" operation. The steamer Ariel of the Virginia Steamship Company operated regularly between Norfolk and Richmond, and the Norfolk Virgin-ian of October 18 stated that the Ariel will be the first boat to take passengers from Norfolk to Yorktown by way of the Newport News Railroad [sic]. She will also touch regularly at Newport News hereafter on her trips to and from James River and Richmond." This was the beginning of ferry service across Hampton Roads to handle passen-gers for C&O trains, and in 1883 the C&O constructed a passenger pier and initiated its own ferry service. Charter boats were used at first, but in 1884 the railroad purchased a steamboat and maintained this across-the-water service from then until June 4, 1950, when buses were substituted for the boats.

With the joining of the rails west of Williamsburg, there were great expectations that through service from Newport News to cities beyond the Alleghenies would soon be a reality. Mr. Huntington was quoted in the Novem-ber 16, 1881, issue of The Railroad Gazatte as saying, "We will within a few days be running through cars from Lou-isville and Cincinnati to Newport News. By April 1 we will be running cars from Memphis to Newport News. Within twelve months the trans-continental line from San Francisco to Newport News will be finished..." But it was not to be. Huntington stated in his report to the C&O stockholders for the year 1881 that "the winter season has been so wat that a pert of the new track will require a few weeks of fine, dry weather to prepare it for the movement of heavy traffic. Thus far, this portion of your road has been occupied by construction trains and light local traffic, no attempt being made to do through business over it..." According to one newspaper report of late October, a freight train operated between Richmond and Newport News every other night, delivering construc-tion materials for the new terminal and for buildings in the new town. As for passenger service, a report in the Hampton Monitor quoted in the Nor-folk Landmark of November 8, 1881, reeds: "The train for Richmond leaves every Tuesday, Thursday and Satur-day at 9:30 p.m. As yat they have only three or four passengers by each train."

The Hampton branch was built from a point just west of the Newport News piers, about 11 miles down to the water at Fort Monroe. It was from this point that C&O established its mileposts westward. This is the huge station at Hampton, just two miles west of Ft. Monroe. Built to a design almost exactly the same as Lee Hall, it was added to for support of big military business over the years. Hampton was the station for Langley Field (later Langley AFB). - (Alexander C. Brown photo, C&OHS Collection, COHS 26699)

At milepost 40, the station at Magruder was the junction with a government-owned railroad that went to Camp Perry, a few miles distant. From WWII onward for many years it was a training site for army and navy personnel. Here a navy troop train is about to leave westbound on May 23, 1946, with sailors returning from Europe. A C&O K-3 Mi-kado No. 1225, equipped with steam and signal line for passenger operations, is at the head. (C&OHS Collection, COHS 7763)

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The passenger depot at Toano.... (C&OHS Collection, COHS 263)

some 25 miles up the Chesapeake Bay was named New Point Comfort. The terms Fortress (now Fort) Monroe and Old Point Comfort were and still are used interchangeably, both locally and in some C&O timetables. Initially the U.S. Government withheld permission for the railroad to build on the military reservation, for reasons presently un-known, so the tracks ended at Phoebus and passengers were transported to and from the hotel (about one mile away) by carriages. A timetable of June 10, 1883, shows coach and Pullman sleeping car services to and from White Sulphur Springs and Newport News and Old Point Comfort (actually Phoebus);

they, together with Newport News, generated many shipments of fish and oysters to inland cities.

Another purpose of this branch was to serve Fortress Monroe-both the military post and the Hygeia Hotel located there, a widely-known resort hotel catering to the wants and de-sires of the well-to-do portion of the population of the Atlantic Seaboard. Geographically speaking, the post was (and is) located on a small peninsula originally named Point Comfort by the very first English visitors to these Vir-ginia shores. It became known as Old Point Comfort when a similar peninsula

1881.31 The Lafayatte House Hotel opened in June 1881, followed by the opening of the Warwick Hotel in April 1883,32 and homes for the railroad workers were being built. A tent city had to be established near the waterfront for those who didn't have more permanent shelter. Facilities for servicing rolling stock were under construction, with the Hampton Monitor reporting that, "The turntable was completed dur-ing the previous week [October 23-29, 1881-WRV]. It is located corner Thirty-eighth Street and Warwick Avenue." Simultaneously, warehouses and docks were being built on the waterfront to handle the anticipated imports and ex-ports of merchandise, and the expected exports of coal. Plans were being made for the erection of a grain elevator of 1,500,000bushels capacity; this was opened in 1883.33 A second elevator of the same capacity was opened in 1899.

Even while the Peninsula Exten-sion was being built, thought was given to the possibility of extending the tracks to Hampton; consideration was even given to the idea of placing the port terminal there. Newport News won out as the site for the port, but the deci-sion was made to extend to Hampton anyway, and construction was started in April 1882.35 The track ran through Ham ton and onto Phoebus, two miles beyond, and December 1882.3 Hamp-ton and Phoebus-presently one citywide then fishing towns of some importance; with the coming of rail transportation

The station at Norge (home to a big Norwegian population and thus the name) was of a style that appeared in the early 1900s. Here a crowd is waiting for a train in the 1914 era. (C&OHS Collection, COHS 26701)

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of it (such as the imports of copra and whale oil) might even be called "exotic." Among the cargos handled during the century were: finished and rough lumber, as well as pulpwood, both exported and imported; American tobacco exported and Turkish tobacco imported; flour and grain exhorted; chrome and manganese ores unloaded from ships at a pier built especially for this type of cargo.

Of utmost importance to the Na-tion's war efforts were the services pro-vided by the Extension and the terminal in three wars-the Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II. The railroad delivered, and the termi-nal loaded, tens of millions of tons of military equipment and supplies for shipment overseas, as well as over two million troops in all wars combined. Hundreds of thousands of troops were received and started homeward. Horses and mules were shipped out for military use in World War I, and after World War II thousands of horses and cattle were loaded onto ships bound for war-stricken countries under the programs of the United Nations Relief and Reha-bilitation Administration.

The largest industry in Newport News-and in Virginia was, and is, the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, and its bond to the C&0 was Mr. Huntington. In the busi-ness depression of 1884, Huntington decided a ship repair facility in Newport News would provide both employment for the local population and some trans-portation business for his railroad. As a

For one hundred years coal has been-and is-the commodity handled in the greatest quantity, at Newport News. A record tonnage was dumped in 1957, when the C & O loaded 23,324,115 tons for export and 3,658,417 tons for coast wise destinations, for a total of 26,982,532 tons. This quantity was handled by Pier 14 (built in 1949) and Pier 15 (built in 1931); these two piers are still in operation in 1981. In 1980, 18 738,942 tons were loaded, the second best year on record.

Merchandise moved across the piers and through the warehouses has been quite varied in nature, and some

at this time only one train served the Peninsula towns. Permission to build the one-mile extension onto the military post was eventually granted-it was be-gun in July 1889 and completed in June the following year. The Fortress Monroe station was located about a quarter-mile from the hotel. Ultimately, complete facilities for servicing passenger trains were installed at Phoebus, and in the 1930's and 1940's, The George Washing-ton, The FFV and The Sportsman were turned and serviced there; sometimes, The George had as many as 16 passen-ger and head end cars in its consist.

The dream of Mr. Huntington, and of his predecessors in office in the C&O organization, was initially realized in August 1882, when the first coal was loaded into the hold of the schooner William H. Kenzel of New York A few days later the C&O-owner Collier Kanawha was loaded. In that first partial year of operation, 105,573 tons of coal were loaded into ships -either for their own boilers or for delivery overseas or to ports along the U.S. coast. The coal pier was "of a novel and ingenious plan," with a length of 825 feat, a width of 50 feat and fronting on 30 feat of water; With its twelve chutes, it could load six ships at one time. In operation, the road hopper cars were run onto the top of the pier and unloaded directly into the chutes, and into the holds of the ships.

At Milepost 61, Providence Forge is typical of the type of depots that was built when the Peninsula Subdivision was now. Structures similar to this do not appear on any other por-tion of the C&O system. The upper floor was a company-supplied residence for the agent/operator. This station stood until recent years. T. W. Dixon, Jr. Photo. (C&OHS Collection, COHS 26702)

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sels of 2,250 horsepower; from 2-8-O's of 24,500 pounds tractive effort to 2-6-6-6's of 110,200 pounds and 2-10-4's of 108,625 pounds, and lashups of GP40-2's and B30-7's of 3000 horsepower each; from 7- to 10-ton four-wheeled "buck jimmy" coal cars through 100ton twelve-wheeled "battleship" gondolas to the present-day 100-ton hoppers in seemingly endless consists; from 20- or 30-ton box cars to the 70-ton cushioned-underframe box cars and the Trailer-On-Flat-Car cars of today; from block cabins at about three-mile inter-vals to Centralized Traffic Control for the entire state in Richmond-75 miles from Newport News: from the sema-phore to the color-light signal; from telegraph to radio and microwave; from handwritten orders for trainmen and reports for officials to the printouts of the computer age; and from handling a trickle of export coal to a flood of mil-lions of tons yearly.

From our vantage point in history-today-we can evaluate that century of growth, and we have to conclude that the dream of the founders of the Chesapeake & Ohio and of Collis P. Huntington have been fulfilled-perhaps many times over.

tion steam locomotives arrived on the C&0: they undoubtedly saw service on the Extension shortly thereafter. In the ensuing years, practically every class of locomotive the C&O ever owned was used on the line-either on through trains or in terminal service, switching cars to and from the piers and serving local in-dustries. The diesels eventually arrived, and on March 14, 1953, The Sportsman left Newport News with Hudson 494 at its head-the last passenger train to oper-ate on the Extension with steam power.

C&O-owned passenger train service finally ended on April 30, 1971, to be replaced by Amtrak operations. After a transition period starting in the early 1970's operation of the merchandise piers was assumed by the Commonwealth of Virginia on July 1, 1980, but-one hundred years after that first coal shipment-the coal trains continue to arrive at the C&O's coal piers in Newport News, and the future of coal exporting is far rosier than Mr. Huntington ever imagined.

From 1881 to 1981-one hundred years - a century of growth. In that period the railroad and the Peninsula Extension progressed: from 4-4-O's of about 13,000 pounds tractive effort to 4-8-4's of 66,450 pounds and A-8 die-

behind-the-scenes sponsor he promoted the organization of the Chesapeake Dry Dock and Construction Company, and obtained in January 1886 the approval of the Senate of the General Assembly of Virginia for its formation. Initially the company concentrated on the repair of ships, but in 1889, Huntington decid-ed to add shipbuilding to the company's activities, and the name was changed in 1890 to that which we know today. The 1922 agreement among the Big Powers to scrap incomplated naval vessels and to cancel contracts for others left the shipyard in a tenuous financial position, so it contracted in 1923 to equip a num-ber of the C&O's G-7 Consolidations with superheaters. Also in 1923, it de-signed and built for the C&O a fleat of 1508 hopper cars of 57% tons capacity; another lot of 1000 cars of the same capacity was built in 1924 and 1925.48 Since then the Yard's relationship to the C&0 has been that of a good on-line customer of the railroad's services.

During this first century the Penin-sula Extension was enlarged, improved, and modernized in accord with the state of the railroad art of the times. Along the line from Richmond the original 62-pound rail was replaced by increas-ingly heavier rail', culminating in the 132-pound ribbon-rail of today. Signals were installed to replace the block cab-ins; the trace of the original single track was re-aligned in places, and the entire route was double-tracked (within the last decade Centralized Traffic Con-trol was installed and much of the line was restored to single track); and the condition of the roadbed was constantly upgraded by improving the drainage and installing longer-lived crossties. In the Newport News terminal, coal and merchandise piers were built, then torn down to be replaced by more modern ones or rebuilt to serve other purposes. New rolling stock facilities were built, and additional tracks laid to provide increased storage capacity for coal and merchandise cars. Tug boats and barges were bought, and later replaced with newer equipment; terminal facilities in Norfolk were built, and a car float op-eration (terminated in early 1981) and a passenger ferry service across Hampton Roads between Norfolk and Newport News was established.

In 1881, new class G-1 Consolida-

T-1 2-10-4 takes an extra coal train east at Poplar Springs, just east of Fulton in July 1951 while the big locomotives were serving out their time on the Peninsula. Heavy coal trains to the sea were the hallmark of the Peninsula SD. The Peninsula line gave the C&O its indispensable access to Hampton Roads Harbor. (J. I. Kelly Photo, C&OHS Collection, COHS-349)

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timetable appeared in one of 1873 in which Richmond was the base, with Huntington, for example, being shown as 421 miles distant. The C&O's annual report to the Virginia Railroad Commis-sioner for the year 1882 showed New-port News as the base, with Huntington being 496.10 miles away. At some time in the next few years the decision was made to put the base at Fort Monroe; the earliest mention of this is in a report dated October 17, 1889 by Harry Fra-

origin of the survey for the extension to Hampton, Phoebus and Fort Monroe was in the Newport News terminal, and some 47,238 feet later the survey ended at Fort Monroe, In surveyor's terms, the initial survey station number was 0/00 in Newport News and at the Fort Monroe end it was 472/38.

Distance from one point to another are obviously of great importance to any railroad, and the first available reference to distances in a C&O public

It wasn't the first mile of track laid in what is today's C&O system, but for measuring distances along the railroad, it has been for almost a century, the FIRST MILE. Mile Post Zero is located at the east end of that one mile of track and every distance along the main line is measured from that point.

A few hundred feat further and the track would have touched the waters of Chesapeake Bay at Old Point Comfort (Fort Monroe). What more logical] place to establish Mile Post Zero for a railroad that stretched westward from the edge of that bay through the Vir-ginia Piedmont region, over the Virginia and West Virginia Alleghany Mountains and along the Ohio River to Cincinnati, 664.9 miles away?

While track-laying to Newport News from Richmond was in progress in 1881, the C&O was planning to build an extension (now known as Hampton Branch) to Hampton and on to Fort Monroe, about ten miles east of New-port News. Construction was started in April 1881 and completed through Hampton and on to Phoebus and to the edge of the military reservation in December of that same year.' For some reason, the U.S. Government would not initially grant permission for the railroad to enter Fort Monroe, but eventually an act of Congress approved July 3, 1884 authorized the track extension upon conditions mutually agreed upon-by the Secretary of War and the C&O.

The first track location survey on Fort Monroe was made in 1884, fol-lowed by one in 1887 and another one in 1888, and actual construction of this one-mile-long extension was finally started in July 1889 and completed in June 1890.From Phoebus, the track crossed Mill Creek on a 1200 foot long trestle, then crossed a short piece of land, entered onto another trestle about 2800 feat long which crossed some wa-ter lapping the shores of Fort Monroe, and finally onto land for its last 300 feat, along which the passenger and freight stations were located. This was the end of the track, simply because there was no place else to go-beyond lay the waters of Chesapeake Bay. The point of

Mile Post Zero by William R. Vivian

The almost fantastical Ft. Monroe C&O station, built in 1889, was a tour d'force in Victo-rian gingerbread architecture. It served not only the military post, but also the giant Hygeia Hotel, and later the Chamberlain Hotel, located on the military reservation at Old PointComfort. (C&OHS Collection, COHS 26698)

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of some track changes made in 1928.The lowest-numbered milepost still in existence is MP 1, located at Phoebus only a few yards from where the station building stood before its destruction by fire in 1964.

To complete the story of this first mile, today the Hampton Branch, to all intents and purposes, ends at Phoebus, where it did in 1882. A hurricane in 1933 did extensive damage to the trestle on Fort Monroe, and a fall-off of pas-senger traffic to and from Old Point Comfort caused the eventual abandon-ment in 1939 of the track between the bit of land between the two trestles and the end of the track, along with the passenger and freight stations. The small body of water between the trestle and the shore was filled-in, a concrete road was built on the trace of the trestle, and a parking lot now occupies the space where the two station buildings -and Mile Post Zero-once stood.

There should be no doubt - this is the end of the line: Mile Post Zero at Ft. Monroe (Old Point Comfort), Va. Photo taken July 1940. Chesapeake Bay lies beyond the buildings in the back-ground.

engineering drawings of the C&O. Even though track may be re-aligned with re-sultant shortening or lengthening of dis-tances, the milepost designations remain unchanged. As a matter of fact, Mile Post Zero, on C&O maps is not now at what was surveyor station number 0/00 but is at station number 0/61.3 because

zier, Superintendent of Maintenance of Way, to J.T. Harahan, General Manager, with which Frazier submits a profile of the C&O's main line starting at Fort Monroe and running to Cincinnati, and in which he says: "...the notation of mile posts is from Fort Monroe." Thus was born Mile Post Zero.

So the surveyor's survey station number for the end of the track was changed from 472/38 to 0/00, and every milepost on the railroad and all written references to mileage had to be changed to reflect the "new beginning". The milepost at Newport News was marked "10", the distance to Rich-mond's Main Street Station was deter-mined to be 84.7 miles, to Huntington Station to be 504.0 miles, and to Cincin-nati Station to be 664.9 miles. The mile-posts were marked with whole numbers, while the figures in the tables showing distances to stations included tenths of a mile. At the turn of the century, the mileposts were marked with the mileage figure and the letters "Ft M", probably to guard against possible confusion between the new and the old bases for distances; at some unknown later date they were painted with only the numer-als, and they are so marked today.

The actual Mile Post Zero milepost has disappeared, but it still lives on in the employee's timetable and in the

Principals in the Milepost Zero ceremony stand with the marker and milepost. Left to right: W. R. Vivian, C&OHS, Clifton Booker, Chessie System, Col. R. E. Mackin, Ft.Monroe Commander, John Estes, NRHS Chapter President; Julian Tarrant, the manresponsible. Photo by Thomas W. Dixon, Jr. (C&OHS Collection, COSP 23)

C&O Milepost 0 at Fort Monroe, Va. July, 1940. Photo by Warren W. Scholl. (C&OHS Collection, COHS 27328)

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Yorktown by Ed Lyon

View of the Yorktown Centennial exhibition area from a drawing in Harper's Weekly, October 29, 1881. Note the C&O Yorktown Branch tracks ending at the temporary depot at far left. Courtesy of the Mariners Museum, negative No. PH 1323.

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The route of the Centennial Branch to Yorktown, Virginia was drawn by the author on this 1952 map of the Colonial National Historical Park Service. Track layout of the Centennial Branch and the 1918 spur to the U.S. Naval Mine Depot (now Yorktown Naval Weapons Station) at the wye one mile west of Lee Hall is shown in the inset.

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C&O and the Newport News Shipyard by Ed Lyon

Car building operations. April 2, 1923 (E.O. Smith Collection, courtesy of The Mariners' Museum, Newport News, Va. MS 153-617)

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On the same day the Disarmament Conference opened, Homer Ferguson had a premonition that an eventual treaty would seriously limit his company's construction of new ships and repair of existing ships - wiping out about $70,000,000 worth of prospective work.

That same day, he appointed Mr. C.F. Bailey, head of the Engineering Department, to investigate the pos-sibilities of building water turbines and repairing locomotives in the Yard. Mr. Bailey reported that prospects were good for those ideas and named other lines of work. In 1922 the charter was amended to allow the Company to engage generally in contracting, building and manufacturing reconstruction and repair work.

It was found that the North Yard would have to 'be provided with news work or close down. Therefore, orders were given for the purchase of neces-sary equipment for use in repairing 1,500 railroad cars and building new ones. The work was not profitable but it gave employment to about 650 men «oho would otherwise have been laid ofd Repairing locomotives for the C&O

With this prospect starring the Company in the face, there were only two viable options - first, to close the plant and liquidate the assets, or second, keep the plant open by turning to the manufacture of products other than ships. The management, under the able direction of its outstanding president, Homer L. Ferguson, chose the latter and began negotiations with the C&O and the three other previously listed railroads.

In spite of diligent research by two members of the Mariners= Museum staff, The total cost of the repairs of C&O locomotives and freight cars plus new car construction could not be found. However, it is likely to have been very reasonable and in some of the work, the Yard probably did not make a profit.

President Ferguson was alarmed early on by what he believed would be the ultimate result of the Washington Conference on the Limitation of Naval Armaments. which held its first meeting on Nov 12, 1921. The nations repre-sented were the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan.

It may come as a surprise to many C&OHS members that (a) lean times for the U.S. shipbuilding industry took place in the 1920s, not the Great Depression era of the 1930s, and (b) the C&O car-ried out major contracts with the New-port News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company for locomotive and freight car repairs plus construction of new cars during the period from 1922 to 1926.

During the five-year span, the Yard compiled incredible statistics with C&O equipment: 136 locomotives and 600 freight cars repaired plus 3,0U9 new cars built. Also having major contracts with the Newport News Shipyard were the Pennsylvania, Norfolk and Western and Seaboard Air line railroads.

To say that both the Newport News Shipyard and the C&O benefited from the contracts is an understatement. At the end of World War 1 the Yard had enough work to keep the plant in opera-tion for several years. However, over-night, the result of the Disarmament Conference in Washington, DC swept away all construction of any magnitude, leaving the company practically without orders on its books.

Foreground locomotive No. 407 and one behind it on track - Class G-7 Consolidations built early in the 20th Century by ALCO-Richmond – are receiving super heaters. (Courtesy of Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, collection of William R. Vivian.)

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the railway company furnishing us the required material. Our contracts 8-L to 14-L inclusive were awarded us on base contract prices for material and labor with a definite schedule of debits and credits for changes in the base specifica-tions.

"Our locomotive work for the railway company was undertaken shortly after the present personnel of their mechanical department assumed control and because of the lack of adequate shop facilities to perform sufficient repairs in company shops.

" At that time the expected life of a Mallet locomotive between general overhauling was 50,000 miles and the actual accomplished life was 65 to 70 per cent of that mileage.

"So clearly did the new mechanical officers draw up their specifications and so cordially did they cooperate with us

The Yard's Shipyard Bulletin of November 1927 summarized repairs of C&O locomotives during the five-years from 1922 to 26. The article was titled "Locomotive Rebuilding":"The Chesa-peake and Ohio Railway Company has furnished us a very desirable line of busi-ness during the past five years, which has provided a considerable volume of work for the T and T Shop, the Main Machine Shop, Forge Shop, Foundry, Sheet Metal Shop and other departments.

"That work consisted of giving general repairs to 136 locomotives of the following classes;

"One Mikado; 32 of the G-7 and G-7S types and 103 Mallets. These locomotives were divided among our `L' orders from 1-L through 14-L.

"...Our contracts 1-L to 6-L inclu-sive were awarded us on the basis of our performing the necessary labor and

and other railroads also gave a number of men employment. A C&O engineer said to Mr.Ferguson, "all the' boys want your engines, especially when they had a heavy job ahead.

To meet the need for heavy repairs to its equipment, Mr. Ferguson an-nounced on Jan 10, 1922 that the C&O would send a large freight locomotive and a passenger locomotive to the Yard for repair. This was for the purpose of demonstration and in preparation for more work in that line at the Yard if found to be feasible.

To illustrate some of the special considerations for going into work other than shipbuilding and marine repairs, several job orders for special equipment included: A 600-ton wheel press, a track pit in the machine shop, a flue welding and scarfing machine for the boiler shop and special track on the south side for building 2.00 cars.

Detail view of car assembly work. February 20, 1923. (E.O. Smith Collection, courtesy of The Mariners' Museum, Newport News, Va. MS 153-608)

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"The Management wished to provide work for its employees who had been faithful during the rush of War (World War I) and had homes here (in Newport News, and Hampton) and who would have been seriously inconve-nienced to move away.

"To that end we entered extensively into the field of building and repairing

"As the Disarmament Conference practically wiped out all immediate prospects for major shipbuilding activi-ties, we were faced at that-lime with the alternative of either closing down most of the Yard's North Side or turning to new and untried line of work that would absorb the idle ship facilities and employ the organizations there.

in the execution of the work that when 10-L contract was begun, the average accomplished life of Newport News Mallet locomotives was over 100 per cent, and the railway company increased the expected life from 50,000 miles to 55,000 - a 10 per cent increase.

"These locomotives are used on the western division for hauling heavy coal trains.

"...On contract 14-L, 12 engines have been delivered and put in service without a single `write-up' anywhere along the line.

"Our appreciation is especially extended to the railway company's executives for their friendly and liberal attitude extending throughout the entire period of this locomotive work, without which it would have been exceedingly difficult to enter this line of work and accomplish the successful record which is a source of pride to our entire Com-pany...."

The Yard's Shipyard Bulletin of December 1927 covered the construc-tion of new freight cars and repair of old cars. Leading off the article was the following comment:

C&O Class H-2 Mallet (built in 1911 by ALCO-Richmond) is at the Newport News Shipyard and is ready to depart after repairs at the Yard. (Courtesy of Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company) collection of William R. Vivian).

The jobs were listed as follows:Contract Date No. Built and Description Requesting Company

New Cars (5,239)May 9, 1922 1,509 steel hopper bottom gondolas C&OJune 1, 1922 500 steel frame-wood ventilated box C&OMarch 17, 1923 200 composite gondolas Seaboard Air LineJan 24, 1924 1,000 all-steel auto box Pennsylvania RRJuly 15, 1924 1,000 steel hopper bottom gondolas C&ONov 10, 1924 1,000 steel flat bottom gondolas Norfolk & Western

Cars Repaired (1,540)April 11, 1922 100 steel gondolas C&O1922 10 wood box cars Norfolk & WesternAug 25, 1923 250 steel gondolas C&OFeb 15, 1924 500 steel gondolas Norfolk & WesternJan 23, 1924 250 steel gondolas C&OJan 24, 1924 130 steel gondolas Seaboard By-Products

Coke Co.

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News - plus the railroad contracts - and it should be noted that one of the city's high schools was named for him.

Although the Ferguson legend lives on at the Yard, some of the structures that operated during his long era as president and chairman are gone. Much of the C&O track that formerly ex-isted next to the Yard likewise has been removed.

Incredibly, one of the few remind-ers of the Ferguson years still exists on Shipyard Drive which parallels the Yard (now a part of the Northrop Grumman vast Empire). It is the sign on one of the buildings and reads: Newport News Shipbuilding And Dry Dock Company.

For the conclusion of this article, the writer has opted to use an excerpt from a piece which appeared in a mid-1920s issue of the Chesapeake and Ohio and Hocking Valley Employees' Magazine, which discusses the Yard's physical layout in the 1920s.

Author William L. Tazewell in his book, "Newport News Shipbuilding The First Century" noted that " Fergu-son had instinctive managerial skills. He was attentive to details and at the same time, willing to delegate responsibility for the routine running of the shipyard to subordinates. He was a born leader of men, with the kind of personal touch that encouraged everyone he met to think of him as a friend... "

Perhaps more important than anything else, he was friendly with yard workers and knew many of them by name. They really adored him and great-ly appreciated the fact that he would operate the Yard, at a financial loss if necessary, to keep them on the job.

Homer Ferguson passed away on March 14, 1953. He was 80 ears old. His death resulted in major page one stories in the Newport News Daily Press and Times¬Herald newspapers. He had played a major role in the build-ing of nearly 500 ships at Newport

freight cars. Large capital expenditures were made for new tools and equipment to augment the facilities then avail-able. The special equipment included a 600-ton wheel press, a track pit in the machine shop, a flue welding and scrap-ing machine for the boiler shop and laying a special track on the Yard's south side for building 200 freight cars (which illustrated the crowded conditions for space).

In a concluding paragraph, the article noted that "During this period of car building, a maximum of 641 men were employed on the work. As a whole the work was not profitable and had to be abandoned but the things we learned in freight car building have helped us a great deal in shipbuilding.

Some readers may wonder how the Yard was able to make the complex and difficult transition from ship building/repair to railroad projects. Much of the answer to this question can be attrib-uted directly to President Ferguson.

Locomotive repair work in the Erecting Machine Shop. March 27, 1923. (E.O. Smith Collection, courtesy of The Mariners' Museum, Newport News, Va. MS 153-616)

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AcknowledgementsThe author extends his appreciation

to three persons who carried out exten-sive research on C&O projects at the Newport News Shipyard. They are: Mac Beard, managing editor and art direc-tor of the C&OHS historical magazine, and Mr. Bill Barker and Mrs. Jeanne Eubanks, both members of The Mari-ners' Museum archives facility which was moved early this year to the Christopher Newport University library. Mr. Barker is assistant archivist and Mrs. Eubanks was a CNU library assistant until her recent resignation to accompany her husband on a new military assignment.

Back of the waterfront of the southerly part of the plant are the stor-age yards for vast quantities of lumber, the saw mill, dry kilns, joiner and paint shops. Back of the fitting out piers and dry docks there are machine, pipe, boiler and blacksmith shops, general store-rooms and other departments whose operations are advantageously carried on in that area. There is also a direct track connection to the C&O.

For the distribution of the large number of cars of material received at the plant daily there is a network of heavy standard gauge track connected to the C&O by a doubletracked spur.

This great industry, typical of American genius and enterprise, is the largest single industry directly on the rails of the C&O.

The plant is a Fair-sized com-munity, embracing 115 acres, while the land occupied by the foundry, pattern shop, supplemental warehouses, storage yards, and housing extensions adjoin-ing the main tract of the plant make up a total of more than 150 acres. This tract extends from the night-of-way of the Chesapeake and Ohio to the lames River, a distance of about 3,200 feet.

The company's waterfront, begin-ning one mile north from the C&O ter-minal piers extends about three-quarters of a mile. The dry docks in the central section and the shipways north of these occupy about 2,000 feet of this water-front. Upon the remainder, wharves and piers are constructed which, together with the piers between the dry docks and between certain of the shipways, provide nearly two miles of berthing space for new ships being fitted and for ships undergoing repairs.

New cars on the spur track. November 8, 1923. (E.O. Smith Collection, courtesy of The Mariners' Museum, Newport News, Va. MS 153-633)

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MODELING THE BASEMENT SUBDIVISION

Water Colum ( Working Title)by Karen Parker

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