August 2015 Article
This Month's Article: August 2015
The past and the present - N&A short stories
It is sad to report on the demise of one more Nelson & Albemarle locomotive. GE 35-ton diesel c/n 31768 (the N&A 3rd #2) is now reported scrapped as junk by the Imerys Corporation in Sylacauga, Alabama (actually having happened in 2009 or 2010) as noted in a site visit on August 26, 2015 to the Gaant's Quarry location by Sylacuaga. Starting life in November 1952, the unit was a rare 35-ton diesel of 234hp that shipped to the N&A in early December of that year. Having moved to Alabama Marble (then owned by Georgia Marble) the unit never strayed from it's location as the company evolved into Imerys. Security personnel at the Imerys site at the quarry advised that the unit had become severely rusted and could no longer safely perform service. Imerys' manager of rail operations, Abel Mendoza, will be contacted to determine (if possible) the company where and the actual date the diesel was disposed. ### This leaves only two remaining N&A locomotives; one static and one active. + The static unit is of course the former Old Dominion Soapstone Company #2 (and 2nd #2 of the N&A) which is sitting in the lumbar yard at Goshen, Virginia albeit without it's signature boiler-wrapped saddle tank for water. With a build date of October 4th, 1909, the Vulcan unit (c/n 1436) saw varied service before receiving a new boiler in December 1926. The steamer was placed in out-of-service status in December 1931 and was later sold to the Virginia Blue Ridge Railway in 1942 (though shown sold to local-Nelson County business, American Cyanimid) and became VBR's 1st #4 locomotive. VBR sold the 0-4-0T to Leas & McVitty of Buena Vista, Virginia (a tanning extract manufacturer) for a little more than four times what they had paid for the saddle-tank loco after only a little more than a year of use re-ballasting their main lines to support additional traffic! In 1956 L&McV sold the locomotive to an individual, Charles Watson, who removed the saddle tank and featured the steamer outside of a motel in Marion, Virginia until Will Harris purchased the unit and moved it to his North Fork Lumber Company site. + The active unit (as last we knew) remains in use at Great Lakes Calcium in Green Bay, Wisconsin (to be confirmed by site is visit in October). The GE 25-ton 'B' diesel (c/n 31778) was the N&A 2nd #3 unit. Built in January 1953 in Erie, Pennsylvania, the 150hp locomotive completed it's use on the N&A at Schuyler, Virginia and was transferred to the Georgia Marble Nelson, Georgia site in 1963 though stored out-of-service for some years. Railrhodes, Inc. bought the unit and in 2002 sold it to Great Lakes Calcium in Woodville, Ohio where it apparently was invlived in a collision. GLC, prior to selling it's facility in Ohio, shipped the damaged unit off to their Green Bay, Wisconsin location (around 2003). In mid-February 2014, GLC confirmed by phone that the unit now sporting a Green Bay Packers emblem is indeed GE c/n 31778. ### The goal of any historical society is to provide the background and value that the railroad provided to the community and company it served. The last remaining diesel is still providing service to the Great Lakes Calcium Company and the last steam locomotive, though missing parts, is still available to visit and photograph. It was quite disappointing when it was discovered that the GE 44-ton diesel (N&A 3rd #1) had been scrapped by TTX in North Augusta, South Carolina some years back as they re-engined their remaining small critters. Now that the GE 35-ton diesel (N&A 3rd #2) is also gone, it is with mixed emotion that we contemplate their extended lives - they were born in 1950 and 1952 and lasted through into about 1990 and 2009; 40 and 57 years! These were fantastic life spans and the GE 25-ton diesel (N&A 2nd #3) is still operating today, 62 years later! If you have the chance to see the last steam locomotive in Goshen, Virginia, by all means get out there and experience it firsthand. If you can see the last diesel out in Green Bay, Wisconsin, please do so. It is not likely that either of these locomotives will ever be finding their way into a static display in Schuyler, Virginia or possibly at the C&O historical society facility at Clifton Forge, Virginia, but we can always hope.
Now, the past is present! August 2015 took this author to the University of Virginia and the Albert & Shirley Small Special Collections Library where recently Laird Ramsey donated historical documents found in an old desk in Schuyler, Virginia at a garage sale. There were 145 sets of documents as yet uncatalogued by the staff at UVA. This led to a review of ALL of the sets and an informal cataloging by this writer (as well as photographs of many of the pertinent items that help the historical society provide it's goal of identifying where railfans and researchers can find information on the Nelson & Albemarle Railway). When complete, the initial cataloging will separate the 145 sets into a matrix of data including company involvement, year reference, and historical commentary and share that data with the UVA staff tasked with reviewing and understanding the historical significance of each document. Laird had many options on disposition of these documents. He could have kept and sold them individually, but his recognition for their historical value and significance led him to ask myself and Becky Howard of the Nelson County Historical Society for the best place to have them available for research use. He then chose the Special Collections Library at UVA which already held a significant amount of documents and historical photographs that reference the Nelson & Albemarle Railway and the various soapstone company iterations it served including the unpublished manuscript by Garth Groff, Soapstone Shortlines: Alberene Stone and it's Railroads which he condensed into a booklet of the same name in 1992. So, we applaud you, Laird Ramsey, for your donation of these significant and historical legal and company documents which provide more insight into both the soapstone company and the Nelson & Albemarle Railway operations during it's very early years.
And the future approaches! As promised last month, the current status of Book Planning is now included monthly: We have completed the initial book layout format (eBook, with limited page size) and are now working on securing individual permission to use certain materials the least of which is a film clip by August Thieme that shows an N&A train operating in the late 1940's or early 1950's.
Send email to NelsonAlbemarle@comcast.net if you have any comments or questions or wish to contribute to future articles.
We will continue to include the book planning segment in each month's article as shown here:
Cover - Photo of #9 with boxcar and combine from California Railroad Museum (a Charles Clegg photograph from the Mixed Train Daily series)
Inside - Detailed map of Nelson & Albemarle (to be prepared from multiple sources including plats, valuation maps, diagrams from COHS, topographical maps, etc.) Note: This map has been created, but there is a notable gap in the track diagram for the Rockfish, Virginia area which has kept this map from being completed. We continue to look for that detail as we move forward to publish this book.
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 - Origin of the N&A; predecessors Schuyler Railway, Alberene Railroad, Lease of the C&O Alberene Subdivision
Chapter 2 - Soapstone Company histories; (Albemarle, Virginia, Alberene + others such as Old Dominion that merged)
Chapter 3 - Nelson & Albemarle Railway - how it began, leases, where it ran, topical discussions on why and where
Chapter 4 - Depots, Yard(s), Sidings, Interchanges, Timetables
Chapter 5 - Steam Locomotives (1, 2; Old Dominion 1, 2; the mystery of 3; 4; 5 & 6; 7; the mystery of 8 and how it got on the N&A Stock Certificate; 9 & 10; 11; 12, 14, 15.)
Chapter 6 - Diesel Locomotives (1, 2, 3 and their subsequent histories)
Chapter 7 - Misc. Powered Equipment (4-wheel Sheffield Velocipede bought from Fairbanks-Morse Company model="Maude" which name it kept)
Chapter 8 - Mixed Train Service (great chapter for photographs, but also to showcase the requirement of mixed trains to serve needs)
Chapter 8A - Passenger Service, Equipment, + Caboose(s) including 1 former RF&P (passenger only trains, equipment 'borrowed' from the C&O, end of passenger service, caboose as passenger service)
Chapter 8B - Freight Service, Equipment + off line equipment such as freight dollys, soapstone dollys for gang saws, etc.; (boxcars from NYC, etc.; hoppers, ballast car, flat cars to service quarries and gang saws;
Chapter 9 - Photographers (Charles Clegg, August Thieme, H. Reid, etc.), Motion Picture Photographer (only 1 known - August Thieme), and Authors (Archie Robertson, Lucius Beebe, Richard Prince, Garth Groff, Mallory Hope Ferrell)
Chapter 10 - Publications, etc. on N&A (the web site detail here)
Chapter 11 - The N&A what if and what is (what if the N&A had continued to exist; what is left of the N&A today and how Soapstone is again in a revival period)
Inside back - Fanciful map of the sightseeing along the route, plus the industries other than soapstone served by the line including school 'bus' service.
NOTE: The Roster of the Nelson & Albemarle Railway will be staying with us as we listen to your comments and make corrections and/or updates!
Nelson & Albemarle Railway - Roster
Since C. E. Fisher first compiled a two-page document chronicling the motive power of the Nelson & Albemarle Railway in the 1940's, there have been 4 published collections of data that provided detail on the equipment used by the soapstone companies that was leased or provided to the Nelson & Albemarle Railway for it's use. C. E. Fisher's roster is held in the Youngstown State University (Ohio) Archives Library in the Lester L. Dickson Collection and is a minor part of C. E. Fisher's lifes work. He was author of such books as The Early Railroads of Kentucky, The McConnell Locomotives, and The United States Military Railroads.
This is the annual update of information on the Nelson & Albemarle Railway equipment and includes steam, diesel, and motor-car information. If you have additional information on the roster, or have a previously unknown photograph of any equipment, please write to NelsonAlbemarle@comcast.net and share your data.
Nelson & Albemarle Railway Roster
Number
Schuyler Railway
Type
Trolley
Cylinders
N/A
Drivers
---
Builder
Lewis & Fowler
Built
1891
C/N or S/N
Unknown
Year Range
1899-1905
Three (3) Lewis & Fowler single truck, open platform trolley cars purchased secondhand from Lynchburg Street Railway. Originally built with Eickemeyer trucks (jack shafts and side rods) there were 6 cars purchased from the manufacturer in Brooklyn, New York and received starting 3 March 1891 and ending 5 May 1891 as the Lynchburg Street Railway's first trolleys. Schuyler Railway purchased and received them in summer/fall 1899 with Maguire #20 trucks and Westinghouse motors that had been retrofitted in May 1892. A fourth trolley may also have been purchased to use for parts (or as noted in Hill City Trolleys by Harold E. Cox. this may have been used solely as locomotive). Noted in soapstone company memorandums, one car had all seats removed for use as locomotive. Two remaining trolley had some seats removed to provide mixed train service. Three non-powered freight cars were also noted as owned.
* Photograph in Hill Street Trolleys by Harold E. Cox in NEARHS colletion of Nelson & Albemarle Railway memorabilia. Copyright Protected - Permission requested to use.
Number
Alberene Railroad
Type
C&O Equipment
Cylinders
---
Drivers
---
Builder
---
Built
---
C/N or S/N
---
Year Range
1897-1903
Leased by the C&O immediately upon completion on 13 July 1897 for five years as their Alberene Branch, the line was subsequently purchased by the C&O on 15 February 1902. All equipment used on the line was C&O power. Albemarle Soapstone Company likely had own small locomotive (ST) to manage quarry operations moving soapstone to mill.
* Digital photo of the Roundhouse model 84773 Chesapeake & Ohio steam locomotive 2-6-0 #425 typical of the era (though paint scheme more likely black) and typical type used on branch lines from photograph of model in the NEARHS collection of Nelson & Albemarle Railway memorabilia.
Number
1 (1st)
Type
0-4-0T
Cylinders
7x12
Drivers
28"
Builder
Porter
Built
May 1887
C/N or S/N
836
Year Range
1903-1920
Former Richmond City Railway #1 "Belle" an 0-4-0DY based on Vulcan catalogue style, "Lake Side"; subsequently sold to SI&E in 1920 as #1599; thence to Pierce-Williams (Fruit Basket Company) in Jonesboro, Arkansas on 17 April 1924. Only known photograph available in Smithsonian Institution, Negative #893603, Frame 42077.
* Photo Print on heavy photo paper from NEARHS collection of Nelson & Albemarle Railway memorabilia.
Number
2 (1st)
Type
Unknown
Cylinders
---
Drivers
---
Builder
---
Built
---
C/N or S/N
---
Year Range
1903-1920
Year Range
1903-1920
Year Range
1904-1924
Likely small 0-4-0T unit serving quarry operations at either Alberene or Schuyler
Number
3 (1st)
Type
Unknown
Cylinders
---
Drivers
---
Builder
---
Built
---
C/N or S/N
---
Likely small 0-4-0T unit serving quarry operations at either Alberene or Schuyler
Number
4
Type
2-6-2T
Cylinders
14x20
Drivers
---
Builder
Porter
Built
Dec 1904
C/N or S/N
3107
1st NEW locomotive for Nelson & Albemarle Railway, subsequently sold to SI&E in 1924 as their #1939; thence to Batesville & Southwestern on 13 September 1924 as an 0-6-0 with 8 wheel tender as B&SW #11 in Batesville, Mississippi. Sold back to SI&E as #2483 for scrap in 1942.
* Photo courtesy of David Price collection with permission provided for use. View as seen at Southern Iron & Equipment before conversion to 0-6-0 with tender. Print now in NEARHS collection of Nelson & Albemarle Railway memorabilia.
Number
5
Type
0-4-4T
Cylinders
12x16
Drivers
42"
Builder
Pittsburgh
Built
Jan 1894
C/N or S/N
1510
Year Range
1905-1924
Former Manhattan Ry. 2nd #60; Class K-2, engine weight 47000#, weight on drivers 33000#, wheel base 16', 1"; number of tubes=14, heating surface 546sf; boiler diameter 42" with Belpaire firebox; water capacity 512g; built 10 January 1894; (20 total locomotives built in this series). Noted to have vacuum brakes. To Virginia Alberene Corp. via P. McManus, Cape Charles, Virginia (dealer). Sold to Virginia Soapstone, 6 March 1905.; reportedly resold to P. McManus around 1920.
* Photograph is from Collection of New York Transit Museum Archives (see copyright restriction embedded in thumbnail image) from NEARHS collection of Nelson & Albemarle Railway memorabilia. Courtesy of the New York Transit Museum Archives. "This image cannot be reproduced without the written permission of the New York Transit Museum Archives." Please do not copy or infringe on these rights. Copies are available from the New York Transit Museum Archives via their website: http://www.mta.info/mta/museum/archiveguid.html
Number
6
Type
0-4-4T
Cylinders
12x16
Drivers
42"
Builder
Pittsburgh
Built
Dec 1893
C/N or S/N
1508
Year Range
1905-1924
Year Range
1905-1920
Year Range
1905-1920
Former Manhattan Ry. 2nd #56; Class K-2, engine weight 47000#, weight on drivers 33000#, wheel base 16', 1"; number of tubes=14, heating surface 546sf; boiler diameter 42" with Belpaire firebox; water capacity 512g, built 22 December 1893; (20 total locomotives built in this series). Noted to have vacuum brakes. To Virginia Alberene Corp. via P. McManus, Cape Charles, Virginia (dealer); Sold to Virginia Soapstone, 19 May 1905.; reportedly resold to P. McManus around 1920.
Number
7
Type
2-4-2T
Cylinders
8x12
Drivers
26"
Builder
Baldwin
Built
Nov 1887
C/N or S/N
8874
Ex-Proctor Coal Company #1, "Hutchcraft"; Used as primary locomotive on Schuyler to Rockfish run; sold to SI&E in May 1920 as their #1597. thence to A. F. Langford Co. #2 Bartey, Florida on 23 September 1920 with cylinders changed to 17x24. Photo in Smithsonian Institution, Negative #893602 - Frame #42076.
* Copy of photographic print "Nelson & Albemarle Railway Baldwin 2-4-2 Tank Locomotive", circa 1920, Thomas Norrell Railroad Collection, NMAH.AC.1174, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, box number 80, folder 17, digital file number 893602/42076 from NEARHS collection of Nelson & Albemarle Railway memorabilia.
Number
8
Type
Unknown
Cylinders
---
Drivers
---
Builder
---
Built
---
C/N or S/N
---
Remembered by 'old-timers' as having a tender; however no known photographs or references. Except, the Virginia Alberene Corporation stock certificate (blank) has a soapstone train depicted with a small locomotive with tender which could have been #8. Stock certificate noted has preprinted 192_ referencing that the issue would be during that decade and likely after locomotive #8 was scrapped. Personal Note: The use of the steam locomotive with tender on stock certificate looks to be a Forney locomotive but with a tender providing water for continual use. However, this view does not have a smoke stack of the height of the #5 or #6 locomotives. This could be a third locomotive purchased from former-Manhattan Railway surplus, but there is no record or documentation as to that effect. And it should also be noted that some switching locomotives sold by the Baldwin Locomotive Works included separate tenders to extend the operational capacity of the locomotive when access to clean water was not always available.
* Image taken from Virginia Alberene stock certificate blank in NEARHS collection of Nelson & Albemarle Railway memorabilia.
Number
"Maude"
Type
4-whl "Sheffield" Velocipede
Cylinders
---
Drivers
---
Builder
Fairbanks-Morse Company
Built
Unknown
C/N or S/N
---
Year Range
1903~05-Unknown
Unit purchased through Fairbanks-Morse, a Sheffield Velocipede, (though term velocipede had been changed to 'Sheffield Car') was used in early days of N&A for the personal service of the general manager and executives though frequently allowed to be used for other purposes. Purchased by J. W. Foster of the N&A Railway several years before 1910 (Reference: Memo to Fairbanks Morse in 1910 where the unit is called 'Maude'). Note: Sheffield Velocipedes had model names that all started with the letter "M" including "Maude", though no catalog has been found with the specific model mentioned.
* Photograph from public domain copy of Fairbanks-Morse catalog circa 1905. No.2 is Code Word, Minturn while Code Word Maude is another model though similar to this depiction from the NEARHS collection of Nelson & Albemarle Railway memorabilia.
Number
1 (2nd)
Type
0-4-0T
Cylinders
7x12
Drivers
24"
Builder
Vulcan
Built
Jun 1905
C/N or S/N
675
Year Range
1916-1920
Year Range
1916-1942
Old Dominion Soapstone Company was merged into the Virginia Alberene Corporation in February 1917 and their locomotives became part of the soapstone companies operations though on separate properties. Built for Old Dominion Soapstone of Esmont, Virginia as "Vulcan". Company headquartered at Damon, Virginia at time of merger. Sold by the Nelson & Albemarle Railway to SI&E in 1920 as their #1600. No record of resale. Photo in Smithsonian Institution, Negative #893604 - Frame #42078.
* Copy of photographic print "Nelson & Albemarle Railway Vulcan 0-4-0 Tank Locomotive", circa 1920, Thomas Norrell Railroad Collection, NMAH.AC.1174, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, box number 80, folder 17, digital file number 893604/42078 from NEARHS collection of Nelson & Albemarle Railway memorabilia.
Number
2 (2nd)
Type
0-4-0T
Cylinders
11x16
Drivers
30"
Builder
Vulcan
Built
Oct 1909
C/N or S/N
1436
Old Dominion Soapstone Company was merged into the Virginia Alberene Corporation in February 1917 and their locomotives became part of the soapstone companies operations though on separate properties. Built for Old Dominion Soapstone on 4 October 1909, the locomotive had service weight of 41,000#, tank capacity of 750 gallons, Fuel capacity of 500#; a working pressure of 145# and rated tractive effort of 9050# and an oil headlamp. Company headquartered at Damon, Virginia at time of merger. Received new boiler in June 1926. Continued in service until 1 December 1931 noted as out-of-service on the quarry property. Virginia Alberene merged with Alberene Stone Corporation in April 1935 with no change to numbering or out-of-service status of locomotive except added to the Nelson & Albemarle Railway roster. Though noted as sold to American Cyanimid in 1942, records from the Virginia Blue Ridge Railway held by the Whippany Railway Museum confirm that the locomotive was sold to the Virginia Blue Ridge Railway in June 1942 for $600 as their first #4 where it was used for a year and a half hauling ballast trains as the railroad upgraded its roadbed to accommodate increase of traffic from aplite plants and Southern Mineral Products facility. Noted historian, Tom Lawson, Jr. (author of Locomotives of the SI&E Company) received detail from Alan Maples in 2014 that showed that VBR had shipper, American Cyanimid at Piney River pay for work on the locomotive and they did not have an ownership stake in the engine. The Virginia Blue Ridge sold the locomotive when no longer needed to Leas & McVitty, Inc. a tanning extract manufacturer in Buena Vista, Virginia on 22 December 1943 for $2500. Taken out of service in the late-1950's, the locomotive was sold to Charles Watson in 1962 who displayed locomotive in front of a motel in Marion, Virginia (with the saddle tank removed). Purchased later by Will Harris of North Fork Lumber Company of Goshen, Virginia where the locomotive remains in static condition on siding (next to a Shay) in private collection and viewable on request. This is the only remaining Nelson & Albemarle Railway rostered-locomotive not scrapped.
* Photograph part of misc. set of photo prints purchased from dealer at Railroad Memorabilia show with no identified photographer and now part of NEARHS collection of Nelson & Albemarle Railway memorabilia.
Number
9
Type
2-6-2T
Cylinders
17x24
Drivers
46"
Builder
Vulcan
Built
Apr 1920
C/N or S/N
3045
Year Range
1920-1952
Built for Nelson & Albemarle Railway as 2-6-2ST #9 purchased by Virginia Alberene Corporation and delivered to Schuyler, Virginia. 148,000#. Primary mainline locomotive from delivery until replaced by GE 44-ton diesel in 1951 30 years later. Scrapped in 1952.
* Photograph from unknown photographer with negative in the NEARHS collection of Nelson & Albemarle Railway memorabilia.
Number
10
Type
2-6-2T
Cylinders
15x24
Drivers
42"
Builder
Vulcan
Built
Dec 1922
C/N or S/N
3278
Year Range
1922-1953
Built for Nelson & Albemarle Railway as 2-6-2ST #10 purchased by Virginia Alberene Corporation and delivered to Rockfish, Virginia. 112,000#. Used in service between Schuyler and Rockfish and secondary locomotive for mainline between Schuyler and Esmont/Warren. Scrapped in 1953.
* Photograph is W. H. Thayer picture postcard from NEARHS collection of Nelson & Albemarle Railway memorabilia.
Number
11
Type
2-4-2T
Cylinders
14x22
Drivers
40"
Builder
Vulcan
Built
Oct 1909
C/N or S/N
1381
Year Range
1923-1954
Built for Culver & Port Clinton Railroad, Gypsum, Ohio as their #2; 86,000#; Received new boiler #2929 in July 1916. Was at Vulcan shops at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania before being sold to Nelson & Albemarle Ry in March 1923 (noted as going to N&A in April 1923). New boiler installed in 1927 (though shown places as same boiler #2929 from 1916). Said to have been scrapped in 1954, there is a known photograph from 1951 with #11 in Warren where the locomotive was usually operating in Schuyler. While the arrival of the first diesel had already displaced #9 as the mainline locomotive, #11 would be the last active steam survivor on the N&A with scrapping taking place in 1954.
* Photograph is an unknown photographer print from photo taken on 20 August 1941 from NEARHS collection of Nelson & Albemarle Railway memorabilia. N&A #14 is also shown in photo (and photo from opposite direction is also in the NEARHS collection).
Number
12
Type
0-4-0T
Cylinders
12x18
Drivers
33"
Builder
Vulcan
Built
Feb 1924
C/N or S/N
3426
Year Range
1924-1953
Built for Virginia Alberene Corporation as Nelson & Albemarle #12 delivered to Rockfish, Virginia. 60,000#. Scrapped 1953.
* Photograph is an H. Reid picture postcard from NEARHS collection of Nelson & Albemarle Railway memorabilia.
Number
Not Named or Numbered
Type
4 wheel - gas powered
Cylinders
---
Drivers
---
Builder
Plymouth (Fate-Root-Heath Company)
Built
Oct 1924
C/N or S/N
1860
Year Range
1924-1963
Year Range
1925-1953
Puchased by Phoenix Stone Company of New York City for delivery to Standard Soapstone of Arrington, Virginia as 42" gauge locomotive built 13 October 1924 as Model DLC, Type 6. To Virginia Alberene Corporation on 18 December 1930 and converted to Standard Gauge at some point. Photo of tracks by quarry show unit at Schuyler. According to article by Ed Fielding in The Short Line: The Journal of Shortline & Industrial Railroads in January/February 1978 (Volume 6, Number 1; TSL #31), this Plymouth unit (un-numbered) was in the engine house at Schuyler in 1965 making it the last of the roster to be present on the original property.
* Photo from NEARHS collection of prints.
Number
14
Type
0-4-0T
Cylinders
12x18
Drivers
33"
Builder
Vulcan
Built
Feb 1925
C/N or S/N
3507
Built in February 1925 (though shown some places as built in 1926) for Virginia Alberene Corporation as Nelson & Albemarle #14 delivered to Schuyler, Virginia. 60,000#. Scrapped 1953.
* Photograph is an unknown photographer's picture postcard from NEARHS collection of Nelson & Albemarle Railway memorabilia.
Number
15
Type
0-4-0T
Cylinders
12x16
Drivers
33"
Builder
Vulcan
Built
Jan 1917
C/N or S/N
2590
Year Range
1928-1953
Year Range
1951-1963
Originally built for Chile Exploration Company, 52,000#; diverted to Alberoyd Company, Esmont, Virginia as their #1; thence to Rhodes Construction Company, and Virginia Alberene Corp on 7 March 1928.
Number
1 (3rd)
Type
B-B
Cylinders
---
Drivers
---
Builder
GE
Built
Dec 1950
C/N or S/N
30856
GE 44-ton B-B Diesel c/n 30856. Built in December 1950 for Nelson & Albemarle Railway #1 (the third #1) requisition #RIC-29947 555/733/D-17000, rated 44-tons and 400hp; date shipped 9 January 1951. (The D-17000 is technically rated as 2, Caterpillar V-8 diesel engines at-180hp each plus 2-134kw motors though listed as 400hp for this unit). Replaced 2-6-2T #9 as mainline engine until end of N&A career when line was shutdown in 1963. Officially transferred to Georgia Marble ownership in 1963 and moved to Tate, Georgia. After some time, the diesel was sent to Gantt's Quarry in Alabama, then sold to Industrial Maintenance (Service) Co. in 1976 but never on their property before being sold to Hamburg Industries, North Augusta, South Carolina (company was later purchased by TTX). Unit was painted in Hamburg Industries color scheme and numbered as #2. Last known photograph taken 30 July 1982 by Mac Connery of Durham, North Carolina. When TTX planned a re-engine project, 30856 was not selected for upgrades. Instead, #2 was used as spare parts for the remaining 44-ton units on the property, stored for short time on west side of property until eventually scrapped with Progress Rail (possibly as a trade-in for another 44-ton unit). Noted as scrapped at Patterson, Georgia, but Progress Rail reports that any unit sent for scrapping would have been forwarded to Mayfield, Kentucky.
* Photograph is from Photographer, Charles Wales (slide) taken on 30 October 1953 near Esmont, Virginia and is original slide from the NEARHS collection of Nelson & Albemarle Railway memorabilia.
Number
2 (3rd)
Type
B
Cylinders
---
Drivers
---
Builder
GE
Built
Nov 1952
C/N or S/N
31768
Year Range
1952-1963
GE 35-ton B Diesel c/n 31768 (rare unit). Built in November 1952 for Alberene Stone Corp. as Nelson & Albemarle #2 (third #2), requisition #RIC-49116-2 558/733/NHBIS, rated 35-tons, 234hp; date shipped 5 December 1952. Replaced multiple steam locomotives used in quarry operations and in service until end of N&A career when line was shutdown in 1963. Officially transferred to Georgia Marble ownership in 1963, but sent to Alabama Marble Division, Gantt's Quarry, as Alabama Marble #2 in Sylacauga, Alabama (repainted into Georgia Marble colors at some point) and now serves the Imerys Pigment Plant (merger activity of Georgia Marble). Last know photographed in 2005. Confirmed scrapped for metal in 2009 or 2010 by security personnel at Gaant's Quarry on August 26, 2015 while onsite in Sylacauga, Alabama. Unit was rusted out badly and no longer able to perform workload. Working to confirm what company scrapped the diesel with Abel Mendoza, Imerys rail operations manager in Georgia.
* Photograph by Tom Lawson, Jr. captured on 8 June 1963 at Gantt's Quarry Alabama. Tom is the author of "Locomotives of the Southern Iron & Equipment Company" available from Cabbage Stack Publishing in Birmingham, Alabama 35219 (P.O. Box 19912) for $49.95. Go to this webpage to complete form and forward for purchase: http://www.cabbagestkpub.ns2.atspace.com/sieform.html
The book is an invaluable resource to anyone working to find locomotive history such as that of the N&A Railway. Our photo used here is from a picture postcard from Tom's photograph held in the NEARHS collection of Nelson & Albemarle Railway memorabilia.
Number
3 (2nd)
Type
B
Cylinders
---
Drivers
---
Builder
GE
Built
Jan 1953
C/N or S/N
31778
Year Range
1953-1963
GE 25-ton B Diesel c/n31778. Built in January 1953 for Alberene Stone Corp. as Nelson & Albemarle #3 (second #3) requisition #RIC-49116-3 1503/747/HBI, rated 25-tons, 150hp; date shipped 6 February 1953. Replaced steam locomotives used in quarry operations and in service until end of N&A career when line was shutdown in 1963. Officially transferred to Georgia Marble ownership in 1963 and sent to Nelson, Georgia where it remained stored out-of-service for quite some time. Lewis Rhodes of Railrhodes, Inc. of Monroe, Georgia acquired the diesel and in 2002 made the sale of it to Great Lakes Calcium company in Woodville, Ohio. In 2004, GLC Woodville site was sold to National Lime & Stone which immediately closed the Woodville Plant. Conversation with NL&S found that no 25-ton unit was involved in the takeover of the location or movement of materials to NL&S's main site in Carey, OH. While thought to be scrapped prior to 2004, there was a comment mentioned that #3 may have been involved in a wreck at the Woodville Plant property and might have been shipped to Green Bay, Wisconsin with no additional sightings since 2003 until mid-2008 with unconfirmed photos of a GE 25-ton unit taken by Michael Ostertag (and posted on rrpicturesarchive.net) on 14 June 2008 that appeared to be c/n31778. Then in late-2013 photographs were taken describing the location as Great Lakes Calcium in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Great Lakes Calcium in Green Bay was contacted by phone and they advised on 14 February 2014, that the unit is in use daily to move cars and is indeed GE c/n 31778. There are at least 2 photographs on Flickr from photographer Kim Kafura of the Green Bay engine taken in late-2013 and he has granted permission to use his image(s) here.
* Photograph provided by Kim Kafura to the NEARHS collection of Nelson & Albemarle Railway memorabilia. Thanks go to Tom Lawson, Jr. for additional historical and personal detail on 31778 that was previously unknown and fills a large gap of the missing story. Tom knew Lewis Rhodes of Railrhodes, Inc. when they were both with Republic Locomotive Works in the early 1980's. Tom tried to purchase 31778 (d/b/a Locomotive Marketing, Inc.), but Railrhodes, Inc. won out.
Remember: 31778 started life in Erie, PENNSYLVANIA; then went to Schuyler, VIRGINIA; from there to Nelson, GEORGIA; and on to Woodville, OHIO before now appearing in Green Bay, WISCONSIN. 61 years old and lived in 5 different states!
Reference: Photographs are available from sources as noted next to each picture used in the article.
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