Ridge station, where Link and others made some great shots of Mallets and A-class articulateds with coal consists coming around a curve and cresting the grade. Near the foot of the hill, you can stand on the Blue Ridge Parkway over- pass and watch the train traffic, but it’s small comfort. Eastbounds are fewer on this line; the coal trains now follow the ex-Virginian mainline to Norfolk on an easier grade.
West of Roanoke, Link made a spec- tacular shot of a J-class 4-8-4 rolling over a steel bridge at “Wurno Siding.” Some maps still show a “Wurno,” but the New River Bridge in the photo is in Radford, about 25 miles west of Roanoke. Link took a peck of pictures at Max Meadows, Va., west of Radford. Eager seekers exit I-81 and roll into the little town looking for the features that Link had made famous: the ornate depot, the big tree, and the gingerbread home, where husband and wife stood on the porch watching the last steam-powered Birmingham Special.
But progress has come to Max Mead- ows. Mr. And Mrs. Pope’s house sur- vives just west of town, but the ornate porch is gone. The tree is gone too — removed to make room for the new ball field. And the gleaming white Max Meadows depot has been removed. The depot survives in Rural Retreat, another
little town with its own
marked exit on I-81. Someone has re- painted one side of the depot, the side where Link’s camera stood on Decem- ber 27, 1957. It’s worth your time to set up a tripod and wait in the dark for a
train to come by. Headlights from pass- ing cars will light up the depot for you, and the train lights can create a variety of special effects if you are willing to ex- periment. West of Rural Retreat on I-81 is Sev-
en Mile Ford, the site of the Christmas tree shot. Link snapped engine No. 611 on the old stone overpass, with a father, his son and their freshly cut Christmas tree in the foreground. The main line in Seven Mile Ford is about a half mile from the highway, and the stone over- pass is still in place! Link later took a night shot of a train passing the nearby Presbyterian Church in Seven Mile Ford. The church is easily found just west of the exit ramp and across the river, but it faces the wrong way! Either the church has been moved, or Link did a little tam- pering with the photo in the darkroom. Just east of Abingdon, we leave the NS mainline and turn south to follow the Virginia Creeper Trail. The 35-mile trail is built on the roadbed of the Abingdon Branch, an old lumber line that became part of the N&W in 1900. The city boy from Brooklyn fell in love with the Abingdon Branch’s rough mountain scenery and its hospitable
people. Link even tried to buy the line when it was about to be abandoned in the 1970s. Link took dozens of shots along the line — but none at night. The daily mixed train on the branch ran on- ly during daylight hours.
Abandoned in 1977, the line was con-
verted into a hiking trail. Today, the 35-mile “Virginia Creeper Trail” is a popular place for walkers, runners, and cyclists. One of the N&W 4-8-0s that ran on the branch is on display at Abingdon. Half way up the mountain on the Abingdon Branch, the depot at Green Cove has been restored. Green Cove boasts a bed-and-breakfast inn; the depot interior has been returned to the busy and well stocked condition shown in the Link photograph, with the locals sitting and waiting for the daily train to bring the mail.
It was at Green Cove that Link pho- tographed the approaching steam train and a weary old horse named Maud, head bowed, awaiting the train’s ar- rival. The shot became one of Link’s most famous. Back in Christiansburg can be found the twin bores of Montgomery Tunnel, where Link made a pair of spectacular shots of engines bursting out of the por-
LURAY
RIGHT: The Page Public Library now occupies the foreground of the silos at Luray. The town’s restored depot is just across the tracks, and another famous Link site, Hawksbill Creek, is just three blocks away. BELOW: “Second 51 South At The Luray Silos,” Janu- ary 30, 1957 (NW1340).
42 MAY 2012 •
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