O. Winston Link and the Legacy of Virginia’s Railways Since the establishment of the Virginia Colony by the British Empire in the early seventeenth century, the Norfolk, Newport News, and Hampton regions have been some of the most prosperous and productive on the Eastern Seaboard. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, located on the western shore of the Elizabeth River, quickly became one of the most strategically valuable ports in the New World and was constantly fought over, burned to the ground, and rebuilt until the end of the Civil War. The development of railway transportation by steam locomotive in the early nineteenth century further established the Hampton Roads region as an industrial hub, shaping it into the center of commerce and culture that it is today. Featuring black-and-white images of steam locomotives, the photography of O. Winston Link taken in the late 1950s depicts the engines of Norfolk & Western Railway, a company which would later merge with Southern Railway to become Norfolk Southern Railway. These railways connected the Hampton Roads region with western parts of the state, including Richmond and Roanoke, and into the coalfields of West Virginia. Link’s photographs illustrate the industrial backbone of Virginia. The juxtaposition of industrial and rural culture, so elegantly depicted in Link’s photography, reminds us of this heritage and how it connects our community with others across the state. This weekend’s Virginia Symphony Orchestra performances celebrate Hampton Roads’ identity and cross-state connections through collaborations with the Virginia Museum of Transportation and the O. Winston Link Museum, both located in Roanoke. The lobby exhibit features items on loan from both museums which illuminate the context and local significance of the world premiere of Michael Daugherty’s Night Owl for orchestra, performed choreographed with the iconic work of O. Winston Link projected above the orchestra. Link’s photography has captured the imaginations of train aficionados across the world. VMT’s “From Cotton to Silk” exhibit brings into focus the human experience of African-American railroad workers whose labors helped build and sustain this industry. Together, these collections highlight the importance of transportation and industry to Virginia’s diverse communities and tell a story that connects the Commonwealth of Virginia and its people.
Class J NO. 605 moves into the Washing Plant at Shaffers Crossing Yards, Roanoke, VA. Shaffer’s Crossing, Roanoke, Virginia 1955 | NW12 Wilford Jones, Jr., engine washer at Shaffer’s Crossing. This is taken just prior to NW13 washing J Class. John “Jack” Savitsky, Silver Creek Breaker (c. 1970s – early 1980s), Oil on Masonite, Collection of Christina Goode
Items from the Virginia Museum of Transportation’s “Cotton to Silk” Exhibit African-American railroad workers have, from the very beginning, played a major part in the growth of both the railroads and the Civil Rights movement. Neither story is complete without the contributions of those African-American men and women who worked in demanding, dirty, and difficult jobs without hope for advancement in order to provide a better life for their families. Because of the dedication of these workers, the railroad today is a diverse employer, but the story of their struggle is frequently underrepresented in museums and print. The Virginia Museum of Transportation aims to draw attention to all aspects of railroad history. A railroad is nothing without the contributions of its workers. From the late 1840s until World War I, the railroad was the primary means of land transportation of people and goods in North America. African-American workers have been a central part of all railroads, initially as enslaved workers and eventually as free employees. Jobs were limited to unskilled or semi-skilled positions such as porters, track laborers, dining car workers, and shop workers. African Americans were not eligible for many promotions. White workers, many of whom were trained by black workers, supervised them. Despite these restrictions, railroad jobs were the best paying jobs available to African Americans. During the early 20th century, the railroad employed one-third more African Americans than the next largest industrial employers: mills and construction.
Abingdon Branch Train No. 201 Southbound between Nella and Tuckerdale | NW1249 Tuckerdale, North Carolina In a scene that might be described as a perfect image of “domestic rusticity,” doubleheaded Abingdon Branch Train No. 201 moves through the hills south of Husk/Nella, North Carolina. The route took the train past many small farms and rural homes on its way to Tuckerdale and on to West Jefferson, North Carolina.
Deena B. Sasser serves as the curator and historian of the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke. Originally from Warren, Ohio, she did her undergraduate work at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and relocated to Atlanta, GA, after graduation. She earned a Master of Heritage Preservation with a concentration in Public History from Georgia State University in 2006.
Shortly after graduation, Deena began working for the transportation engineering firm of Moreland Altobelli Associates, Inc., as an architectural historian doing Section 106 compliance research and writing, work that she later conducted as a freelancer for GT Hill Planners, Inc. Deena moved to Virginia in 2007, and she has worked in several positions and locations before finally landing at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in 2012. While at the VMT, Deena works as historian and curator at the museum. She is responsible for the ongoing oral history project in the Wings Over Virginia aviation gallery and the upcoming Driving Lessons auto gallery oral history project, the major exhibit From Cotton to Silk: African American Railroad Workers on the Norfolk & Western and Norfolk Southern Railways, and ongoing exhibition work and artifact cataloging within the museum. She has given lectures and presentations at the D-Day Memorial, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archivists Conference, and the Virginia Association of Museums conferences.
1.) N&W Waiter’s Jacket, [c. 1950].
2.) Stanley Super Vac chrome carafe, [c. 1935].
Worn by dining car servers on passenger trains. Used by Pullman Porters for serving beverages to passengers. Carafe is capable of keeping hot liquids hot or cold liquids cold.
Hawksbill Creek Swimming Hole | Luray, Virginia 1956 | NW1126 Hawksbill Creek swimming hole, 96 North; Luray, Virginia. Children are left to right; Jerry Judd, Marjorie Judd, Reggie Judd, Virginia Judd, Tommy Judd and Barry Good. 3.) Rail pass for S. J. Saunders, an African American blacksmith on the railroad. [c. 1931]
4.) Smudge pot [c. 1930]. Used to light rail signals so that they wouldn’t freeze
Father and son watch The Pocahontas at Montgomery Tunnel | Christiansburg, Virginia 1955 | NW709 In one of his most sparkling night photos, Winston Link has placed C. E. “Jack” Hash of the N&W’s Public Relations Department with his son, Dan, at the west end of Montgomery Tunnel, east of Christiansburg, Virginia. The magnificent Class J locomotive was moving upgrade with the first section of Train No. 3, The Pocahontas. It was working hard as it exploded from the tunnel in a burst of smoke and steam exhaust, emphasized by the chill weather of this December evening. The photo had been so carefully planned that the lantern in Dan’s hand contained a flashbulb which had been masked so that its brightness would match the lighting in the rest of the photo. 12/14/55.
5.) 611 slack adjustment jam nut [c. 1950]. As the brake shoes would wear on locomotive wheels (611 and likely other Norfolk & Western J class locomotives), the jam nut would be adjusted to compensate for the wear in order to keep the brakes functioning properly.
The O. Winston Link Museum
The O. Winston Link Museum collection comprises the striking photographic and auditory works developed by photographer-artist O. Winston Link between 1955 and 1960. A successful commercial photographer from New York, Link brought his studio outdoors to create carefully arranged images designed to convey the end of the steam-propelled Norfolk & Western Railway and the communities and countryside along the right of way. Covering much of Western Virginia and bordering portions of North Carolina, West Virginia and Maryland, Link took advantage of the region’s then-unique combination of mountainous terrain, sparsely arranged populations and steam rail infrastructure to capture the end of America’s once-thriving industrial age.
Coal Freight Train Working Hard Eastbound on Blue Ridge Grade Blue Ridge, Virginia 1958 | NW1652 Winston Link stationed himself on the south side of the tracks at Blue Ridge Grade to make this photo of a Class Y6 locomotive equipped with an auxiliary tender at the head end of a coal freight train moving up over Blue Ridge Grade. There was a pusher at the other end of the trains, which Link also photographed.
Link was prolific, taking more than 2,000 images and 100 7-inch reels of sound recordings in 21 trips. Today, Link’s work constitutes the single most important photographic series taken of the region. Largely ignored for more than 20 years following their production, Winston’s work enjoyed a series of international exhibitions, recordings and two published books beginning in the 1980s. Today, Link’s N&W images are known worldwide. Wishing that his legacy be preserved and remain available to the communities he traversed, Link began negotiations with Roanoke’s Historical Society of Western Virginia in 2000, personally selecting the site for the Museum, the former N&W Passenger Station. Today, in addition to Link’s work from 1955 to 1960, the O. Winston Link Museum collects non-railroad prints created by the artist and all of his photographic equipment, including a reproduction of his dark room. The museum is also the repository for the negative collection of The Roanoke Times daily newspaper. Lynsey C. Allie, Museum Manager
Lynsey is a native of Roanoke, Virginia. She has a Bachelors in History from Roanoke College and a Masters in Archival Studies from Clayton State University. She has been with the Historical Society of Western Virginia since 2015. Currently, she is the Museum Manager for the Historical Society. In her spare time, Lynsey loves to travel, read, and spend time with her husband and friends.
Abingdon Branch Joe Dollar waits for The Creeper | Warrensville, NC 1956 | NW1252 South of Lansing, southbound Warrensville, Joe Dollar on bicycle, West Jefferson, N.C. Joe recalls that he was 15 when the photo was made. He continues to live in the area and operates earth moving machinery.