Pocohontas and Powhatan; Old Friends of Mine

The Old Man loves his trains. I have loved trains since I was a little boy. Our house in Bedford was, as the crow flies, about 1-1/2 miles from the railroad tracks. The Norfolk & Western came through our town. During the war years, the trains ran almost constantly. We were on a main east/west route, and they were on the way to Norfolk, carrying war materials and men....hundreds of men. For many a one way trip.

Trains served more purposes than merely transportation. My mom and dad seemed to know the time of day by their passing. In winter, my dad would listen to a train whistle and announce, "I think it's going to snow". In that heavy, cold, moisture laden atmosphere, the whistle sounded different to his ears. He rarely missed. My mom would sometimes in summer, hear the whistle and say, "Someone must be sad tonight. The whistle sounds lonely". This was way above my 5 year old head. To me, the whistle always wrapped itself around me and seductively whispered, "Mystery, Excitement, Questions".

The trains brought moments of levity as well. My dad never ever went out of the house without his hat on. The coldest days of the year or the hottest, that hat was ever present. I remember Mom asking him one time, "Babe, how come you wear that hat all the time outside?" Dad said, "Well, I've been on a bunch of trains in my time, and when I went in the bathroom and flushed the toilet, you could see the tracks running by when you looked down through the hole." (In those days waste simply was dumped on the the track. That's why old passenger train rest rooms always had a sign posted saying 'Do Not Flush While In The Station') Dad continued, "You know, they are now flying people around in those big airplanes and they may flush. When it hits me, my head will be covered." Easy to argue with his facts.....hard to argue with his logic.

My mother and I would often ride the train from Bedford to Roanoke to visit her sister. The N&W had two "stars" in their passenger train stable; The Pocohontas and the "big daddy" The Powhatan Arrow. Just the names added to the aura of mystery and excitement. I can still smell the essence of train car; an intoxicating mixture of fabric weathered by a thousand bodies, coal smoke, tobacco, and a delicious staleness. The conductor's cry of, "Boooooord", the bell on the engine, and then that wondrous sound of the Powhatan Arrow stirring, then achieving her full gait. Oh what a time.

The Arrow disappeared along with the other passenger trains. She would never have been herself without the big J-type steam engine, anyway. I grew up without her, the railroad industry morphed entirely into corporate-land, and I just assumed that was it.

Yesterday, we went with some friends to the NC Transportation Museum in Spencer, NC. A great place to see some old restored engines and train "stuff". As I exited the exhibit area, there was a string of old passenger cars they use for short, two-mile rides on weekends. There proudly standing in front of me was a Norfolk & Western passenger car. On her side in gold script were the words, "Powhatan Arrow".

I couldn't believe my eyes. My hands shook as I tried to aim the camera and the view finder suddenly grew bleary. I did get the picture taken, though, and as I walked away, in my mind I said to that old car, "Powhatan Arrow, I'll be back". I'm going to ride her one more time.