| Powhatan Arrow | |
| Color: | 800000 |
| Type: | Inter-city rail |
| Status: | Discontinued |
| Locale: | Midwest/Mid-Atlantic |
| Formeroperator: | Norfolk and Western |
| Start: | Norfolk, Virginia |
| Stops: | Petersburg, Virginia Lynchburg, Virginia Roanoke, Virginia Bluefield, West Virginia Williamson, West Virginia Kenova, West Virginia Portsmouth, Ohio |
| End: | Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Distance: | 676miles |
| Frequency: | Daily |
| Trainnumber: | 25, 15-25 (westbound) 26, 16-26 (eastbound) |
| Seating: | Reclining seat coaches |
| Catering: | Dining-lounge car |
| Speed: | NaN0NaN0 |
| Map State: | collapsed |
The Powhatan Arrow (or the Arrow for short) was a named flagship passenger train, operated by the Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W) in the United States. It made its inaugural operation on April 28, 1946, with two trains; Nos. 25 and 26, which both ran 676miles daily at daylight on the N&W mainline between Norfolk, Virginia, and Cincinnati, Ohio in opposite directions. It takes about 15 hours and 45 minutes for both trains to run per day. They were hauled behind N&W's streamlined 4-8-4 class J steam locomotives.
In late 1949, N&W re-equipped the Powhatan Arrow consist with brand-new lightweight passenger cars, dining cars, and observation cars from the Pullman-Standard Company. In 1958, the consist was drastically changed with railway post office cars added, converting the dining cars into diner-lounge types, and eliminating the observation cars. Additionally, the class J locomotives were replaced with some Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) E units, which were leased from the Atlantic Coast Line (ACL) and Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac (RF&P) railroads until N&W's new EMD GP9s arrived towards the end of 1958.
In the 1960s, passenger traffic on the N&W started to decrease due to the population of airlines and automobiles, which led the Powhatan Arrow making its last run on May 23, 1969. The two locomotives involved in the Powhatan Arrow; class J No. 611 and GP9 No. 521 were both preserved at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke, Virginia.
During the 1920s, the Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W) operated two crack passenger trains; the Pocahontas and Cavalier, which both ran on N&W's 676miles mainline between Norfolk, Virginia; and Cincinnati, Ohio; via Roanoke, Virginia. By the 1930s, N&W management began to face a dilemma of maintaining their ridership revenue due to the Great Depression. They decided to modernize their passenger trains with the streamlined design in order to recoup their passenger business. N&W built the first batch of five streamlined 4-8-4 class J steam locomotives, Nos. 600-604, at their Roanoke Shops in Roanoke, then ordered 15 streamlined Pm class coaches, Nos. 1720-1734, from the Pullman-Standard Company to re-equipped their Pocahontas and Cavalier consists during late 1941 and early 1942. The Pm class coaches were equipped with 60 reclining seats. In 1943, the second batch of six class J locomotives, Nos. 605-610, were built without streamlined casings due to wartime restrictions, which classified them as the J1s.[1] [2] A year later, the J1s were refitted with the casings and reclassified as Js.[3] [4]
After World War II ended in 1945, passenger traffic on the N&W started to decrease, but the railroad's president, Robert H. Smith was determined to keep the passengers riding the N&W passenger trains. On April 28, 1946, Smith and the N&W officials launched their brand-new Powhatan Arrow, which was a luxurious passenger train that ran daily between Norfolk and Cincinnati at daylight. The train was named after Chief Powahatan, the head of the Powhatan Tribe, and the name was chosen by former N&W employee Leonard A. Scott of Dry Branch, Virginia, who won the $500 first prize in an N&W naming contest.[5] The consist includes a class J locomotive serving as the main motive power and pulling five Pm class coaches along with a re-equipped De class dining car in a total of six cars.[6] Additionally, the Powhatan Arrow cars were all painted in a Tuscan red with golden yellow stripes and letterings.[7] The Powhatan Arrow was advertised as N&W's flagship passenger train and proclaimed as one of America's first new postwar streamliners, despite not having new equipment.[8]
The Powhatan Arrow had two trains: Nos. 25 and 26. No. 25 departed westbound from the Norfolk Terminal Station early in the morning at 7:30 a.m. with station stops at Petersburg, Lynchburg, and Roanoke in Virginia, along with Bluefield and Williamson in West Virginia. Afterwards, it arrived at the Cincinnati Union Terminal in the evening at 11:15 p.m. No. 26 ran in the opposite direction, where it departed eastbound from Cincinnati in the morning at 8:20 a.m. and arrived at Norfolk in the evening at 11:55 p.m. The overall transit time of the Powhatan Arrow is approximately 44.90NaN0.
Petersburg provided connecting trains to and from Richmond, Virginia, via Atlantic Coast Line (ACL). Lynchburg is where connections to and from Durham, North Carolina were made. Roanoke also provided connections with the Southern Railway's (SOU) Birmingham Special and Tennessean passenger trains. Additionally, Roanoke also had N&W connections to and from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. At Cincinnati, there were also connecting trains to and from Chicago, Illinois (via New York Central (NYC) or Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR)); St. Louis, Missouri (via NYC or Baltimore and Ohio (B&O)); and Detroit, Michigan (via B&O). There were also two request stops at Christiansburg, Virginia and Ironton, Ohio; the former is to discharge passengers from beyond Roanoke and receive for Cincinnati; while the latter was to discharge passengers from Bluefield and beyond for No. 25. In No. 26's case, the Christiansburg and Ironton stops were simply reversed. Both trains ran 15 hours and 45 minutes per day.[5]
On November 24, 1946, the Powhatan Arrow services were suspended due to the Office of Defense Transportation ordered to eliminate 25% of all railroads' steam locomotives, including the N&W, due to a severe shortage of coal occasioned by a massive coal miners strike. On December 7, the order was lifted and the Powhatan Arrow services resumed operations. In June 1947, the three Pm class coaches Nos. 1720, 1721, and 1722 were rebuilt into tavern-lounge cars to provide more space for the Powhatan Arrow train. The tavern-lounge cars were all equipped with ashtrays, which were made from casting at the Roanoke Shops' foundry, and its mahogany furniture were all home-built.[9] The tavern-lounge counter tops and tables were all made from formica materials.[9]
By early 1948, Christiansburg and Ironton became normal stops without conditions of distance. On July 14 of that same year, the Powhatan Arrow service received a new request stop at Pearisburg, Virginia, where No. 25 would discharge passengers from Roanoke and beyond and pick up for Kenova, West Virginia and beyond. In No. 26's case, it will discharge passengers from Kenova and beyond and pick up for Roanoke and beyond. On June 19, 1949, the departure time for No. 25 at Norfolk was backed up to 7:00 a.m. In 1950, Cincinnati provided additional connections to and from Louisville, Kentucky; Memphis, and Nashville, Tennessee, via the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N).
On November 22, 1949, N&W ordered brand-new passenger cars from Pullman-Standard to re-equip the Powhatan Arrow completely.[10] They received two P1 class locker coaches Nos. 501-502, two P2 class divided coaches Nos. 511-512, ten P3 class straight coaches Nos. 531–540, two D1 class dining cars Nos. 491–492, and two D4 class lounge-tavern-observation cars Nos. 581 and 582.[10] There were originally plans to build two dome cars for the Powhatan Arrow consist, but this was cancelled due to concerns of the dome cars' top section interfering with the overhead lines on N&W's electrified lines.
The P1 coaches had 48 seats and accommodates the locker and smoking lounge room areas for the dining car crew and the passengers, respectively. The P2 coaches had 66 seats with two divided room sections; the front accommodated 24 black passengers, while the rear accommodated 42 white passengers. This was made under the Jim Crow laws at the time. The P3 straight coaches had 58 seats with two spacious restroom sections; one for the male passengers and the other for the female passengers. The D1 dining cars had 36 seats with a kitchen equipped with modern appliances such as an electric dishwasher and garbage disposal unit. The D4 lounge-tavern-observation cars had 52 seats and two sections. All of the cars had the Powhatan Arrow logo inscribed on both of their sides.[10]
On November 30, 1949, the newly re-equipped Powhatan Arrow, began its public media tour at various station stops between Roanoke and Bluefield. On December 4–11 that same year, the train does an exhibition tour at various station stops along the N&W mainline route. Afterwards, the re-equipped Powhatan Arrow's first revenue runs took place on December 12. In the summer of 1950, N&W built three more class J locomotives, Nos. 611-613, which were the last mainline passenger steam locomotives built in the United States.[11] [12] The new Powhatan Arrow consist had one P1 locker coach, one P2 divided coach, three P3 straight coaches, one D1 diner, and a D4 lounge-tavern-observation car in a total of seven cars. This freed up the Pm class coaches for use on the Cavalier and Pocahontas trains.[10] [13] [14]
By 1953, the No. 25 train earned its title as the third fastest American long distance run, maintaining an average speed of 65.40NaN0 on the N&W mainline, running 58.9miles between Suffolk and Petersburg, Virginia, nosed out the New York Central's (NYC) James Whitcomb Riley train.
In 1955, all of the Powhatan Arrow cars have their bottom skirtings removed for easier maintenance.[15] [16] At the same time, in an attempt to recoup their declining ridership, N&W had the Powhatan Arrow consist shortened down to just five cars with two P3 straight coaches removed, while a combine car was added to replace the P1 locker coaches and handling a small amount of mail business.[16] In early 1958, the consist was drastically changed with a storage mail car and a railway post office (RPO) car added due to the mail business started to increase.[16] Additionally, the D1 dining cars were converted into diner-lounge types, while the D4 observation cars were removed from the consist and replaced with a mail storage car in a further attempt to cut down costs.[16] [17]
In June 1958, N&W's new president, Stuart T. Saunders retired all of the class J steam locomotives from pulling the Powhatan Arrow trains and reassigned them to haul freight trains.[18] J class No. 610 hauled the last steam-powered Powhatan Arrow train on July 17, 1958.[19] As part of Saunders' plan to dieselize the entire N&W system, he leased an EMD E6A and four EMD E7 units from the Atlantic Coast Line (ACL) along with four EMD E8 units from the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac (RF&P) for use in pulling the Powhatan Arrow trains.[18] [20] Additionally, the connections with the Birmingham Special and Tennessean were no longer advertised on the Powhatan Arrow timetables. In October 1958, train No. 26's arrival time at Norfolk was after 12:00 a.m.[21] Additionally, the ACL E-units were called back to their railroad to handle heavy winter traffic in Florida and some of the class J locomotives briefly returned to passenger service, including the Powhatan Arrow.[18]
By the end of 1958, N&W's new passenger GP9s arrived as the main motive powers of the Powhatan Arrow trains and the class J locomotives returned to freight service until they were all retired and scrapped around 1959, excluding No. 611, which survived into preservation and was currently owned by the Virginia Museum of Transportation (VMT) in Roanoke. Both P1 locker coaches were rebuilt into straight coaches with 20 seats added in a total of 68. In 1960, both of the two D4 observation cars were sold off to Saudi Arabia until they were both eventually scrapped around 1994.
In April 1963, train No. 25's departure time from Norfolk was set back to 6:10 a.m. with checked baggage service stops between Bluefield and Cincinnati, giving train No. 25's running time now set to 16 hours and 25 minutes.[21] In July 1964, the lounge-diner was cut back between Roanoke and Portsmouth, Ohio; No. 25 leaving Norfolk at 5:30 a.m. and No. 26 arriving in Norfolk at 1:30 a.m.[21] In 1966, the Powhatan Arrow's cars were repainted in a new acrylic blue paint scheme under the influence of ex-Wabash Railroad (WAB) president and N&W's new president, Herman H. Pevler.[22] Additionally, the Powhatan Arrow consist was finally given dome cars, which were originally used on WAB's Banner Blue and Blue Bird passenger trains when WAB merged with N&W two years prior.
On April 30, 1967, the Cavalier combined with the Powhatan Arrow, changing the latter's trains' numbers from Nos. 25 and 26 to Nos. 15-25 and 16-26, respectively.[21] Additionally, the Powhatan Arrow's schedule was drastically changed to an overnight run with No. 15-25 departing Norfolk at 10:05 p.m. and No. 16-26 arriving in Norfolk at 4:45 a.m.[21] On October 28, 1967, the Powhatan Arrow ran its last RPO operations with the U.S. Post Office.[21] In April 1968, the Railway Express Agency discontinued their service with the Powhatan Arrow.[21] This would leave the mail storage car being the only head-end business remaining on the Powhatan Arrow. In December of that same year, the Powhatan Arrow's dining cars were now operated between Roanoke and Clare Yard in Mariemont, Ohio on train No. 15-25, and 14 miles east of Cincinnati on train No. 16-26.[21]
N&W's passenger ridership started to decrease due to the populations of airlines and automobiles. On April 26, 1969, N&W filed a petition with the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to discontinue the Powhatan Arrow service and the ICC agreed to the request on May 9. The Powhatan Arrow made its final run on May 23.[17] The Pocahontas would take the throne as N&W's flagship passenger train until its last service on May 1, 1971, where N&W officially ended their passenger train services.[14] [23]