Page 69 - A Narrative of the History of Roanoke Virginia

Although its sister company the Shenandoah Valley Railroad went bust, the Norfolk & Western
emerged from the recession largely unscathed. It increased the tonnage it transported out of
the Pocahontas coal seam every year in the 1880s, and by the early 1890s, the railroad was
moving close to three million tons of coal over the line. During the same period, the N&W
purchased more than 300 locomotives, more than 5,000 freight cars, and more than 8,000 coal
hoppers. It also horizontally integrated, absorbing other railroads in Southwest Virginia and in
Ohio and more than tripling its miles of track. In the early 1890s, the line sold over two million
passenger tickets, and its gross earnings, which had continued upward throughout the 1880s,
passed $10,000,000 for the first time.

Next installment: Roanoke offers many entertainment venues, like the Opera House. The
Farmer’s Market is expanded. And a celebration unlike any other captivated the city as well as
the national press as Roanoke declared a ‘Decennial’. Roanoke was now 10 years.