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| Satellite plus Paint |
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| Glen Koshiol posted C&O 4165 leads two GE's eastbound out of Big Bend tunnel at Tolcott W. VA. 4/7/78, my photo Craig Cloud: What yr did CSX abandon original bore off to right? J.B. Rail Photog shared |
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| Jackie Fry, cropped |
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| I Love Trains posted photo courtesy of Shane AlexanderI The Chesapeake & Ohio's Great Bend Tunnel in Talcott, WV, where John Henry challenged the steam drill to a contest and won. But wait, there is a tunnel that is just south of Leeds Alabama that locals claim that is where John Henry challenged the steam drill. In case there are any John Henry fans out there, here's a painting I did that today hangs in the Leeds, AL depot. In Leeds there are those who strongly feel his battle took place at the nearby Oak Mountain tunnel. https://fineartamerica.com/.../steel-driving-man-timothy... John Henry WAS a real person, a convict serving time at the Spring Street prison in Richmond. It was a practice to rent convicts to work for companies. He is buried in an unmarked grave on what was the grounds of the prison. The effort killed him. |
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| The real Hood in the Woods posted The Legend of John Henry, Summers county, West Virginia Not all American folk lore are tall tales. John Henry was born in 1840’s as an enslaved person and was liberated after the civil war. He relocated to Virginia to find work in the reconstruction effort. In Virginia he was arrested for burglary and sentence to the state penitentiary. The warden of the penitentiary was a Quaker from Pennsylvania. He had been appointed to his position as part of the reconstruction effort and he was shocked by the horrible conditions there. To save the inmates from having to live in the penitentiary he began leasing them as labor to private contractors. Later he became as opponent of inmate labor. John Henry was leased to the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad (C and O). He was a giant of a man, standing over 6 foot and weighing in at over 200 pounds. His strength was legendary. The workers would often sing to help keep cadence as they swung their hammers. They would often make up their own songs about each other and these songs began the legend of John Henry. The songs spoke of his superhuman strength like how he could swing a 20-pound hammer in each hand. Other songs described his softer side, like being kindhearted and having good morals. By the time the railroad reached the Great Bend Mountain, John Henry was the leader of his work crew. Leveling grade and laying track turned into driving holes into the rock, which would then be stuffed full of dynamite, and the rocks blown up and hauled away. The Great Bend tunnel is 6,450 feet long and was completed in 1872. The famous story about John Henry happened here in 1870. The C and O railroad had used a steam drill at the nearby Lewis Tunnel. John Henry was impressed when he saw the machine and challenged it to a race. When the dust cleared after the hour long contest, the drill had only gone 9 feet while John Henry had gone 14 feet. It was reported that the steam drill had hit a seam of harder rock which had cost it time. In 1929 John Henry researcherGuy B. Johnson interviewed witnesses to the race. Most of the men agreed that John Henry didn’t die after the race, but later in a rock side or of disease. The last time that John Henry was noted in documents from the Virginia State Penitentiary was in 1873. This was before his sentence discharge date and there is no record of a pardon. |
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| Pepperoni Rolls With the Mothman posted John Henry and Great Bend Tunnel Charlie Doc Blake Jr.: It’s sad that they had to move it over the hill from off the main rd because people kept shooting at it. Look at the bullet holes and dents. BD Mitchell: Charlie Doc Blake Jr. We went back to a camping spot this summer that we used to camp at years ago. It was a sandy spot near the river that was surrounded by huge beautiful trees, and is mostly used by locals because it's difficult to access. I couldn't believe the state it was in. People had shot up all of the trees to the point where most of them were either dead or in the process of dying. So many West Virginians have lost all respect for their home. It's disgusting. Randall Hampton shared |
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| Baltimore & Ohio Ellicott City Station Museum posted During Black History Month, the B&O Ellicott City Station Museum is celebrating the history and achievements made by African Americans who worked on and for the railroad. One of the most iconic pieces of folklore is the legend of John Henry, the "Steel Drivin' Man." The legend goes that John Henry, a Black man who worked for the railroad, was known for his ability to drive steel with his hammer in a single mighty blow. In an effort to speed up work, the railroad company brought in a steam drill that supposedly could work faster than any man. John Henry took on this challenge and went up against the steam drill in a race to prove that man could beat machine. The legend goes that Henry beat the steam drill, but that he died from exhaustion with his "hammer in his hand." It is widely thought that John Henry is a mythical figure. However, some historians have theorized that John Henry may have been an actual historical figure who worked for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. Historian Scott Reynolds Nelson found evidence that the legend of John Henry may have originated with a John William Henry, an African American man from New Jersey, born in 1848. In 1866, he was convicted of theft in a Virginia court and was sentenced to 10 years in the penitentiary and was put to work as a convict laborer in the building of the C&O Railroad. During the construction of the Lewis Tunnel, Henry and other prisoners would have worked alongside steam-powered drills, potentially giving origin to the legend. Whether he was a historical figure or not, John Henry remains an iconic figure of American folklore whose story has been told again and again in story and song. ** Image: John Henry statue at the Great Bend Tunnel, Talcott West. Virginia - National Park Service Tom Dunn shared Bill Hildebrand: GBT is closed now. replaced by a parallel tunnel which i have highrailed tru. |
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| Jeff Hawkins commented on Randall's share October 29, 2005 when it was located alongside Route 12 above the tunnels. Wes Ball: Jeff Hawkins when I was a kid back in the '80s that's where I remember seeing it I believe there was also a caboose there |
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| Woody Dolin commented on the above post The park is fixed up nice. |
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