What follows are BRC, NRHS, recollections by contributing current and former members as we celebrate our 50th year as a Chapter. I hope you will enjoy their stories. If these stories have jogged anything in your memory please feel free to share them here. Email them to the Editor at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
BRC recollections. - G. R. Harper
I have several fond memories of Chapter activities. I regret I have not been able to participate in as many events as I would like due to my abnormal work schedule, i.e., nights and weekends. A few stand out, however.
Blue Ridge Chapter snapshot memories. - Skip “Groundhog” Hansberry
- 1978 Walking into the Bonanza Steakhouse for my first Blue Ridge Chapter meeting. A stranger offered his hand and said "Hi. I'm Ed Fielding, we're glad to have you here."
“Railcow” - Norris Deyerle, Ray Beard & Ed Burnett
Ray Beard and Ed Burnett are two former Blue Ridge Chapter members that welcomed me into the BRC when I first started going to the BRC meetings. I already knew Ed from another mutual friend, but Ed introduced me to Ray. We started chasing trains together on a regular basis. They both showed me quite a few hot spots along the line. They also taught me about the history of the local railroads. During the days of the Norfolk Southern Steam Excursions my interest peaked. I contacted both of them this past week to ask them who “christened” me “Railcow”....
BRC Memories - Wayland Moore
Now that I have had a chance to think back to my association with the Blue Ridge Chapter, many memories return (yes, that’s what happens in getting older!!). Several thoughts are right up there but one of the first is the state of the chapter when arriving in July 1974. Attendance was poor and we were meeting monthly in several different places including the Fidelity building and the Appalachian Power auditorium (that’s right, no meals with the meeting)....
From a former member - Roy A. Evans (1979-2006)
I joined the Blue Ridge Chapter back in 1979. I had been invited by a guy named Wayland Moore, whom I had met while helping with the Blue Ridge Model Railroad group that built the layout in the back of the original Trains Unlimited shop. I didn’t know another single person at the first chapter meeting that I attended. Wayland came by to say hello and welcome, but that was about all the attention that I got that night. No one was rude, but I had never felt so out of place.
