The Powhatan Arrow, Norfolk and Western's Flagship Passenger Train

While the Norfolk & Western Railway is best known for hauling black diamonds out of the hollers and hills of West Virginia it also had a modest, but very respectable passenger service. The apex of its passenger operations was easily its Powhatan Arrow, a train that served Norfolk/Newport News and Cincinnati, Ohio. This train, pulled by perhaps the most beautiful Northern Type steam locomotives to ever be streamlined (the N&W’s famed J Class) was bedecked in a striking livery of Tuscan red and black with gold trim. The N&W’s flagship train operated until the spring of 1969 when the ICC allowed the railroad to discontinue running it. Since the Powhatan Arrow never survived until Amtrak it was never retained as a train, although it probably would not have anyway as the carrier’s Cardinal serves the very same cities today.

The Norfolk and Western Railway’s merger with the Southern Railway in 1982 was quite fitting due to both railroad’s similar style of operation; extremely efficient and well managed. The N&W is remembered as one of the most highly respected railroad companies in history and for good reason. Aside from well-managed operations the railroad’s property was meticulous and its equipment was always in excellent working order. Of course, operations aside, from a railfan and historical standpoint the railroad is remembered for many other things such as being the last Class I to operate steam locomotives (until 1960), its symbolism with coal, and legendary photographer O. Winston Link whose black and white photos of the railroad’s final days of steam are now considered all but priceless works of art (not only for the photography itself but also the historical images captured).

At its peak the N&W comprised a system stretching from the tidewater port area of Norfolk/Portsmouth, Virginia to Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio. Along this mostly double-track main line the railroad also had a vast array of branches into the western Virginia and southern West Virginia coal fields with other branches reaching places such as Durham and Winston-Salem, NC; Bristol, TN; Norton, Virginia; and Hagerstown, MD. In all, while it comprised a rather small system of just over 2,000 miles it easily made up for this by its strategic location in Appalachian coal country.

Aside from the N&W's astronomical earnings derived from hauling coal, the railroad was also successful because of its sound management practices. First and foremost the railroad always made sure its physical plant was in top-notch condition, pouring millions annually into maintenance programs. Likewise the N&W was meticulous about keeping its locomotive fleet and equipment in good running order.

The Powhatan Arrow was interestingly one of the very first post war streamliners to be inaugurated. Although it originally included heavyweight equipment it was entirely re-equipped in 1949 with lightweight, streamlined equipment from Pullman-Standard. Also unique to the train was its motive power. In classic N&W fashion the train was powered by steam, not diesels, which were handsomely streamlined J Class 4-8-4 Northern Types. The train itself was adorned in a beautiful livery of Tuscan red and black with gold trim and carried a local Native American theme (thus its name, Powhatan Arrow, and sister train, the Pocahontas).

The Arrow continued to run the J Class steamers until the late 1950s when EMD E-series diesels eventually replaced the Northerns. The Arrow followed a routing somewhat similar to the C&O’s George Washington (Newport News, Virginia to Cincinnati, Ohio) except that it ran through far fewer populated areas than the George, traversing central Virginia, the southern fringes of West Virginia, and southern Ohio. Because of this, by the late 1960s both it and its sister, the Pocahontas were becoming less and less profitable.

When the U.S. Postal Service pulled its mail contracts around the same time the N&W knew it was time to pull the plug. In an interesting twist, the ICC allowed the railroad to discontinue its flagship Arrow only if it upgraded and continued to operate the Pocahontas. This it did and in the spring of 1969 the Arrow made its final run with the Pocahontas following a few short years later when the N&W turned over all of its passenger operations to Amtrak on May 1, 1971.

Of note, however, a version of the N&W's Tuscan red, black, and gold passenger livery lives on today under successor Norfolk Southern's business train (which is sort of a blend of Southern and N&W traditions; F units stylized in a version of Southern's classic freight livery and passenger equipment adorned in N&W's passenger livery).

For more reading on streamliners like the Powhatan Arrow you might want to also consider the book Streamliners: History of a Railroad Icon from renowned author Mike Schafer who covers in detail most of the well known and remembered “classic” passenger trains to operate in the country. If you have any interest in such you should very much enjoy Mr. Schafer’s book.

Also, for more reading on the N&W I strongly recommend the book written by Thomas Garver and featuring the legendary photography of Mr. O. Winston Link, The Last Steam Railroad in America. Besides featuring Link's black and white masterpieces the book also gives you a general overview of the railroad, which, of course, became synonymous with hauling coal. If you are a fan or historian of the N&W (or both!) the book is a must addition to your collection.