Cooperative Living July 2015 - 34

Interior shots of
the model dining
car (left) and a
passenger car
(below) at the
Crewe Railroad
Museum. The
restored cars
reflect an era
when rail travel
was luxurious.
Exterior shots of the
N&W dining car (left)
and the Crewe Railroad
Museum (upper left), in
the town of Crewe.
Crewe was founded in 1888, at the
same time the first track was laid
through town, stretching all the way to
City Point. Until 1963, the town was
also home to an N&W roundhouse,
which was torn down with the advent
of diesel locomotives. The museum,
however, houses a model of the original
roundhouse.
Originally started in an N&W
caboose and boxcar, the Crewe
Railroad Museum was the idea of former
Air Force pilot and local resident
Wirt Cory, who, with the help of volunteers,
decided to honor the railroad
history that had put Crewe on the map.
" Most of the stuff in the museum
has been donated by former railroad
employees, " Fuller explains. And
retired railroad employees also make
up the majority of the docents who
staff the museum, which is now housed
in a former N&W depot.
One of the key features of the museum
is a model railroad exhibit, the
design of which reflects the old motto
of the N&W: " From the Mountains to
the Sea. " Also on-site are an old passenger
car, a portion of which has been
modeled to look like a dining car.
Passenger trains, outside of Amtrak,
became a thing of the past as of 1975,
however. Other railroad memorabilia
include locks, oil cans, lanterns, and
place settings from dining cars.
The museum's pride and joy,
however, is its restored 606 N&W
steam engine, which arrived at the
museum " in a heap of rusted metal, "
says Fuller. The museum restored it for
a cost of $50,000.
32
Fuller, who served as mayor of
Crewe for 12 years, says he's seen the
town change a lot in his lifetime. As
the N&W and its successor Norfolk
Southern have taken more and more
railroad employment away from
Crewe, its population has continued to
dwindle. Today it stands at a little over
2,000. " There are so many houses for
sale here now, " Fuller says. " You can
IF YOU GO...
Before you hit Route 360 through
Chesterfield County, check out the
visitor information available online
through Chesterfield Economic
Development (visitchesterfieldva.
com). Pick up fresh-from-the-fields
produce at the Chesterfield Berry
Farm Market (4800 Market Square
Lane, Midlothian, 804-739-2404)
or visit the Chesterfield Berry Farm
(26000 Pear Orchard Road,
Moseley, www.chesterfieldberry
farm.com), where the market's produce
is grown, and pick your own
berries in season.
Home to Sailor's Creek
Battlefield Historic State Park
(6541 Creek Road, Rice, 804-5617560,
www.dcr.virginia.gov/stateparks/sailors-creek.shtml#general_
information),
the last battle of the
retreating Army of Northern Virginia
only three days before Gen. Robert
E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox,
Amelia County (www.ameliacova.
com) is a peaceful landscape of
cornfields and pines. The county seat
buy a house here for anything you
want to pay for it. "
And while passenger service
through Crewe is long gone, the
Norfolk Southern freight trains continue
to rumble through town, carrying
mostly coal, automobiles, and
pulpwood. n
at Amelia Court House is a typical
small southern town scene with the
requisite Confederate statue surrounded
by a town square with barber
shop, bank, and cafes. Good eats
while you're passing through include
Mexican fare at Mi Jalisco Amelia
(16241 Goodes Bridge Road, 804561-2317,
www.mi-jalisco.com) and
Mario's Italian (15415 Patrick Henry
Highway, 804-561-6100). Spend the
night adjacent to a working commercial
farm at Whispering Pine
Plantation (12641 North
Lodore Road, 804-561-0434,
www.whisperingpineplantation.com).
The next morning, head south on
Route 360 into Nottoway County
(www.nottoway.org), and visit the
Crewe Railroad Museum (111 West
Virginia Ave., Crewe, www.crewe
railroadmuseum.org), which is open
Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to
4 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m.
Crewe gets its name from a railroad
town in England that also once
produced Rolls Royce motor cars. n
Cooperative Living/July 2015
http://www.mi-jalisco.com http://www.chesterfieldberry http://www.farm.com http://www.whisperingpineplantation.com http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state http://www.nottoway.org http://www.crewe http://www.railroadmuseum.org http://www.ameliacova
Cooperative Living July 2015

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