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Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech
Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries (0434)Alexandra Dowrey, Graduate Assistant, and Kira A. Dietz, Archivist
The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.
Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction . Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication . Please contact Special Collections and University Archives ( specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.
The collection is open for research.
This collection has been digitized and is available online .
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Norfolk & Western Railway Menus, Ms2013-080, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The Norfolk & Western Railway Menus were purchased by the Special Collections and University Archives in December 2012.
The processing, arrangement, and description of the Norfolk & Western Railway Menus was completed in September 2013.
The Norfolk & Western Railway was established through a reorganization of the bankrupt Norfolk and Western Railroad in 1896, the latter company itself having arisen from the Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio Railroad, a successor to the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad. In order to raise capital to pay off debt, meet its payroll and other obligations, and make continued improvements to the line, the new company issued $23 million in preferred stock, $66 million in common stock, and $62.5 million gold bonds paying four percent, secured through a consolidated mortgage to the Mercantile Trust Company of New York.
Through expansion and various mergers, the N&W grew to become a major U.S. carrier, serving 14 states. The company manufactured steam locomotives at its own Roanoke Machine Works (established in Roanoke, Virginia in 1882), and among the railroad's affiliated holdings were several hotels. In 1982, the N&W combined with the Southern Railway to form Norfolk Southern Corporation.
The collection contains breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, and beverage menus from the Norfolk & Western Railway, as well as two unused carbon copy checks for Norfolk & Western Railway's Dining Car Service. The menus list prices and are in color or black & white. These menus describe a variety of dishes and full course meals, including the dining car's "Famous Salad Bowl... a meal in itself," Roast Sirloin of Beef, and Apple or Peach Pie, "baked on car today." The unused checks were "to be used ONLY for government meal or purchase orders for our armed forces (or allies)."
Neither the menus nor the checks are clearly dated. Several menus mention the President's Citizens Food Committee, which suggest they may be from the late 1940s.
Additional menus for a variety of railroads, including Norfolk & Western, can be found in Wayne Perkins Collection, Ms2010-078 .
The guide to the Norfolk & Western Railway Menus by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 ( https://creativecommons.org/share-your- work/public-domain/cc0/ ).