My Grandfather was the Superintendent of the Car Department and retired from N&W East End Shops 12/31/59. He loved N&W steam and refused to work for a "diesel" railroad. In his last days he was hallucinating calling out to crews in Y's, A's, and J's in his backyard.
My Dad hired on the N&W in 1952 and spent 1954-57 working on the 2300 Steam Turbine Electric Project. He turned down numerous promotion offers that would have meant leaving Roanoke, Va. My mother would have no part of leaving Roanoke. He ended up spending the bulk of his career at Shaffer's Crossing in the Air Room. After the Southern merger, he ended up in SOC (Systems Operation Center). He worked with a team directing train traffic.
My Grandfather passed away in 1970 and Dad in 2006. After Dad died, I got the hair brained scheme to collect one example of each N&W steam locomotive along with an assortment of rolling stock. There are still gaps, but in general I have "most" of my original plan in place.
