Powhatan Arrow

The Powhatan Arrow was a named luxurious passenger train, operated by the Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W) in the United States. It made its inaugural operation on April 28, 1946, and proclaimed as one of America's first new postwar streamliners, despite not having new equipment. The Powhatan Arrow had two trains; Nos. 25 and 26, which both ran 676 mile (1088 km) daily at daylight on the N&W mainline between Norfolk, Virginia, and Cincinnati, Ohio in opposite directions. It takes about 15 hours and 45 minutes for both trains to run per day. They were hauled behind N&W's streamlined 4 8 4 class J steam locomotives. In late 1949, N&W re equipped the Powhatan Arrow consist with brand new lightweight passenger cars, dining cars, and observation cars from the Pullman Standard Company. In 1958, the consist was drastically changed with mail cars added, converting the dining cars into diner lounge types, and eliminating the observation cars. Additionally, the class J locomotives were replaced with some Electro Motive Diesel (EMD) E units, which were leased from the Atlantic Coast Line (ACL) and Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac (RF&P) railroads until N&W's new EMD GP9s arrived towards the end of 1958. In the 1960s, passenger traffic on the N&W started to decrease due to the population of airlines and automobiles, which led the Powhatan Arrow discontinued in late May 1969. The two locomotives involved in the Powhatan Arrow; class J No. 611 and GP9 No. 521 were both preserved at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke, Virginia.

After the outbreak of World War II, the Norfolk and Western (N&W) built the first batch of five streamlined 4 8 4 class J steam locomotives, Nos. 600 604, at their Roanoke Shops in Roanoke, Virginia, then ordered 15 streamlined Pm class coaches, Nos. 1720 1734, from the Pullman Standard Company to re equipped their Pocahontas and Cavalier passenger trains. The Pm class coaches were equipped with 60 reclining seats. A year later, the J1s were refitted with the casings and reclassified as Js. After World War II ended in 1945, passenger traffic on the N&W started to decrease, but the railroad's president, Robert Hall Smith was determined to keep the passengers riding the N&W passenger trains. On April 28, 1946, Smith and the N&W officials launched their brand new Powhatan Arrow, which was a luxurious passenger train that ran 676 mile (1088 km) daily on the N&W mainline at daylight between Norfolk, Virginia, and Cincinnati, Ohio. The train's name was named after Chief Powahatan, the head of the Powhatan Tribe, and was chosen by former N&W employee Leonard A. Scott of Dry Branch, Virginia, who won the $500 first prize in an N&W naming contest. The consist includes a class J locomotive serving as the main motive power and pulling five Pm class coaches along with a re equipped De class dining car in a total of six cars. The cars were all painted in a Tuscan red with golden yellow stripes and letterings. On November 24, 1946, the Powhatan Arrow services were suspended due to the Office of Defense Transportation ordered to eliminate 25% of all railroads' steam locomotives, including the N&W, due to a severe shortage of coal occasioned by a massive coal miners strike. On December 7, the order was lifted and the Powhatan Arrow services resumed operations. The tavern lounge counter tops and tables were all made from formica materials. Afterwards, it arrived at Cincinnati Union Terminal in the evening.

On November 22, 1949, N&W ordered brand new passenger cars from Pullman Standard to re equip the Powhatan Arrow completely. They received two P1 class locker coaches Nos. 501 502, two P2 class divided coaches Nos. 511 512, ten P3 class straight coaches Nos. 531–540, two D1 class dining cars Nos. 491–492, and two D4 class lounge tavern observation cars Nos. 581 and 582. On November 30, 1949, the newly re equipped Powhatan Arrow, began its public media tour at various station stops between Roanoke and Bluefield. Afterwards, the re equipped Powhatan Arrow's first revenue runs took place on December 12. The new 1949 Powhatan Arrow consist had one P1 locker coach, one P2 divided coach, three P3 straight coaches, one D1 diner, and a D4 lounge tavern observation car in a total of seven cars. At the same time, the Powhatan Arrow consist was downgraded to just five cars with two P3 class coaches removed while a combine car was added to replace the P1 locker coaches as well as handling a small amount of mail business. In early 1958, the consist was drastically changed with a storage mail car and a railway post office (RPO) car added due to the mail business started to increase. J class No. 610 hauled the last steam powered Powhatan Arrow train on July 17, 1958. As part of Saunders' plan to dieselize the entire N&W system, he leased an EMD E6A and four EMD E7 units from the Atlantic Coast Line (ACL) along with four EMD E8 units from the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac (RF&P) for use in pulling the Powhatan Arrow trains. However, the ACL E units were called back to their railroad to handle heavy winter traffic in Florida and some of the class J locomotives briefly returned to passenger service, including the Powhatan Arrow. In August 1966, the Powhatan Arrow consist was finally given dome cars, which were originally used on the former Wabash Railroad's (WAB) Blue Bird trains. However, passenger traffic on the N&W started to decrease due to the populations of airlines and automobiles.

On June 12, 1946, No. 604 hauled the eastbound Powhatan Arrow after departing Cincinnati, Ohio, at 8:10 a. m. for Norfolk. It was repaired shortly afterwards.