Please see below (after the transcript and show notes) for links to news and upcoming events.
TRANSCRIPT
From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is
Virginia Water Radio for the week of September 24, 2012.
This week we feature a series of mystery sounds. Actually,
the sounds will be easily recognizable, but the mystery is—what’s their
connection to water? Have a listen for
about 20 seconds.
SOUNDS.
You’ve been listening to railroad clatter and a warning horn
from trains recorded along the New River in Montgomery County, Virginia; along
the Roanoke River in Roanoke County, Virginia; and along the Potomac River near
Pawpaw, West Virginia. Many railroad
lines developed along river courses that provided passageways through mountain
ridges, or where cities and other commercial centers had originally located to
take advantage of river-based transportation and commerce. Other Virginia examples include active rail lines
along parts of the Clinch, James, and Shenandoah rivers, as well as former
lines now converted to recreational trails, such as the Chessie Nature Trail
along the Maury River in Rockbridge County, the Guest River Gorge Trail in Wise
County, and the New River Trail State Park from Galax to Pulaski.
For other water sounds and music, and for more Virginia
water information, visit our Web site at virginiawaterradio.org,
or call us at (540) 231-5463. From the
Virginia Water Resources Research Center in Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo,
thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.
SHOW NOTES
Photos
(Above) Swinging pedestrian
bridge view toward railroad cars across the James River from downtown
Buchanan, Virginia (Botetourt County), September 19, 2010.
This February 11,
2009, view from Scottsville, Virginia (Albemarle County), shows the town’s
James River flood gate in foreground, the railroad line in middle ground, and
trees along the river bank in the background.
Acknowledgments: The connection between railroad lines and
rivers was previously featured as part of Episode 25 (week of July 19, 2010).
Sources and more
information: For one example of the development of different transportation
means along a river course, see “Scottsville Transportation” at the Web site of
The Scottsville Museum, http://scottsvillemuseum.com/transportation/home.html. Information about the history of
transportation along the Potomac River is available at the National Park
Service’s Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Web site, at http://www.nps.gov/choh/index.htm. The Virginia Department of Game and Inland
Fisheries (VDFIG) provides information about the Chessie Nature Trail online at
http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/vbwt/site.asp?trail=2&loop=MRR&site=MRR02,
and about the Guest River Gorge Trail online at http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/vbwt/site.asp?trail=2&loop=MAW&site=MAW03
(both are featured in the VDFIG’s Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail Guide). Information about New River Trail State Park
is available from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation,
online at http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state_parks/new.shtml.
Recent Virginia Water
News
For
news relevant to Virginia's water resources, please visit the Virginia Water Central News Grouper,
available online at http://vawatercentralnewsgrouper.wordpress.com/.
Water Meetings and
Other Events
For
events related to Virginia's water resources, please visit the Quick Guide to Virginia Water–related
Conferences, Workshops, and Other Events, online at http://virginiawaterevents.wordpress.com/. The site includes a list of Virginia
government policy and regulatory meetings occurring in the coming week.
