Visit sparks fond memories for family with ties to Ridge Runner

BLUEFIELD — While the mention of the Ridge Runner inspires nostalgia in some, for Rev. Raymond “Buddy” Oliver of Newport News, Va., the railroads and the Ridge Runner were a family business.

Buddy Oliver visited the new train station at Lotito City Park with his wife Francis Oliver, daughter Cynthia Butler Oliver, and the two daughters and wife of his late brother Frank “Shank” Oliver Jr.

The Oliver family came in to check on the progress of the restoration of the Ridge Runner trains and share memories of Buddy Oliver’s father, Frank Oliver Sr., who was one of the first conductors of the Ridge Runner train. The family’s history with the railroad goes back to the turn of the century.

“Both my grandfathers were engineers on the N&W railroad in 1903,” Buddy Oliver said. “My grandfather, William Eli Oliver, worked as an engineer. My other grandfather, Daniel Thorney Whitlock came back after fighting in the Spanish-American War and started as a fireman on the railroad. He worked his way up to engineer.”

Buddy Oliver’s father worked on the railroad. Driving the Ridge Runner was his passion during his retirement days.

“Dad drove a train all his life,” Buddy Oliver said. “He retired from the railroad in 1966 and started driving the Ridge Runner. He also worked up there at the gift shop and restaurant. He made little wooden whistles for the gift shop.”

Buddy Oliver’s father wasn’t the only family member who worked on the Ridge Runner. His mother, Ernestine Whitlock Oliver, was also a part of the family’s history with the Ridge Runner.

“Mother would work in the gift shop while Father ran the train,” Buddy Oliver said. “She would make little peanut butter cookies and sell them.”

The Ridge Runner was easily a family affair for the Olivers.

“Our kids and grandchildren used to come up and ride it all the time,” Buddy Oliver said.

Nieces Jeanne Oliver Ray and Kelly Oliver Young, both of Tucson, Ariz., came with Buddy Oliver to reminisce about their grandfather’s days as conductor of the Ridge Runner and to learn about the plans for the new train.

Each of Frank Oliver Sr.’s granddaughters has a memory of visiting their grandfather as he operated the Ridge Runner.

“My fondest memories are of grandpa running the train in and out of the two Virginias,” Jeanne Oliver Ray recalled. “We still have the little wooden whistles he made for us. We’d blow them as we rode the train.”

Jeanne’s sister, Kelly Oliver Young, remembers helping her grandfather make the train whistles, sold by her grandmother at Connor’s Gift Shop at the Ridge Runner train station.

“I’d come up for the summer when I was young and help him carve the little whistles,” she said. “We’d spend the whole summer doing that.”

Buddy’s daughter, Cynthia Oliver Butler, said her favorite memories are riding up at the front of the Ridge Runner with her grandfather.

“I remember coming up here in the summer when I was six or seven ,” Cynthia said. “My grandfather had this little spiel which always began with ‘Come take a ride on the Ridge Runner,’ and all the kids would come running to the train. I felt so important because I got to ride up in the front with him.”

Lecia Smith, co-chair of the Ridge Runner Committee, brought the family up-to-date on the progress of the Ridge Runner restoration. Currently, the awnings redone for the train are being finished by Stewart’s Top Shop in Princeton while R.J. Mine Service and David Ruble’s Body Shop are working to put the train back together and paint it the way it would have looked when it first hit the tracks in 1964.

Smith said there have been a few “lucky” delays in finishing the new Ridge Runner.

“We were hoping to have it opened on May 29 and then on June 3, but things happened,” Smith said. “Business for many of the volunteers has picked up tremendously. They said the train has been a good look charm for attracting business.”

Other delays have arisen.

“Other delays have been tracking parts down,” Smith explained. “The original motor is from a Ford auto engine from 1964, so we are tracking down parts for that. Another part, the train company no longer makes so Jamie Clark is making that one from scratch. We are very fortunate to have him in the area because he knows so much about steam engines and locomotives. The Ruble’s company has also donated so much time and effort.”

The committee is also working to make the train accessible to everyone.

“We are working to make the train handicap accessible,” Smith said, “Chance Morgan, the company that built the original train, gave us a list of parts to acquire and steps to take to make the train handicap accessible. We didn’t even know we could do that, but we realized there was such a need for the community and we had to do it. There will be a special ramp and platform and the train will be built with handicap-accessible equipment.”

Smith said the committee has raised $200,000 for the restoration of the train, building of the new tracks and station. According to Smith, Chance Morgan said a brand new train of this exact model would cost at least $250,000 alone. The train is a quarter-scale model of a C.P. Hunnington train, the same type of train that helped build the Continental Railroad.

In addition to restoring the train, Smith said the committee has tried to make the station look as authentic as possible.

“We tried to mimic historic railroad stations,” Smith said. “We tried to paint it the same colors as the original stations of the N&W Railroad and we’re looking for an oak desk to do ticket sales. Sacred Heart also donated some antique benches to put in the station.”

The restoration of the old train has also provided historical context for the new Ridge Runner.

“This won’t be just a train; it’s a treasure,” Smith said. “It’s a restored antique, so I think it’s that much more valuable.”

Smith said the community has come together to make restoring the Ridge Runner possible.

“The people in Bluefield, Princeton and Tazewell have been so helpful and have proved they will do anything for children’s and community projects,” Smith said. “We’ve been blessed by so many people coming forward to help. It is absolutely the talk of the town. People have just called me up and asked ‘What do you need?’ We’ve gotten lots of people behind us.”

With all the progress that has been made, Smith said the committee hopes to have the train up and running by the end of the summer.

“The station is almost complete,” Smith said. “As soon as they finish the station, we will pull back and do the landscaping. After we get the hardscapes — such as the handicapped ramp — finished, the city will repave the parking lot. That should be complete in two to three weeks. We are hoping to have it up and running sometime this summer so we can let the kids ride on it before they go back to school.”

The Oliver family was excited to see the new progress made on the Ridge Runner station and restoration of the train itself.

“It’s fantastic,” Buddy Oliver said. “I particularly like the stonework because the old station was made out of stone. They have stones around everywhere and they used to make everything out of stone.”

Buddy Oliver said his father would be proud to see how the Ridge Runner is being brought back to life.

“Dad would love this,” he said. “If it was about the railroad, Dad was for it. He worked thirty years at the railroad on East End and when he retired, the Ridge Runner was right up his alley. He loved driving that train.”

— Contact Kate Coil at kcoil@bdtonline.com

Local News

Search Results

Discussion

Site Map

Contact Us