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1999 SESSION

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992524685
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 457 Offered January 21, 1999 Commending the Buckingham Lining Bar Gang. ---------- Patrons-- Houck; Delegate: Abbitt ----------

WHEREAS, in the days before machines took over the work of railroad track placement and alignment, the work was done by a group of men called a lining bar gang; and

WHEREAS, the men swung 12-pound hammers and used rails, cross ties, and other tools to align the track, usually working in cadence to old work songs; and

WHEREAS, created in 1990 to participate in a documentary funded by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, the Buckingham Lining Bar Gang is made up primarily of retired railroad workers from Buckingham County; and

WHEREAS, most of the members of the gang worked for the now-defunct Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad before and after World War II; and

WHEREAS, Manager Charles White leads the Buckingham Lining Bar Gang members: Frank Austin, Frank Cottrell, E. J. Holloway, Wirt Johnson, Robert Jones, Percy Kidd, John Laury, Charles Leftwich, Daniel McKinney, Samuel Mosley, Harry Morris, William Edward Neighbors, Isaac Weldon Pankey, and Samuel Wayne; and

WHEREAS, in late May 1998, the Buckingham Lining Bar Gang was honored to appear at the 12th Annual Seedtime on the Cumberland Festival at the Appalshop in Whitesburg, Kentucky, an event that celebrates the traditional arts and cultures of the central Appalachian region; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend the Buckingham Lining Bar Gang on its successful efforts to keep alive a part of the Commonwealth’s historical heritage; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Charles White, manager of the Buckingham Lining Bar Gang, as an expression of the General Assembly’s appreciation for the gang’s dedication to the history of Virginia’s railroads.