Trip Report-Roanoke, Virginia

Work travels recently took me to Roanoke, Virginia. I was very excited upon hearing I was scheduled to be in Roanoke, as I had recently read the article in Classic Trains magazine about the O. Winston Link Museum. After booking my flights, I also decided to book a room for both nights at the Hotel Roanoke. The Hotel Roanoke was built and operated by the Norfolk & Western. In the 1980s, the N&W donated the hotel to the City of Roanoke and Virginia Tech, who operates the hotel as part of their hospitality program. The hotel is nicely restored, and very nice. I highly recommend a stay.

The hotel is across the street from the Roanoke N&W station, and next door to the former N&W office buildings. The historic, yet still-active Roanoke Shops are located about two blocks away. The City of Roanoke has built a walkway, over the railroad tracks, enabling those staying at the Hotel Roanoke safe and quick access downtown. It is also a great place to watch trains. Located just about a half a mile away is the Virginia Museum of Transportation, also visited by Randy earlier in the year.

The O. Winston Link museum is amazing, and has really good exhibits. I spent several hours looking at all of the photographs. I even picked up a poster of one of Link's photographs for the office.

Overall, Roanoke is still a great place to visit if you are interested in railroading.