You might call Roanoke, Virginia, a "Railroad Town." It was certainly the railroad that put it on the map and what dominated life here for a good part of the 19th and 20th centuries.

The Norfolk & Western (NW) Railway had its roots in pre-Civil War Virginia (circa 1838), when three different railroads were built to connect the hinterlands with the shipping port of Norfolk. The NW, with its 7,000 miles of track in 14 states, was once headquartered in Roanoke. It still exists today as a part of Norfolk Southern Corp. With such a long and rich railroad heritage, it's no surprise that railroads are remembered here today in two excellent museums, one housed in the former NW passenger station, the other in a nearby freight station.

The Virginia Museum of Transportation, opened in 2001 and is operated by the state. It celebrates Roanoke's rich rail heritage with exhibits of diesel, electric and steam locomotives including the famous "611" steam locomotive (a National Mechanical Engineering landmark), and the A-1218, known as "The Mercedes of Steam." The museum also houses antique automobiles, trucks, carriages, model train exhibits, an African American transportation heritage exhibit, and interpretive, hands-on exhibits. Among its automotive exhibits are a 1920 Buick touring car, a 1930 Chevy stake bed truck, a 1934 Ford V-8, and a 1942 Ford/American LaFrance fire engine. View www.vmt.org. There are several railroad locomotives which you can climb aboard for a "up close and personal" experience.

On a hilltop overlooking the city, the museums, and NW railyards is the historic Hotel Roanoke, built in 1882. A registered national historic site, the hotel has hosted presidents, movie stars, athletes, millionaires, and local citizens who made it the centerpiece of Roanoke's social scene for 124 years. Learn more at www.hotelroanoke.com.

When rail passenger service to Roanoke ended in 1971, its modern passenger station (designed by famed industrial designer Raymond Lowey) stood empty for a number of years. But with revitalization of its downtown came the idea of a museum that would feature the photographs of O. Winston Link. Link is famous for his night-time photographs made of NW trains in the late 1950's. The new museum, also home to the Roanoke Valley Visitor Center, opened 2004.

Link, from New York City, was trained as a civil engineer in the late 1930s, but his boyhood interest in photography enabled him to secure work with a public relations agency serving industrial clients. There he used his engineering background to solve difficult technical problems and learned how to make his photographs appealing to editors and the public.

On an assignment in Staunton, Va., in 1955, Link spent the evening in nearby Waynesboro watching locomotives of the Norfolk & Western Railway. He knew it was the last main-line railroad to operate exclusively with steam power, and with the cooperation of the station agent, he made his first photograph of an NW steam locomotive at night.

This experience lead to a five-year, self-financed project. With the blessing of NW president R. H. Smith, Link made more than 20 trips (totaling 270 days) to NW's tracks in Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland. He had to work quickly because NW began converting from steam to diesel power soon after he began. Because he used a large-format camera and elaborate setups, most of his trips lasted days and even weeks.

By the time the NW's steam operations ended in 1960, Link had made about 2,400 images. His most spectacular shots were taken at night because he had more control then.

"I can't move the sun, and it's always in the wrong place, and I can't even move the tracks, so I had to create my own environment through lighting," he once said.

One of Link's best known photographs was taken in Iaeger, West Virginia, in 1956. It's a night shot at the Iaeger Drive In Theater that shows a young couple sitting in a convertible watching a movie while NW #1103 speeds past. Another famous Link shot titled "Maude Bows to the Virginia Creeper", showing a horse drawn wagon stopped at a station crossing in Green Cove, Va., waiting for NW #1230 to pass (1956). Among other outstanding photos in the exhibit are night photographs of Gooseneck Dam on the Maury River and NW #2 near Buffalo Forge, Va. (1956), Charles Jackson and son watching a passing train at Seven Mile Ford, Va. (1957), and the Hawksbill Creek Swimming Hole with NW #1126, Luray, Va. (1956).

A book of Link photos titled "Steam, Steel & Stars" was published in 1987, and a second, "The Last Steam Railroad in America", in 1995. Exhibitions of works that appeared in both publications have traveled throughout the U.S., Great Britain, and other countries. Link died in 2001, at age 86, but plans were already well underway to place his entire collection of photographs in Roanoke.

For addition information see www.linkmuseum.org. Visitors to Roanoke and western Virginia should view www.visitroanoke.com and www.virginia.org.