Oct. 3 Newsletter: 100th anniversary of train tunnel collapse

Weather: A gorgeous weekend awaits. Sunny and 71 today.

On this date in 1960, President Richard Nixon visits Richmond on a campaign trip. (more)

Today's newsletter sponsored by YWCA Richmond.

	October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. We provide 24/7 hotline support at 804-612-6126 for safe shelter, crisis counseling, safety planning, and support for survivors of domestic, sexual, and dating violence. You are not alone.

Exactly 100 years ago, the Church Hill Train Tunnel collapsed as men worked inside. The true death toll will never be known.

For 100 years, steam engine number 231 has slept beneath the unstable slopes of Jefferson Park. 

The locomotive, buried under thousands of pounds of dirt in a tunnel sealed up by the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad at both ends, is a relic of one of the most dramatic episodes in Richmond’s modern history. 

But did you know the tunnel had already been decommissioned once, or that there were a number of warning signs? Read more here.

Former Gov. Doug Wilder scraps lawsuit against VCU officials

Two months after former Virginia Gov. Doug Wilder sued a pair of VCU leaders over a recent workplace investigation involving him, Wilder is voluntarily dropping the case.

Wilder, who holds the title of distinguished professor at the school named in his honor, claimed the investigation violated his rights and was an act of retaliation against him for his past criticism of VCU leadership. Attorneys for VCU said the probe was a routine step taken in response to multiple complaints. Read more here.

The Richmond Free Press building, a downtown landmark, is for sale

For the last 25 years, the building has served as the headquarters of the Richmond Free Press, an award-winning newspaper that chronicles the city's Black community.

It was originally built in 1923 for the Imperial Tobacco Company by architects Neff and Thompson, who also designed the Cavalier Hotel in Virginia Beach, among other state landmarks. Read more, including the building's assessed value, here.

Vape shop raids land 60 pounds of marijuana flower, worth more than $150k

Henrico Police arrested eight people as a result of last Friday's raids on local vape shops, in which 10 search warrants were executed across the region.

"We are seeing more and more illicit activity in vape shops across the city," Mayor Danny Avula said. "We are seeing more drug activity. Folks who work at vape shops are feeling like they've got to arm themselves. We've had a number of assaults and robberies taking place in vape shops across the city, and then the marketing to kids we know is also extremely harmful." Read more here.

In other news

• High school football report: Thinning the ranks of the unbeaten
• ICE detains lawfully present Richmond father as son waits for school bus (VPM)
• The search for RVA’s beloved kitty Francine hits a fever pitch (Style Weekly)

The editor's desk

In the days after the train collapse, a folk song was written about it.

The chorus: Brothers keep shovelin’, / Pickin' in the ground. / Brothers, keep listening / For the train that's never been found.

If anybody has a recording, we'd love to hear it. Apparently Richmond's music scene loved a sad story even in 1925.

Michael Phillips, founding editor
mphillips@richmonder.org

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