About 3 or 4 years ago my colleagues and I uncovered several drop pits and other
associated parts of a huge round table complex in Petersburg Virginia. It was
constructed just prior to the Civil War and was expanded substantially right aft
er
the war. This was a "Phase 1" identification survey for the Virginia Department
of
Transportation. I recommended a "Phase 2" evaluation which did not require any
additional archaeological work--we had sufficient data from the ground--but whic
h
would have focused on reviewing the literature of railroad archaeology and
constructing a context against which to evaluate this feature. Petersburg was a
hub of five rail systems and, for that reason, was besieged and bombarded for an
entire year during the Civil war.
 
The VDOT archaeologist told me I was "crazy" for suggesting the need for even a
phase 2 study, because there was no way that site would be deemed eligible for t
he
NR or worthy of further study. Of course this same archaeologist suggested that
the various 18th-century layers, foundations, cellars, yards, wells and other
features we found lying stratified beneath various 19th and 20th-century layers
were also unlikely to be significant since they were "disturbed" by overlying
strata. This is one reason I don't do contract archaeology anymore.
 
Mary L. Maniery wrote:
 
> Paul:
>
> A few years ago my company conducted a partial excavation of a deck-style
> turntable in Folsom, California.  It was the first turntable installed west of
> the Mississippi and dates to 1856.  We found the pivot stone, brick reinforced
> pit, inspection trench, ring rail and a second wall from a later 1866 A-frame
> turntable.  Not the east coast, but still railroad.  For more information
> contact me off list at
>
> [log in to unmask]
>
> Mary Maniery
 
 
 
--
Dan Mouer
Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology
Virginia Commonwealth University
http://saturn.vcu.edu/~dmouer/homepage.htm