
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, December 15, 1994                   TAG: 9412150041
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE:  RAY REED
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BIG JOHN WAS STEAM GIANT, TOO

Q: I recently read that the Class J No.611 was one of the mightiest steam engines ever built. However, I recall a Norfolk and Western engine called the Big John that was tested and found too heavy and wasn't put into use.|

|R.H., Villamont A: The Big John, also called the John Henry or Jawn Henry, ran for 31/2 years in the mid-'50s but proved too complex and unreliable.

It was an experimental locomotive, NW's last effort to keep using coal and steam while diesel engines were taking over the rails.

At 4,500 horsepower, it was regarded as the most powerful single-unit locomotive in the world-hence the nickname John Henry, after the legendary steel-driving man who drilled rock for C&O Railroad tunnels.

The Class J No. 611 was rated at about 5,000 maximum horsepower, but the John Henry used its steam power to drive electric generators. It handled coal trains well in the mountains.

The John Henry was not too heavy; rather, the cost of building more John Henrys was too great, and controls were too complex on its combination of water system, turbine, generators and traction motors.

The Big John, built in a Pennsylvania factory, was quietly scrapped.

Thanks to Louis Newton, a mechanical inspector on the John Henry and now a railroad historian, for this information.|

Are they snowbirds?|

Q: Why are chicken wings in hot sauce called Buffalo wings?|

|C.D., Roanoke A: Buffalo is their home.

The first wings were served late on a Friday night in 1964, when a bunch of hungry friends came into the Anchor Bar and asked bartender Dominick Bellissimo for something to eat.

The kitchen was about to close, but Dominick said, "Let me see what Mama can do." Mama was Teresa Bellissimo, his mother and the cook. She had some chicken wings she was saving for soup stock.

She tossed the wings into the deep fryer, poured some hot sauce over the results and offered them up with blue-cheese dip.

Dominick was reluctant to serve wings to his friends, but Mama made it clear the kitchen was now closed.

His friends thought the taste was sensational, and wings were added to the bar's menu.

Wings appeared on menus in other cities as Buffalo natives migrated to warmer climates, opened restaurants and borrowed Teresa's recipe.

Fast-food restaurants are set to take flight now with fire wings, hot wings, mighty wings and several variations of plain old Buffalo wings. One estimate says they'll sell $2 billion worth in 1995.|

Got a question about something that might affect other people, too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Maybe we can find the answer.|

by CNB