ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Monday, January 8, 1996                TAG: 9601080025
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C1   EDITION: METRO 

SNOW MAKES SUNDAY A GOOD DAY TO STAY PUT

LENGTH: Short :   33 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:   ERIC BRADY/Staff (2 photos) DON PETERSEN/Staff  (2 
          Photos) Local resident Travis Plaugher, 13, examines a Norfolk 
          Southern train (above) after it derailed Sunday in the Ellett Valley
          in Montgomery County. The early morning accident overturned 81 cars 
          of the train, which was carrying grain, and spilled corn over the 
          wreck site. No injuries were reported.
             The going wasn't any easier on the roads - even if you had a 
          four-wheel drive (left). A stranded motorist gets a push out of an 
          impassable road and back onto Prices Fork Road in Blacksburg. 
             Of course, if you wanted to chance the roads, first you had to 
          get out on them. That meant digging your car out. In Roanoke's Old 
          Southwest (lower left), a resident's excavations yield quite a 
          discovery - his automobile. Cars in the neighborhood were so 
          completely covered by snow, the streets looked like they were lined 
          with igloos. Most people thought better of the whole situation and 
          stayed home.
             Those who had to get out found the weather to be no respecter of 
          office. A Roanoke city police officer (below) adjusts his chains on 
          Brambleton Avenue, getting hands-on experience on one of winter 
          driving's most onerous tasks. Police cars were restricted to the 
          main roads because side streets weren't plowed.  color