HNWR081

HNWR081

Henry Fink, president of N&W from 1895 until 1902, was the chief operating officer for Mahone's AM&O Railroad. A life-long bachelor, Fink had immigrated to the United States with his brother in 1851 and became a railroad engineer four years later. While N&W president, Fink often directed the railway's activities from his New York office. Though providing N&W steady leadership, Fink made one significant error in judgment; he saw little future in coal. During a visit to the Norfolk division in 1895, his superintendents pleaded for him to approve sidings and storage tracks for more coal traffic. Fink reportedly replied, "What would we do with coal when we got it down here?" No one will buy it. And none of us can eat it. Wait awhile."

unknown

Circa 1900

Nelson Harris; Virginia Museum of Transportation

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HNWR081