Paul, thank you so much. I printed your message. My problem is, I can see Smithdale, but don't know measurements, etc.. The railroad track, the river, the curves, the hills, even the buildings, that's what I see.. I remember being picked up and carried when the siren blew and everyone raced for the mine entrance, so I did see the entrance, but not enough to register much. That siren (used in Europe) can send shivers up my spine even today. There were two levels to the town. The first level is where the houses were built for the workers. My dad and mom lived in the next to last house before the train tracks went into the curve and followed the river to West Side West Newton. I walked it a few times to deliver messages to West Newton. The Barnas were in the last house. This level wasn't too much above the river. Prior to the building of the dam, the Yough would flood. My grandpap borrowed a row boat and we got out of the house by exiting from the second floor window. I don't think I'll ever forget that dark water climbing the stairway to the second floor. The outhouse was closest to the river and there was a path between the outhouses and the river we kids would take to get from house to house. The Yough is my favorite river. No matter how much I was punished, I was constantly playing near it. There weren't any houses facing us in that section. Instead it was a broad gravely area and the railroad tracks were I estimate 20 but perhaps more feet from our front yard, running parallel Across the track was an incline and then another road with houses that were less uniform than our company built houses. They hugged the "mountain" behind them. Sort of like a straight line, then a long winged "v" shaped area over it.. The first level continued from our house to the company store. It was built at the crossing of the track to the second level, but on the river side, not the land side. Here was the town pump. I remember Dad saying they thought they had fooled the owners by laying pipes and bringing water to the houses...he laughed about it. No one used the pump, other than sometimes someone would turn it on for kids to play in the water. Going past the company store on the first level, the land opened enough for 2 rows of houses, with a road between them. The river side houses followed the river, the railroad side houses followed the railroad until it reached a large broad "square" where the tavern lay. Here is where we would bring our chairs and watch a movie projected on a large outdoor screen. The river side continued, but the square broke up the row of houses on the railroad side. Then the houses continued until they were against the hillside and no more could be built, but the track continued. The river houses continued with a break for a small one room church, then to the ferry. The ferry was privately owned by a family in Sutersville and we would ring the bell to have it sent over to us. The second level above the railroad tracks had the post office nearby the railroad crossing. The hill climbed steadily. Somewhere up there, I thought the last house, but perhaps not, was the house I was born in. Large house with a porch that looked over the level below. (And my mother had a mean uncle who used to dangle us kids head first over the railing...I've never forgiven him nor gotten over my fear of heights. She'd fight him and he'd call us bad sports.) My young uncle was just 2 years old when he slipped down the incline and in front of a coal car. It severed his arm. I understand that road continued on to the top of the "mountain" and on to another town, but I was too young to remember that. The second level road at the crossing, would lead to the other road that led to the highway to Elizabeth or West Newton. Some of these houses were not standard fare for a coal mine and clung to the hillside, some looking like they were carved from the hill. Tucked between these houses was a flight of stairs. Ten stairs, then a level, ten stairs, then a level, ten stairs, on and on and on, (we walked up the path next to them to save energy) to the top of the mountain where the company had built a school house. I remember 2 classrooms, then a large reception room, and some small offices. There may have been more classrooms. Next to the school house was a burning slag heap. We dared each other to get close to it. The woods ringed the school house on 3 sides. I remember seeing a young boy who had been shot carried into the school house where he died. Another memory that won't go away. By going through the woods, I could avoid the stairs and drop down the hill to the last house we lived in while in Smithdale. Below it and across the road was a broad area that my grandpap used as a garden. Good rich soil, perhaps wet lands, He also cut ice from the river in the winter. Then the road curved round and round and ended up on top of the mountain, a left turn to West Newton, a right turn to Elizabeth.. Shirley Maynard Hampton, VA Going the opposite direction, there were **************It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel deal here. (http://information.travel.aol.com/deals?ncid=aoltrv00050000000047)