Kimball, who was a partner in the Clark firm, headed the new line, which was renamed Norfolk & Western Railway, and consolidated it with the Shenandoah Valley Railroad.

For the junction for the Shenandoah and the Norfolk & Western, Kimball and his board of directors selected a small Virginia village called Big Lick, on the Roanoke River.

[1] Under Kimball, the Norfolk & Western became famous for manufacturing steam locomotives in-house at its Roanoke shops.

Transported by the N&W and neighboring Virginian Railway (VGN), Pocahontas coal fueled half the world's navies during the 20th century and today stokes steel mills and power plants all over the globe.

A request was made to rename the town of Big Lick, now Roanoke, in his honor, but Mr. Kimball turned it down.