I am from Roanoke, Va. I was born and raised here. It is a city of just under a 100,000 with a total metro area of abut 250,000. It goes by the name of The Star City of the South. This is because of a 87 foot star on top of a mountian in the city. If you are flying in at night you can see it from a distance and know you are home. Roanok was the home of the Norfolk and Western Railroad, it is now part of Norfolk Southern. The N&W built there own steam engines here. Two of the best know examples, The class A, #1218 and the Class J, # 611 are here in the Virginia Museum of Transportation.