Brought To You By the Letter 'J' - part 1
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- Опубліковано 10 лют 2025
- I had previously thought my August '94 footage from Horseshoe Curve was the oldest tape I had...I was wrong.
It's this tape, the last trip I took behind Norfolk & Western class J 4-8-4 611, dated October 30, 1993, and as it turned out it was also the last trip I took before Norfolk Southern's steam program was cancelled. The trip was put on by the Piedmont Carolinas Chapter of the NRHS and ran from Charlotte, NC to Toccoa, GA. I rode many of the chapter's trips between 1984 and 1993, but unfortunately all of them except this one predated my or my friend's ownership of a video camera. By the time I bought my Handycam in '96 the steam program was long gone, so the clips from this tape are the only surviving personal footage I have of the 611 under steam.
The weather was gloomy but it wasn't about to stop me from filming the 611 as her crew went about the business of preparing her for the return trip from Toccoa. After topping off the coal and water, 611 gingerly pulled the train forward to turn on a wye. For the reverse move through the second leg of the wye, NS employed a Geep to pull the train through tail end first, which is where part 2 picks up.
#trains #train #railfanning #trainspotting #railroad #travel
This is AWESOME!! Thank you! I was on the leg from Toccoa, GA to Charlotte, NC. Me and my Grandfather rode on that 611. It was the best time in my life. I sure do wish they would bring back these excursions!
I rode this train as a passenger many times. I also got to ride in the cab quite a bit. My grandfather worked for the RR and knew all the guys. When it would stop in Portsmouth, Ohio, he'd ask if I could ride in the engine cab down to the RR yards, take on water and coal, and back to the station. What fun for a kid. Just as I started to appreciate steam engines they replaced them all. Thanks for posting.
The 611 is my all time favorite steam locomotive.Love that horn at the end
So cool! I remember seeing it back then, and still gives me chills to watch it again! Thanks for posting the videos of this great locomotive!
5***** Favorite!
FFV, don't pay any attention to people knocking anything about your videos! ANY video is a record of history, REGARDLESS of what others think! Personally, I enjoyed every second of it. I rode behind 611 many times, and would give anything to do it again! Great video my friend, you did the old girl proud!
Great look at the 611. Brings back memories of the last time I saw her.
A magnificent machine! And what a sound its whistle made!
Great video. Looks like we will all get another chance to see the 611 run.
These steam locos are the most beutiful works of art that man ever invented
Thanks for posting. I hope to see her run someday! !!!
I was trackside in Taylors, SC that day the 611 came through. I'm glad I got to ride behind her when I was in Roanoke a year ago and the year before that on the excursions.
Having ridden so many excursions between '84 and '93 with little to show for it photographically, my focus on the new trips was on chasing. I did bring my son along with me a few times (most memorably to Roanoke at the end of the 2016 season), and now I'm even more glad I did.
Nice blast from the past. I think I read somewhere that NW 611 is preserved at the TVRM in Chattanooga, TN. Hopefully, it'll get a new lease on life when they start running steam excursions next year. Moving on the Part-II.
lets hope she runs again one day she looks like a fine loco ! thanks for sharing :)
the 611 is at the transportation museum in roanoke but they show it everywere i live in roanoke and go to the museum and the o winston link museum often the 611 could be the most reconizable unit ever
Really sad these days are over I remember riding behind this Locomotive but only the one time sadly! also remember climbing all over this engine!! Ive been in the cab up close to it like this been on top of the engine there in the front I have a few pictures of that!!! I bet to day I would get yelled at if we did what i did when I was younger!!!
@buint I'd rather hear the sound while he is looking for a place to stand, than stop the video. Not bad for no tripod.
Thank you, FFV, for sharing this.
@SFLRailFan NO the N & W #611 is still in Roanoke.. The Southern Railways #611 is in Chattanooga and pulls a daily passenger run. Both are operational and share the same number.
Heh, I remember when I was a kid, and I would go to The Transportation Museum all the time to looks at these great engines. I always thought the 611 had a face on it. You know, with the two 611s (the eyes), the big head lamp (the nose), and the rod (the mouth) that goes across the face of the engine. Good times...
awesome looking steam engine ,,id love the have a ride behind that ,, 5*vid thanks for sharing and Greetings from England :)
A very beautiful video. Thank you. 5*
It's cool to see footage of this from a location I am fairly close to.
Feeding time for the only man mad machine that has a soul
I was on that same trip in 1993. We probably ran into each other and never knew it.
Always thought the bell was on top. Interesting video! Wish I had taken my camcorder when I went a-riding. :(
@SFLRailFan It's in Roanoke not in Chattanooga and yes it still has a chance of running in the future but probably won't.
I remember watching the 611 getting coaled in Richmond, VA (in the early 1990's) and the man had to hand shovel a good part of it!
I am SHOCKED! It's TOO BIG for a locomotive! In Europe we don't have such monsters. Anyway, it's amazing. The only thing I don't like (on all american trains) is the lack of buffers. Someday I wish to see it. All the best!
power beutty and simplicity all in one.
June 28, 2013 - The Virginia Museum of Transportation announced today its intention to return the iconic Norfolk & Western Class J 611 Steam Locomotive to excursion service if her supporters will fund the project.
ROANOKE, VIRGINIA - “We are pleased to say that we can Fire Up 611! But the time is now and it will take fans of the 611 around the world to stoke her fire,” says Beverly T. Fitzpatrick, Jr., executive director of the Virginia Museum of Transportation.
i got to meat the 611 in person in Roanoke ,VA and it is cool but a little scratches on the passenger cars but looks good. the 1218 is there to and it is right beside it.
"By the time I bought my Handycam in '96 the steam program was long gone, so the clips from this tape are the only surviving personal footage I have of the 611 under steam." Until 2015, that is!
+JBS That is true, yes. When I uploaded this over 7 years ago, if you had told me that we would see the Norfolk Southern steam program rise again and the 611 return to service, I would have asked what you were smoking and if I could score some of it. I may just have to update that description. :)
@FastFlyingVirginian The J 611's whistle sounds quiet when it is at around 65mph.
Very nice video.
Thank you!
All these things you talk are just interesting yet amusing with this topic and yes i agree the Mallard did set the record down hill but i do know of reading an article about the 4-4-2 suposedly hitting 127mph but it would most likey not for that time it was done at which leads to quite alot of pples points how did they get it that fast and when and where. But it would seem most likey not as how could it do that when the technonlogy was that advanced in the 20's itself? thats the big question...
*chuckles* the only sad thing is, she isnt like other northerns... She was made entirely by N&W which means... She has specfic parts taht are different then normal engines. They may fit, but they wouldnt work as well. So all teh parts would have to be fabricated, which isnt to hard, jsut costs some good change
I don't think that will ever happen to the 611 & 1218 or any thing the VMoT has. There are the pieces that are sitting in the woods off Jefferson that I feel are not going to make it. I worry that VMoT won't make it either.
No, The Mallard holds the world fastest steam record.
@buint Atleast know something about the video before you comments. The 611 hasnt run in years. In 1991 the NS steam program was cancelled. Thus the 611 hasnt run since the early 90's, before home video's were common.
With the down turn in the economy I worry that they won't make it. Then what happens to these them? Then there are the Lost Engines of Roanoke. Their fate is not looking good either. One was saved by a man in Ohio. The other 3 steam engines and two diesel engines still sit but for how much longer? There is a group that want to save them and have been trying to raise the money but are not doing well. The deadline is the end of the year and they only have about 3k and need 500k. great video!
I don't live far from where they sit. A mile or two at most. I think the down fall of the RTM was moving from Waena. They could have picked a better place than downtown. Everything to so crammed together you can't get good picks. They 611 & 1218 are looking fine other than they could use a wash. Not much peeling paint I was last year when I went and thankfully no rust. There are others that not looking nearly as good. They are barely hanging on with no support from the city.
@FastFlyingVirginian Cool. Are there serious talks about running the J? And how long has it been sidelined? 17yrs? It would need a boiler tear down I think.
Bad weather, but great video.
isnt the 611 still sitting in Virgina waiting as cold as a Ghost? if NS doesnt want 2 use it sell it to CSX see if they will take it(most likley not!) or then give it to UP Steamtown USA in Scarton Pa or maybe even the Strausburgh RR which helps UP out actually with repairing and doing things to there steam fleet presently used
@FastFlyingVirginian I hope so! What is TVRM?
@dreambuilders48808 she would need to comply with the FRA's new standards for steam. I would guess she will need new flues,tubes,superheaters probly some firebox work, running gear work...etc. But as she sits she is in great condition, very little money would be needed (in steam loco terms) to get her out and about.
the only i think the steam program will come back is if ex N&W management starts to run NS,cause it seems as long as its Southern men, not going to happen.
@FastFlyingVirginian actually it's this fall
OHH a streamliner, they dont make them like that anymore, even then when they did they did not make many of them. It is an elegent beast as it is huge but has a line all of its own, and makes a ton of sound with lots of moving parts. too bad the old steam locos are so resource intensive and take soo much mantainance, they are what helped build the nation its a shame to let them rust away and not even breath life in to them on occasion.
Is she still running?
One Question: if, in fact, that video was shot in the month of August, why are everyone wearing coats & warm clothing?
nice
@FastFlyingVirginian "Ugly" is right. It'd take a miracle.
Hey hey hey, They Are big, but its not to big for a locomotive. Blame the size of the rolling stock, not the engines.
blairwitch at 5 minutes
@mmcceng77 NOT...
@irish89055 ?Are you for real try finding some happiness in your life
photographer needs to learn how to shoot video... sheeezz some useful scenes images anyway..