In addition to this being one of his best recordings both in quality and emotion, just listen to how fast the 603 accelerates this train from a stop. It appears to be a long consist too. The "J" Class were an amazing engine.
For sure. The Js represented a heartfelt conclusion to over a century of steam locomotive development on the N&W. Definitely the finest passenger locomotives to ever operate on the East Coast. Where the West Coast had the GS-4s, the East Coast had the Js.
65 years old tonight. Plugged my earbuds in and closed my eyes. Almost felt like I was there; in a time that was so much more simpler and slower paced.
No it is good ! It is sad that as time has progressed and are supposed to better, they are worse. I miss the easier laid back lifestyle and the excitement of the old time Christmases at home with mom and dad
Nope. This is the westbound shot. There were two photos made, with the other eastbound. Link planned to use the eastbound shot but this one shows my granddad's face and it became more popular. Both photos are on exhibit at the Link Museum in Roanoke. Thanks so much for putting this up. I was ten years old and standing over behind the crossing when this was made.
There is another gentlemen in the comment section of this recording on another video, stating that the engineer was also his father! What a small world this is!
that J Class Could either Be 611, 603 or 604. Cuz there’s One that link Shot were hes in a similar Position Like That, And you can see A Guy and His Daughter Waiting on the Platform For 611
@@delpproductions217 The westbound engine was stopped, and Link took a number of photos. One had no one in the shot. Another is like the well known shot, but with the Depot illuminated. Some negatives have never been printed. The people you mentioned were Dallas Newnan, a local business, and his daughter, 'Sis'.
Me too! I grew up near ivanhoe and my father worked for union carbide, and when small would watch the locomotives pull out one plant ; and between the trains and MM PRICES store and the union carbide Christmas show at the old Ivanhoe High School it brings back bitter sweet Christmas memories ! I also travel through Rural Retreat on occasion, it is still a beautiful rural town.
The slamming sound was the conductor closing the trap over the steps of the coach from which a passenger had just detrained (undoubtedly someone coming home to Rural Retreat for Christmas--perhaps a sailor on leave from his base in New Orleans). He had probably already given the engineer (way up ahead on the 603) a highball sign.
JoeRailfan that sound was the slack being taken out of the coupler as the train started to pull away. I know that sound well. Hear it everyday on the railroad.
Wow! I get chills up my spine when I hear that moaning Hancock 3 chime go off into the night as the big class J steams away. Truly magnificent. You get a even deeper sense of your surroundings when you can't see whats going on, but can hear everything.
After Norfolk and Western Class J 611 pulled its farewell fantrip on October 24, 1959, Winston Link was concerned that this last class J locomotive might be scrapped. He contacted N&W President Stuart Saunders and offered to purchase 611, if necessary. Saunders replied "We haven't decided yet what to do with 611, but you have my personal promise that the locomotive WILL NOT be scrapped." Saunders was as good as his word: a "hold" order was issued for 611, stored in the Schaffers Crossing roundhouse at Roanake; ultimately the magnificent locomotive was donated to the Roanoake Transportation Museum and the rest, as they say, was history. It must have been a truly heartwarming experience for Winston to see one of his beloved J's alive and well, on the head end of passenger trains in the 80s.
Loved it...wish I could have lived back in that time and be lulled to sleep in a Pullman room by the sound of the steam locomotive and the clickety clack of the rails. Thank you!
Just now found this. I love it. Brings back so many wonderful memories from that era. I grew up on Bear Creek in Atkins, Va., just a few miles down Hwy. 11 from Rural Retreat. We had to cross that same railway line to get to Hwy. 11. Thank you soooo much for giving me a smile today. I now live in Kentucky and I miss the old days growing up there in the mountains of Va. Happy New Year to you all!!!
Actually, this is Brenda Bales Farmer commenting. Joe wasn't even born when this happened. He came as a surprise when mom and dad had him in 1963. They were four older kids,......a lot older. I was almost 16. and the youngest.
My mother and farther were both born in Rural Retreat. I spent my summers there on my grand father's farm. Loved the area and listened to the trains come thru. That was in 1953
I'm much younger, but my father has told me stories of going to the old freight depot here in Marion with his father (grandpa went to go socialize) and seeing the big Mallets and other articulateds pass through town. My grandmother also told me stories of riding the Virginia Creeper to go see family.
Even for those who were not around in 1957 ( I was 8) this is a wonderful step back in time. Grab a mug of hot cocoa, sit back in an easy chair on a quiet winter evening (Christmas Eve !) , and experience a real treat. Headphones are a plus.
The Depot has been beautifully restored and is used now as a community center. It would be nice to have some steam come through town every once in a while but it doesn't happen very often. I live a block from the tracks here in Rural Retreat.
The station still stands today, has been spiffed up, and even has a caboose beside it. Freight still runs through town. I can only hope they will get a steamer going through again for special ocasions.
I have listened to This recording every year..since I was about 10 years old . And has became a Christmas tradition every year. My brother passed 4 years ago..and I still have his original vinyl album..The Fading Giant. .O Winston Link saved these for eternity....For all of us to enjoy..God bless Mr Link and My brother Mike Standridge.....I never ever listen to this emotional recording..without shedding a happy tear...Some traditions are best if shared with family...And this is one of mine...Merry Christmas to all.Terry Standridge.
I discovered a scene in the 1980s British documentary about O. Winston Link, "Trains That Passed In The Night", in which Link talks about the making of this sound recording. (The video is on UA-cam; this portion starts at 28:49 ). According to the entry in his own notebook, it was made on December 27, not Christmas Eve (which hardly matters). He does say that the train let off a couple of passengers at Rural Retreat as I had guessed. I listen to this beautiful audio Christmas card every year around the holidays.
The N&W 603, the Sister of the 611. My late Father-In-Law David O. (D.O.) Strawn was one of the Engineers on the 611, and O. Winston Link, road with him many times taking Photos for his Books...
This is now a Christmas tradition for me Every Christmas Eve & Christmas Day Around 11:55pm I put this on to hear it I've done this since 2016 & I will let kids listen to this too (if I have any) Thanks for uploading this
Beautiful recording it is an audio to a simpler time in train history I can only imagine how nice the feeling would be sleeping while hearing these beasts roll by especially on Christmas Eve thank you Winston link for this.
Classic trains just published an article on this. I did not experience N&W steam, except for Link records in my late teens. It was easier to find this on UA-cam than to find old disks.
Thank you. I like this recording. It's amazing to hear this 60 years later. I found this through Facebook. I'm going to share this with my family and friends. How wonderful this is. I'm a little bit emotional just hearing this. Thank you to whoever posted this!
This recording is the work of as master . It holds up as good today as it did 60 years ago. I have photographed # 611 here in the 80's and the place is magical. God Bless Mr. Link .
At the end, when the bells stop chiming, you can still hear the train far off in the distance. That shows you how loud and powerful these machines were back then.
Sound carries farther in cold mountain air. I've heard trains seven miles away that sounded like they were right behind me. And ones fifty yards away that I couldn't hear at all.
I was 24 days old, but nowhere near Rural Retreat. I was in Indianapolis. The last NYC Niagara dropped its fires in nearby Beech Grove about a year and a half earlier. My parents moved to Cincinnati in early 1958, so it's possible I crossed paths with a J or a Y6 in Cincinnati. I've been told they ran them on the branchline which ran very close to where we lived - in the rented house the first year and again the house we bought. But it's before my memory. I have no memory of a first encounter with trains. Model trains were always there - parents had them before I was born (HO scale) and I seem to just have trains in my DNA.
To me, who is not from the US this represents a long ago era, of days gone by and a much simpler but better time. I was 1 then so grew up in my early years listening to steam trains in the distance. But the whistle of that engine is so haunting so atmospheric and so nostalgic it moves your soul
We had a German church in the snow that played Silent Night on bells for about ten minutes, in the 60s and 70s . We always used to wind it up on Christmas eve with the light lights off just before Midnight !! The TV was rubbish in the 60s and there was on electric in the early 70s due to the coal miners being on strike !
Point of order: Although this recording is presented all the time online and elsewhere as "Christmas Eve 1957," the reality is that the recording Link and his assistant made that Christmas Eve night was deemed technically flawed. Link then asked the church organist to repeat the performance three nights later on Dec. 27th, 1957. Link released an edited version of this clip on one of his LP recordings; this is the full digitally remastered original. Link also took other photos at Rural Retreat on the night of the 26th; these were seldom published.
not disagreeing with you. But I believe what's written explains the photo as being the westbound shot. I included the westbound shot because it's far more dramatic than the other eastbound shot (in my opinion). Thanks for your comment and it's great to associate more names with the recording.
@fakerstube I hope you got a Lionel train for Christmas! Maybe even one pulled by the Norfolk & Western J-class engine introduced by Lionel that year. This is a wonderful recording...Oh, to have been there.
www.theruralretreatdepot.com/Home_Page.php 60 years on from the time of the recording, I'm happy to see the depot looks in good shape. And with Christmas lights. That makes me happy this Christmas!
Christmas Eve 2023. Still gives me goosebumps and I’ve listened to it every year since about 2016
This is real America...steam locomotives running through small towns on Christmas Eve. I wish I could have been there.
This recording is 63 years old today and it still holds up as one of the most beautiful sounds ever put to tape. God bless O. Winston Link.
you are absolutely correct ... it brings tears to my eyes
This is priceless.
Recordings will only get us so close to what this would really sound like, this is as close as we can get today.
Thank you Mr. Link.
In addition to this being one of his best recordings both in quality and emotion, just listen to how fast the 603 accelerates this train from a stop. It appears to be a long consist too. The "J" Class were an amazing engine.
Not to mention the amazing throttle and reverser work of the engineers of that time!
That hogger ran that thing like a dang car!
For sure. The Js represented a heartfelt conclusion to over a century of steam locomotive development on the N&W. Definitely the finest passenger locomotives to ever operate on the East Coast.
Where the West Coast had the GS-4s, the East Coast had the Js.
I’m actually on the 611 engine crew and the sound of a That whistle.. wow it gives me chills . Just close your eyes and imagine it .
65 years old tonight. Plugged my earbuds in and closed my eyes. Almost felt like I was there; in a time that was so much more simpler and slower paced.
Is it bad that every time I listen to this I tear up? Merry Christmas!
No it is good ! It is sad that as time has progressed and are supposed to better, they are worse. I miss the easier laid back lifestyle and the excitement of the old time Christmases at home with mom and dad
I do the same exact thing lol ❤️
Same
No, it means you have a soul, Joseph. Anyone listening to this would give anything to step back for about ten minutes to see this for themselves
I also like how when she starts playing Silent Night, you can first hear the train roaring in the distance.
1:32
Nope. This is the westbound shot. There were two photos made, with the other eastbound. Link planned to use the eastbound shot but this one shows my granddad's face and it became more popular. Both photos are on exhibit at the Link Museum in Roanoke. Thanks so much for putting this up. I was ten years old and standing over behind the crossing when this was made.
Nice me when me ten di that
There is another gentlemen in the comment section of this recording on another video, stating that the engineer was also his father! What a small world this is!
that J Class Could either Be 611, 603 or 604. Cuz there’s One that link Shot were hes in a similar Position Like That, And you can see A Guy and His Daughter Waiting on the Platform For 611
@@delpproductions217 The westbound engine was stopped, and Link took a number of photos. One had no one in the shot. Another is like the well known shot, but with the Depot illuminated. Some negatives have never been printed. The people you mentioned were Dallas Newnan, a local business, and his daughter, 'Sis'.
@@frankakers1189 So that Must Have Been 611 Right?
Here it is, Christmas Eve 2019, and I am again listening to this marvelous piece of audio history. It is a yearly tradition, and I never tire of it.
Same here. I won't miss this for anything...Christmas Eve, approaching Midnight.
Ditto. I find myself sharing this link to more and more people every year.
Dec 24th 2023 @ 21:00. The yearly tradition is here again...;)
I live in rural retreat and yes I know that building on the right it's still in the same place today
at 6:55 you can hear another Hancock 3 chime off in the distance, it sends chills down my spine the sound is so true and clear
The finest whistle of all.
Truly beautiful sound, brings tears to my eyes. Wish I could go back in time to see these living legends. Thanks for sharing
Me too! I grew up near ivanhoe and my father worked for union carbide, and when small would watch the locomotives pull out one plant ; and between the trains and MM PRICES store and the union carbide Christmas show at the old Ivanhoe High School it brings back bitter sweet Christmas memories ! I also travel through Rural Retreat on occasion, it is still a beautiful rural town.
1:31, you hear the locomotive for the first time. I LOVE this one, I can feel what it might have been like on a cold, lonely evening
The slamming sound was the conductor closing the trap over the steps of the coach from which a passenger had just detrained (undoubtedly someone coming home to Rural Retreat for Christmas--perhaps a sailor on leave from his base in New Orleans). He had probably already given the engineer (way up ahead on the 603) a highball sign.
JoeRailfan that sound was the slack being taken out of the coupler as the train started to pull away. I know that sound well. Hear it everyday on the railroad.
Wow! I get chills up my spine when I hear that moaning Hancock 3 chime go off into the night as the big class J steams away. Truly magnificent. You get a even deeper sense of your surroundings when you can't see whats going on, but can hear everything.
After Norfolk and Western Class J 611 pulled its farewell fantrip on October 24, 1959, Winston Link was concerned that this last class J locomotive might be scrapped. He contacted N&W President Stuart Saunders and offered to purchase 611, if necessary. Saunders replied "We haven't decided yet what to do with 611, but you have my personal promise that the locomotive WILL NOT be scrapped." Saunders was as good as his word: a "hold" order was issued for 611, stored in the Schaffers Crossing roundhouse at Roanake; ultimately the magnificent locomotive was donated to the Roanoake Transportation Museum and the rest, as they say, was history. It must have been a truly heartwarming experience for Winston to see one of his beloved J's alive and well, on the head end of passenger trains in the 80s.
I listen to this every Christmas Eve. It always provides a thrill. Merry Christmas
Paints such a lonesome picture in my mind. Nothing like that 'J' whistle to give you goose bumps!
I listen to this every Christmas Eve without fail
It’s been 63 years today Link, thank you for this legendary masterpiece. ❤️
I listen to this clip each year. It’s magical.
Loved it...wish I could have lived back in that time and be lulled to sleep in a Pullman room by the sound of the steam locomotive and the clickety clack of the rails. Thank you!
Merry Christmas
Classic Trains Winter 2020 brought me here... I had no idea this existed...
Christmas 2015. A quiet night of Train Simulator and a steaming cup of hot cider by my side with this playing in the bg...can't beat it.
Just now found this. I love it. Brings back so many wonderful memories from that era. I grew up on Bear Creek in Atkins, Va., just a few miles down Hwy. 11 from Rural Retreat. We had to cross that same railway line to get to Hwy. 11. Thank you soooo much for giving me a smile today. I now live in Kentucky and I miss the old days growing up there in the mountains of Va. Happy New Year to you all!!!
Actually, this is Brenda Bales Farmer commenting. Joe wasn't even born when this happened. He came as a surprise when mom and dad had him in 1963. They were four older kids,......a lot older. I was almost 16. and the youngest.
My mother and farther were both born in Rural Retreat. I spent my summers there on my grand father's farm. Loved the area and listened to the trains come thru. That was in 1953
The above name shows Drew Schappell that is my grand son My name is Robert Bales I currently live in PA
I'm much younger, but my father has told me stories of going to the old freight depot here in Marion with his father (grandpa went to go socialize) and seeing the big Mallets and other articulateds pass through town. My grandmother also told me stories of riding the Virginia Creeper to go see family.
Every Christmas Eve without fail I play this and every time without fail it gets me in the throat and my eyes swim. Beautiful.
well it's that time of the year to listen to this
Even for those who were not around in 1957 ( I was 8) this is a wonderful step back in time. Grab a mug of hot cocoa, sit back in an easy chair on a quiet winter evening (Christmas Eve !) , and experience a real treat. Headphones are a plus.
The Depot has been beautifully restored and is used now as a community center. It would be nice to have some steam come through town every once in a while but it doesn't happen very often. I live a block from the tracks here in Rural Retreat.
This is one of the best railroad recordings I think I've ever heard. The quality is absolutely amazing.
That train whistle is such a mournful sound...
The locomotive whistle has to have one of the best tones. So haunting as it approaches in the distance. Fantastic.
Christmas Eve tradition of coming to this link to listening to this.
61 years ago tonight! Happy Holidays everyone!
This is pure tonic for the soul!
I can't help but, get tears in my eyes from this !! How Solemn, and personal
Totally agree. My fam listens to this every Holiday season! It mixes art, trains, Holiday, history and family all at once!
The station still stands today, has been spiffed up, and even has a caboose beside it. Freight still runs through town. I can only hope they will get a steamer going through again for special ocasions.
I have listened to This recording every year..since I was about 10 years old . And has became a Christmas tradition every year. My brother passed 4 years ago..and I still have his original vinyl album..The Fading Giant. .O Winston Link saved these for eternity....For all of us to enjoy..God bless Mr Link and My brother Mike Standridge.....I never ever listen to this emotional recording..without shedding a happy tear...Some traditions are best if shared with family...And this is one of mine...Merry Christmas to all.Terry Standridge.
So much emotion in this recording. Favorite Link recording by far!
I discovered a scene in the 1980s British documentary about O. Winston Link, "Trains That Passed In The Night", in which Link talks about the making of this sound recording. (The video is on UA-cam; this portion starts at 28:49 ). According to the entry in his own notebook, it was made on December 27, not Christmas Eve (which hardly matters). He does say that the train let off a couple of passengers at Rural Retreat as I had guessed.
I listen to this beautiful audio Christmas card every year around the holidays.
There is also an interview on UA-cam with the woman who was playing the music for this recording.
The N&W 603, the Sister of the 611. My late Father-In-Law David O. (D.O.) Strawn was one of the Engineers on the 611, and O. Winston Link, road with him many times taking Photos for his Books...
I have a recording of Winston on the 611 on a CD that came with a book maybe he was the engineer he was talking to do you remember his voice?
This is now a Christmas tradition for me
Every Christmas Eve & Christmas Day Around 11:55pm I put this on to hear it
I've done this since 2016 & I will let kids listen to this too (if I have any)
Thanks for uploading this
Nice presentation Tip my hat to mrs dodson excellant chime playing
The slamming sound was when engineer Bill Brickey opened up the throttle on the 603 to leave the station and head on east toward Roanoke.
Like most geniuses only appreciated when they are gone, Every photo is worth a thousand words but some of his would take ten thousand. A true master
The Rural Retreat depot is still standing and is presently receiving repairs.
It's still standing and they are planning to renovate it and make it into a museum!
Beautiful recording it is an audio to a simpler time in train history I can only imagine how nice the feeling would be sleeping while hearing these beasts roll by especially on Christmas Eve thank you Winston link for this.
It’s now Christmas 2019, and it’s been 62 years since both the recording and the photo were made.
Classic trains just published an article on this. I did not experience N&W steam, except for Link records in my late teens. It was easier to find this on UA-cam than to find old disks.
Steam locomotive whistle and this song is very awesome to hear around Christmas time when everyone is getting together for the holidays
Thank you. I like this recording. It's amazing to hear this 60 years later. I found this through Facebook. I'm going to share this with my family and friends. How wonderful this is. I'm a little bit emotional just hearing this. Thank you to whoever posted this!
Looks like a movie set. Love it!
Thanks for posting this! I used to live in Rural Retreat and took piano lessons from Mrs. Dodson.
Its been exactly 54 years! Merry christmas!
The bells playing Christmas music with the crossing bells and the j class passing through just defines chills.
Incredible!! 5*!!! Almost brings tears to my eyes..
Man was such a good photographer
This recording is the work of as master . It holds up as good today as it did 60 years ago. I have photographed # 611 here in the 80's and the place is magical. God Bless Mr. Link .
Absolutely beautiful sound and photograph!
I live in nearby Wythe County, the depot at Rural Retreat is still there and looking quite well. A farmer's market operates there.
At the end, when the bells stop chiming, you can still hear the train far off in the distance. That shows you how loud and powerful these machines were back then.
Sound carries farther in cold mountain air. I've heard trains seven miles away that sounded like they were right behind me. And ones fifty yards away that I couldn't hear at all.
I was 24 days old, but nowhere near Rural Retreat. I was in Indianapolis. The last NYC Niagara dropped its fires in nearby Beech Grove about a year and a half earlier. My parents moved to Cincinnati in early 1958, so it's possible I crossed paths with a J or a Y6 in Cincinnati. I've been told they ran them on the branchline which ran very close to where we lived - in the rented house the first year and again the house we bought. But it's before my memory. I have no memory of a first encounter with trains. Model trains were always there - parents had them before I was born (HO scale) and I seem to just have trains in my DNA.
I listen to this every Christmas Eve. Warms my heart and soul every time. Beautiful recording.
This is amazing. Very festive.
To me, who is not from the US this represents a long ago era, of days gone by and a much simpler but better time. I was 1 then so grew up in my early years listening to steam trains in the distance. But the whistle of that engine is so haunting so atmospheric and so nostalgic it moves your soul
We had a German church in the snow that played Silent Night on bells for about ten minutes, in the 60s and 70s . We always used to wind it up on Christmas eve with the light lights off just before Midnight !! The TV was rubbish in the 60s and there was on electric in the early 70s due to the coal miners being on strike !
Point of order:
Although this recording is presented all the time online and elsewhere as "Christmas Eve 1957," the reality is that the recording Link and his assistant made that Christmas Eve night was deemed technically flawed. Link then asked the church organist to repeat the performance three nights later on Dec. 27th, 1957. Link released an edited version of this clip on one of his LP recordings; this is the full digitally remastered original. Link also took other photos at Rural Retreat on the night of the 26th; these were seldom published.
that is really amazing! thanks for sharing.
Merry Christmas to everyone. here's hoping the depot is still standing, in its original place, perhaps with some christmas lights on it.
The Depot has been beautifully restored, it has Christmas lights too.
Train got derailed
so haunting and moving
Merry Christmas 2018!
My husband's grandfather loved to ride the Pelican.
My great grandfather was station master in Rural Retreat. I imagine he had retired by 1957.
It's that time again. Merry Christmas 2019!
55 years ago tonight.
60 year old footage! Merry Christmas!
Engineers in those days sure knew how to get the true best of the ole girls.
54 years ago tonight!
Daulph Kline Now 59
i have this on a 33 1/3 rpm record i got from an auction!!!
not disagreeing with you. But I believe what's written explains the photo as being the westbound shot. I included the westbound shot because it's far more dramatic than the other eastbound shot (in my opinion). Thanks for your comment and it's great to associate more names with the recording.
still good listening!
The nation lost part of its soul when steam went away.
Christmas Eve, 1957 and being serenaded by thee Queen 😍
This is incredible
So evocative! A paean to a vanished age.
Thats fantastic! 611 should remake the shot
60 years today
they gotta recreate this photo and audio with N&W 611 someday
This one is a Christmas Eve tradition for me. Some get it, most don't.
JLScott3178 This now is going to be. I can close my eyes and be back there, trackside. I now have the goal to find this on the original vinyl.
JLScott3178
Listening to this at full blast on my TV when I get home from Christmas Eve church service is a tradition for me.
I’m completing my tradition right now.
i’m reading the article on page 14 of the winter 2020 issue of Classic Trains about this recording
Just read it today. Amazing recording.
@nufsikcarc Well i'm happy it's saved. Currently there is a group that is dedicated to restoring the structure.
Loved this!!!!
@fakerstube I hope you got a Lionel train for Christmas! Maybe even one pulled by the Norfolk & Western J-class engine introduced by Lionel that year.
This is a wonderful recording...Oh, to have been there.
www.theruralretreatdepot.com/Home_Page.php
60 years on from the time of the recording, I'm happy to see the depot looks in good shape. And with Christmas lights. That makes me happy this Christmas!
Merry Christmas 2021!