N&W 611 romping & stopming around Roanoke

[E.M. Bell]

The weekend of July 3rd, 4th & 5th saw N&W 611 running a series of trips out of Roanoke, Va.  Each morning they ran Roanoke to Lynchburg and back, and then in the afternoon they ran West to the Wye at Walton, Va and back to Roanoke.  With 6 trips, this gave us plenty of chances to shoot a lot of the classic (and not so classic) locations and not have to pick and choose so much. 

The weather was less than ideal, but that was OK in my book. All of the clouds and rain made me a happy campers, as I am One of the few that actually LIKE shooting in bad weather, and steam just makes it that much better!  A fairly large contingent of us Kentucky folks made the trip East, and had a blast  The 611 handled the train by her self, and put on One heck of a show for those that saw the show from trackside.  NS had the research car  tucked in behind the A-tank to record the engines performance, it will be interesting to see what the results of those test are. 

This was the 2nd of Two back to back weekends on the road for us, and was well worth the 2500 + miles of windshield time......4501 on the mainline, then the 611....it almost felt like I was back in my childhood again!  I have said from the First time 630 hit the mainline again a few years ago to NOT take this rebirth of mainline steam for granted, and I sure don't intend to.....those of us old enough to remember 1994 know just how fast it can all go away...

Here are a few samples, and as usual, I invite you to go and check out my whole set at this link >>>> http://www.pbase.com/kd4jsl/2015steam

07/03/15

After turning on the wye at Lynchburg, 611 is accelerating her train back up to track speed as she comes by the depot and CPL's Forrest, VA


Down to a crawl, walking her train up Christiansburg Mountain in a light rain at Shawsville, Va.   The sound of the struggle was awesome, One of those "you had to be there" moments that no video can ever do justice to. 


A steady rain was falling by the time the train turned and came back East.....my kind  of weather!   Shawsville, Va


07/04/15

Passing under the CPL's at Webster, Va and already digging in for the long climb up and over Blue Ridge. 


"Railroad Town" N&W 611 passes by the front door of the former N&W Headquarters building in downtown Roanoke Saturday afternoon, recreating a scene played out countless times in the past. Take away the modern cars, safety vest and a few other modern changes in this view, and it could almost be the 1950's again. Its not hard to imagine N&W president Robert H. Smith peering down from his office window, keeping an eye on the arrival and departure of the Pocahontas. You can see East End shops where the mighty A, J and Y were born, The N&W passenger station (now the LINK museum), The Hotel Roanoke, The N&W offices, and just a mile or so away are the shops and yard at Schaffers Crossing.


"Independence Day" Cheri George waves to the crowd as N&W 611 steadily marches up Christiansburg Mountain on the 4th of July with Old Glory proudly leading the way. The sharp report from the stack, coal smoke filling the air, and that deep whistle echoing up and down the valley was better than any fireworks show I have ever seen. Near Arthur, Virginia

[NSyorktown]

E.M.:

Love all the pics, but the first one and last one will likely be "winning entries" in a JREB photo contest, or some other competition, in the future.

They are simply outstanding!