"Forgive them lord, for they know not what they do"
Those words, poignant, and perhaps a bit melodramatic, were seen on signs, and uttered by many, as N&W 611 made her last run into Roanoke VA on a dark and dreary day in December of 1994. After decades of running steam powered trips over the rails of the Southern & N&W, bringing smiles to the public and railfans by the Thousands, what had once been considered a "sure thing" was over. The fires where dropped for the last time, the 611 went back home to the museum, and it was over. After that fateful day, many feared that mainline steam in the East and South would never be seen again, and for 17 years, the sound of a steam whistle would not be heard on the NS system.
Fast forward to 2010. The internet was humming with rumor of NS looking into running steam trips again. Details where sketchy, speculation ran wild, and everyone hoped the idea of a steam program would once again become a reality. When the official announcement was made, it seemed to be to good to be true, and of course as the details started to leak out, the speculation about what engines would be used and where they would run. When it was made public that the new "21st century steam" program would be using the Southern 630 & 4501, a lot of people seemed almost angry that the 611 or 1218 would NOT be part of the plan. I must say I don't really understand that feeling myself. The "big" engines are indeed awesome machines, and I would love to see the 611 hot again myself, but as I have said before, don't look a gift (iron) horse in the mouth.
Carmon & Myself made quick plans for a few vacation days once the dates of the first public trips of the new program where announced. We arrived in Chattanooga on Thursday Sept 1st to watch the SR 630 make a dead head move from TVRM to Debutts yard, and then spent the next 4 days watching and photographing the private trip for the NS and invited guests on Friday, and the 4 public trips over the weekend. Had you asked me Two years ago if I thought I would ever be shooting a steam locomotive pulling an occupied passenger train on NS rails again, I probably would have laughed at you, and would have be wrong......but sometimes it good to be wrong!
The new program wont be as inclusive as the old. They wont be running as many trips or going to as many places, but still steam is back on the NS. It may not be the 611 or 1218, but from the smiles and excitement I saw on the faces of the young and old in Chattanooga that weekend, I don't think it really matters. Kudos's to Norfolk Southern for realizing that something like this is a good thing to promote the company, and to the folks at TVRM for having the skills and people to pull it off.
I have finally finished the huge task of sorting through and processing all the images I shot over Labor day weekend, and invite you to take a few minutes to have a look. There are over 40 shots of the 630's return to the mainline at this link.
http://www.pbase.com/kd4jsl/sr630mainline11_emb (http://www.pbase.com/kd4jsl/sr630mainline11_emb)
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Well done! Carmon, I had a tear jerker moment as we were heading at track speed almost to DeButts, had the realization that I had a lot of memory on those tracks.... My first train trip with my grandparents, both whom are now deceased, and also trips with my entire family, my father passed away 8 years ago, and now the family is all over the southeast. Also great was now instead of that guy (or gal) next to you being a complete stranger, now usually turns out to be somebody you know from facebook, jreb, or any other social media. I can hardly wait for more trips!
TJ, I know what you mean. I spent a LOT of time out with my mom shooting steam in the 90's. She loved it as much as I did, and was always ready to go.
I feel blessed to have a wife that shares the same interest as I do in this stuff, and its always great to have someone like that along. I wish mom was still around to have seen what we did in Chattanooga Labor day weekend, and I know she would have loved it as much as we did.....but then again, I am sure she was right there with us :)