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Norfolk & Western 611 is a 4-8-4 steam locomotive built by the Norfolk & Western Railway's East End Shops in Roanoke, Virginia, in May of 1950 for the Norfolk & Western Railway. 611 is one of a class of 13 "J"s built by the Roanoke shops. The first batch, numbered 600 to 604, were built in 1941-42 and were delivered streamlined. In 1943, 605-610 were built, only unstreamlined, due to the cost of the extra shrouding during the war. These locomotives were later streamlined in 1946. And the last batch, 611-613 were built in 1950, all streamlined. The J's were built and designed completely by N&W employees, something that only few engines have the honor of. The total cost for building 611 was over $250K in 1950, now it would be over $2 Million. |
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The design of the J's was completly universal. They were equipped with 300psi boilers, 70" drivers, and roller bearings on all wheels and rods. The 70" drivers and 300psi boiler allowed for a higher tractive effort. When operating at maximum psi, the J's delivered 80,000lbs of tractive effort-the most powerful for a two cylender simple locomotive without a booster. The engineers designed the J class not to pull freight, but passenger, and at a high spped. The 70" drivers were very small for a locomotive that is to pull trains at over 100MPH. To overcome this, the wheelbase was made extremely rigid, used lightweight rods, and roller bearings were added. This allowed for smooth and easy rotation of the wheels. The negative affect of this was it lowered the adheasion rating, which meant that under great stress, the locomotives were subject to slipping/stalling. |
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The J's were the pride of the N&W, pulling crack passenger trains such as "''The Powhatan Arrow''" "''Pocahontas''" and "''Cavalier''" as well as ferrying Southern Railway's "''Tennessean''" between Lynchburg, VA and Bristol, TN. In the late fifties, N&W began purchasing first generation diesels, experimenting with fuel and maintenance cost. They leased several sets of EMD E-6s, E-7s, E-8s from the Atlantic Coast Line and Richmond Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroads. The diesels proved to be cheaper in maintenance and fuel cost, but several were required to equal the power of a steam locomotive. In the end, diesel prevailed, and the clock began to tick until steam was retired. In 1958 and 1959, the railroad ran several farewell to steam excursions, with 611 pulling the last one in October of 1959. While many of the locomotives went to the scrap lines, 611 was more fortunate. |
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Due to the efforts of several men, including famous photographer O. Winston Link, 611 was saved. In 1960, she was donated to the Roanoke Rail Museum, where she sat dormant for two decades. |
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In the early 1980's, Robert Claytor, president of Norfolk & Western in its last months, pulled 611 out of the museum and it was sent to Southern Railway's Norris Yard Steam Shop in Birmingham, AL for a overhaul. In 1982, 611 emerged under steam, with the only change being a dual beam headlight instead of the single she carried in the fifties. During the overhual, Norfolk & Western and Southern Railway merged into Norfolk Southern. This now doubled the amount of trackage of the N&W. 611 was steamed up the Southern into Lynchburg, VA, and then over the N&W to Roanoke for a ceremony. For the next twelve years, she remained the pride of the NS system, and was joined by N&W 2-6-6-4 1218. |
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Rising insurance costs and system capacity did not bring good news to the steam department. In October of 1994, a decision was made to terminate the steam program. The last steam excursion was on December 4th from Birmingham, AL to Chattanooga, TN and back, pulled by 611. The next day 611 set off on her three day trek home to Roanoke, VA. Her offical last day of being under steam was December 7, 1994, the 53rd anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day. In 1995 611 was put back in the museum, now known as the Virginia Museum of Transportation, under a new trainshed. In 2003, a major renovation of the railyard brought a bigger trainshed, and 611 was joined by twice former stable mate, 1218. Both locomotives sit at the museum today, along with many other regional railroad equipment. |
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