Thanks for posting this video. I was there that day on the opposite side of the track from the town. It was amazing that 611 restarted after stalling out.
1952……I was in the first grade. It was dark and I rode to the store with my daddy who parked the car alongside the tracks at the Spencer yard in Spencer, NC.while he is in the store the darkness all of a sudden turned to bright as a humongous locomotive chuffed slowly by not 20 feet from my seat in the car. It scared me to the core but to this day I can remember the intoxicating smell of the steam and smoke and how the ground and car shook. I’ve made many journeys since to see them run and good Lord willing I’ll do another soon to once again ride the Skagway to White Pass summit excursion.
I have an old train set of this exact steam engine which I've had since kindergarten. It still works well too. The engine, the passenger cars, everything.
611 was real BEAST back then. Wheels blazin, whistle blowin, & stack Barkin. The way she stalled on the grade, then restarted it and stormed up it bespoke her power. She is merely a shadow of what she once was.
Nice shot of Jack Taylor with his pipe at 34:39 minute mark. He was the assistant road foreman of steam for NS to Bob Saxtan at the time after Frank Collins and the Claytors left.
I am the Thoroughbred of steam-Born to run, born to be free. Forgive them Lord, for they know not what they do! If i could do one thing in my life it would be to somehow bring this engine back to life. To hear that whistle and that stack talk again would probably be the best feeling i can imagine. Great post len!!
There is another video on TH-cam showing the stall on Saluda...many comments about why it happened but this video makes it clear that the sanders stopped working and a member of the head end crew climbed up to the sand dome to clear the clog on the sanders to get them operating working again.
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.
Sou Heritage considering the excursion schedule was released this week, I'm pretty sure we can agree this is finally really happening. aside from the return from Spencer, all of her excursions are confined to the state of Virginia. the locomotive that will travel the farthest from home will be 765, but hopefully 611 will end up operating over the whole of the NS network before too long, as far north as Albany, as far south as New Orleans, as far east as Boston and as far west as Kansas City
I have been told that in 19 days from today(12/14/12) that the saluda line will re-open but will not have any trains on it for a while. There is talk of 611 be put back into service and use saluda strictly for 611 excursions.
Person: looks like their going to have to send the diesels here to pick us up now I don’t think 611 can handle the five cars up to the crest 611: not if I have anything to say about it! *slowly moves up the grade just fine*
Just as I remember it when my father took me to the station to view the steam trains! This would've been mid '50's when everybody seemed happy and prosperous. We were surrounded by pleasant sights and colors and sounds. Not the "darkness" that surrounds us now....the darkness that has rotted our country to it's very core. Notice the lack of "darkness" in this video!
Take your sunglasses off and look around, it's not nearly as dark as you would have the rest of us imagine, lol. Perhaps you're just at that age where your eyes go dim.
So are you using yourself as the definition of "genuine racist", saying that you're colorblind, blaming the "darkness" of these times (that people like you make up and then cause) on the 611, or just trying to say that the 611 should be painted in a brighter color? Try spending some time around rainbows. :) We're all just here to enjoy the 611-and you should be too.
wobblinwheel Boy, where'd you get "racism" out of this? The "darkness" is the cultural decline that I feel has descended on our society. Unlike when I was young, young people are consumed with video games and smart phones. Those who'd rather take a "selfie" than a steam engine. "What's a steam engine?" they ask, because they have NO knowledge of HISTORY, and no desire to learn. Many young folks now would rather idolize CRIMINALS, and not the real heroes that built, and still protect our lives and livelihoods. Obviously, you people who attribute everything to "racism" haven't been around long enough to know any different. YOU are victims of the "darkness", and are too ignorant to know it. "Racism" did not exist when I grew up, when the 611 was built (my uncle helped build it). Nobody knew the WORD "racism"! The Politicians that have ruined your minds invented that word, just for you!
I am one of the few who still look back at this age, and as a teenager myself, I don't get why others are into some of this crap we call "entertainment." Who remembers anything bad that happened back in the 40's and 50's besides the world war and Cold War. Who remembers all of this feminism, and murder? Since America became lazy, aka the 70's, the country has been a hot mess, where sports and good looks are all that matter. Murder is everywhere, crime rate is up, unemployment has skyrocketed, and this has happened since the near extinction of steam engines.
Saluda Grade is no easy trek for any engine, particularly not a big Northern with 79 inch drivers that was meant to run more on the flats than the hills. But, slippage and stalling or not, the crew recovered, got it moving and crested the hill without the aid of diesels! Pretty impressive...nice job!
Fun video! 12:50 How did they move along the engine so smoothly? Well done! My great uncle's huge 4-8-4 freight locomotive did not have drivers this big.
Ah we were just talking about this at the 765's open house this last weekend with the crew that run her, sad she is the last of her model so it it imparitive we return her to service, but the nickleplate 765 aint no slouch either, 4000 hp at 50 or so mph, of course she is a smaller locomotive, at 87 feet or so with tender and 1200 less hp then the 611 but then again the 611 was the biggest northern style engine ever built as the old enginer guy says on the video. but right now npk 765 is queen
If it helps heres some facts from the builders: Consider the J, Greenbriar, N, and S class locos (611, 614, 1225, 765). First, the C&O version makes just as much power as the J, has larger drivers, but less BP. Those two are very equal in speed and power. As for the Berks, the PM's were heavier than the NKP's, and a tiny pinch larger in enough areas to make them a tad more powerful than their NKP sisters. Just so you know, the PM Berks ran 70in drivers. In some cases Berkshire speed is comparable to the Northerns. Alas their BP is lower still, so their HP is as follows: NKP @ 3700, PM @ 3900, the Northerns at 4200 hp. Give or take 100 hp. It is nothing to find stories of Berks hitting 80mph with 75 cars, easily. A Northern hitting 100mph would be more rare! Rule of thumb, 1mph per driver inch plus 10mph. 70in drivers means 70mph + 10. 80 is about as fast as you wanna go before things get, well, interesting! Heres another twist: SP 4449 is a Northern. But her stats read like a Berkshire. Very low HP at 3700 for having 300 psi BP (very high!). But then she has to turn over 80in drivers. Thus, this drops her power. Shoe on a set of 70inchers, and I bet she gains 1000hp. She will lose speed though. Its all in how the diff. pieces are put together. BP vs DD vs ES vs Lbs vs etc etc etc.. You get the point.
The J was the most modern piece of precision engineering ever put into steam. 1000 miles before servicing, pitstop style. They were timed over 100 mph on PRR service.
She apparently traveled pretty fast early in the steam program, but after the 1986 Dismal Swamp derailment they decided to lower the speed limit to try to prevent such an accident from happening again.
@@JCBro-yg8vd They did let her run fast every once in a while after the '86 derailment(mostly on ferry moves when the tracks were safe and made to run fast) but no more than 55 and 60 miles an hour like Bob Claytor and Frank Collins always did in the early years of 611's first excursion career before they retired and passed away.
There was no need for 611 to pull the NRT back in the day though. Collis P. Huntington Railroad Historical Society (the people who still make the New River Train posible) would do various excursions with NS and the 611 on the Pokey before.
if CSX weren't such anti-steam bastards, and 611 didn't get shut down in '94, it would've been awesome seeing 611 pull the new river train, even though 765 did a superb job pulling it, i think 611 would've had a field day and put on a performance that would rival or better 765's
ah no she dont, but she did pull 100 train freight cars in her service days, more like 50 of todays and that was all by her self, so she is no slouch, as for the six truck locos today by ge they are 4300 so they are right there with PM 1225 the "Poler Express" in Owasso as far as power and she is a birkshire too, so its compairable to a loco today, but 765 is 4000 at 50 mph.
well the northen is a bigger loco, of couse it could do a better job, still to me the 765 npk is important, she was built in lima ohio about 30 miles from the ohio indiana border fort wayne is about 20 give or take, 765 also ran the rails too and from fort wayne in her operations life, she is native to us, she is no transplant like most of the other locos around, and closest of all to where she was built then the other limas around to my knowlege, the 765 crew knows what she can do.
Ah we were just talking about this at the 765's open house this last weekend with the crew that run her, sad she is the last of her model so it it imparitive we return her to service, but the nickleplate 765 aint no slouch either, 4000 hp at 50 or so mph, of course she is a smaller locomotive, at 87 feet or so with tender and 1200 less hp then the 611 but then again the 611 was the biggest northern style engine ever built as the old enginer guy says on the video. but right now npk 765 is queen
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Thanks for posting this video. I was there that day on the opposite side of the track from the town. It was amazing that 611 restarted after stalling out.
1952……I was in the first grade. It was dark and I rode to the store with my daddy who parked the car alongside the tracks at the Spencer yard in Spencer, NC.while he is in the store the darkness all of a sudden turned to bright as a humongous locomotive chuffed slowly by not 20 feet from my seat in the car. It scared me to the core but to this day I can remember the intoxicating smell of the steam and smoke and how the ground and car shook. I’ve made many journeys since to see them run and good Lord willing I’ll do another soon to once again ride the Skagway to White Pass summit excursion.
The greatest video of 611 I have ever seen
!
611 is a living machine - a true cyborg - all steam engines are alive.
I have an old train set of this exact steam engine which I've had since kindergarten. It still works well too. The engine, the passenger cars, everything.
Yes she did restart after the stall, UNASSISTED, and without slipping again! She did Stomp the grade.
611 was real BEAST back then. Wheels blazin, whistle blowin, & stack Barkin. The way she stalled on the grade, then restarted it and stormed up it bespoke her power. She is merely a shadow of what she once was.
Nice shot of Jack Taylor with his pipe at 34:39 minute mark. He was the assistant road foreman of steam for NS to Bob Saxtan at the time after Frank Collins and the Claytors left.
I am the Thoroughbred of steam-Born to run, born to be free. Forgive them Lord, for they know not what they do! If i could do one thing in my life it would be to somehow bring this engine back to life. To hear that whistle and that stack talk again would probably be the best feeling i can imagine. Great post len!!
And they did it! N&W 611 rides again.
Bob has this available on DVD.
and its nice to know that she may run next year!
Carl Jensen did a fantastic job with the narration
Glad you like it.
great video!!
"alright everyone get out and push her up the grade" another reason why I love 7.5" gage live steam!
This beautiful lady handles this steep grade, like it is nothing (:-
There is another video on TH-cam showing the stall on Saluda...many comments about why it happened but this video makes it clear that the sanders stopped working and a member of the head end crew climbed up to the sand dome to clear the clog on the sanders to get them operating working again.
Thanks for sharing,WOW.
wish this was on dvd i have vhs but love to have it on dvd
I got this on dvd the saluda grade museum got few dvds for sale about saluda mountain and this excursion is on dvd to
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.
So the 611 did restart & acend the grade
Without helpers??
2015 will be 611 come back Year !!!
Sou Heritage considering the excursion schedule was released this week, I'm pretty sure we can agree this is finally really happening. aside from the return from Spencer, all of her excursions are confined to the state of Virginia. the locomotive that will travel the farthest from home will be 765, but hopefully 611 will end up operating over the whole of the NS network before too long, as far north as Albany, as far south as New Orleans, as far east as Boston and as far west as Kansas City
Yeah I've noticed that guess making sure that any problems they bring it back for repair or problems so won't have far transfer 611
I have been told that in 19 days from today(12/14/12) that the saluda line will re-open but will not have any trains on it for a while. There is talk of 611 be put back into service and use saluda strictly for 611 excursions.
Person: looks like their going to have to send the diesels here to pick us up now I don’t think 611 can handle the five cars up to the crest
611: not if I have anything to say about it! *slowly moves up the grade just fine*
Wait until 4014 comes back to life! :-)
Just as I remember it when my father took me to the station to view the steam trains! This would've been mid '50's when everybody seemed happy and prosperous. We were surrounded by pleasant sights and colors and sounds. Not the "darkness" that surrounds us now....the darkness that has rotted our country to it's very core. Notice the lack of "darkness" in this video!
Take your sunglasses off and look around, it's not nearly as dark as you would have the rest of us imagine, lol. Perhaps you're just at that age where your eyes go dim.
So are you using yourself as the definition of "genuine racist", saying that you're colorblind, blaming the "darkness" of these times (that people like you make up and then cause) on the 611, or just trying to say that the 611 should be painted in a brighter color? Try spending some time around rainbows. :) We're all just here to enjoy the 611-and you should be too.
Whobblinwheel is as negative, disrespectful and antagonistic as they come!
wobblinwheel Boy, where'd you get "racism" out of this? The "darkness" is the cultural decline that I feel has descended on our society. Unlike when I was young, young people are consumed with video games and smart phones. Those who'd rather take a "selfie" than a steam engine. "What's a steam engine?" they ask, because they have NO knowledge of HISTORY, and no desire to learn. Many young folks now would rather idolize CRIMINALS, and not the real heroes that built, and still protect our lives and livelihoods. Obviously, you people who attribute everything to "racism" haven't been around long enough to know any different. YOU are victims of the "darkness", and are too ignorant to know it. "Racism" did not exist when I grew up, when the 611 was built (my uncle helped build it). Nobody knew the WORD "racism"! The Politicians that have ruined your minds invented that word, just for you!
I am one of the few who still look back at this age, and as a teenager myself, I don't get why others are into some of this crap we call "entertainment." Who remembers anything bad that happened back in the 40's and 50's besides the world war and Cold War. Who remembers all of this feminism, and murder? Since America became lazy, aka the 70's, the country has been a hot mess, where sports and good looks are all that matter. Murder is everywhere, crime rate is up, unemployment has skyrocketed, and this has happened since the near extinction of steam engines.
If you have not already, you can donate to the Fire Up 611 campaign.
Saluda Grade is no easy trek for any engine, particularly not a big Northern with 79 inch drivers that was meant to run more on the flats than the hills. But, slippage and stalling or not, the crew recovered, got it moving and crested the hill without the aid of diesels! Pretty impressive...nice job!
*70 inches*
Did a lookup on both SD40-2s in the consist. Both no longer have high hoods.
Dispite the stall, 611 beat the grade.
Fun video! 12:50 How did they move along the engine so smoothly? Well done!
My great uncle's huge 4-8-4 freight locomotive did not have drivers this big.
well worth persisting for the Q&A at 54 minutes.
Me:611 you're beautiful 611:thank you
Ah we were just talking about this at the 765's open house this last weekend with the crew that run her, sad she is the last of her model so it it imparitive we return her to service, but the nickleplate 765 aint no slouch either, 4000 hp at 50 or so mph, of course she is a smaller locomotive, at 87 feet or so with tender and 1200 less hp then the 611 but then again the 611 was the biggest northern style engine ever built as the old enginer guy says on the video. but right now npk 765 is queen
If it helps heres some facts from the builders: Consider the J, Greenbriar, N, and S class locos (611, 614, 1225, 765). First, the C&O version makes just as much power as the J, has larger drivers, but less BP. Those two are very equal in speed and power. As for the Berks, the PM's were heavier than the NKP's, and a tiny pinch larger in enough areas to make them a tad more powerful than their NKP sisters. Just so you know, the PM Berks ran 70in drivers. In some cases Berkshire speed is comparable to the Northerns. Alas their BP is lower still, so their HP is as follows: NKP @ 3700, PM @ 3900, the Northerns at 4200 hp. Give or take 100 hp. It is nothing to find stories of Berks hitting 80mph with 75 cars, easily. A Northern hitting 100mph would be more rare! Rule of thumb, 1mph per driver inch plus 10mph. 70in drivers means 70mph + 10. 80 is about as fast as you wanna go before things get, well, interesting! Heres another twist: SP 4449 is a Northern. But her stats read like a Berkshire. Very low HP at 3700 for having 300 psi BP (very high!). But then she has to turn over 80in drivers. Thus, this drops her power. Shoe on a set of 70inchers, and I bet she gains 1000hp. She will lose speed though. Its all in how the diff. pieces are put together. BP vs DD vs ES vs Lbs vs etc etc etc.. You get the point.
"BP"? "PMs"? Why not use terms others can understand?
The J was the most modern piece of precision engineering ever put into steam. 1000 miles before servicing, pitstop style. They were timed over 100 mph on PRR service.
If I win the lotto this week, NS would have their queen back.
At the 38:20 mark does anyone know what the diesel numbers where and models that took the 15 car train on Saluda grade?
Audio is a bit hot, but wonderful stuff ;)
Her whistle needs a tune up.
She did 100 mph on her farewell to steam excursions. Why didn't they ever do that in the NS steam program?
She apparently traveled pretty fast early in the steam program, but after the 1986 Dismal Swamp derailment they decided to lower the speed limit to try to prevent such an accident from happening again.
@@JCBro-yg8vd They did let her run fast every once in a while after the '86 derailment(mostly on ferry moves when the tracks were safe and made to run fast) but no more than 55 and 60 miles an hour like Bob Claytor and Frank Collins always did in the early years of 611's first excursion career before they retired and passed away.
The tracks simply aren’t maintained for that kind of speed.
There was no need for 611 to pull the NRT back in the day though. Collis P. Huntington Railroad Historical Society (the people who still make the New River Train posible) would do various excursions with NS and the 611 on the Pokey before.
Swannanoa, the gateway to Buncombe county. They invented "bunkum" there
It would be interesting to see the 611 and the SP 4449 nose to nose
Len thats the best viedo ever !!!!!!!!!!!
611 didn't stomp the grade, if the diesels brought the train over the top
They didn't
and you got your wish!!! Hopefully
if CSX weren't such anti-steam bastards, and 611 didn't get shut down in '94, it would've been awesome seeing 611 pull the new river train, even though 765 did a superb job pulling it, i think 611 would've had a field day and put on a performance that would rival or better 765's
I believe 765 has more than 4000.
Only stalled because of wheel slip not lack of power.
Amazing EVERYONE GO TO VIRGINIA TRANSPORTATION MUSEUM FACEBOOK THERE'S A PRESS CONFERENCE TODAY WITH NS
All the foamers would drive our buddie Mr Gates crazy lol
ah no she dont, but she did pull 100 train freight cars in her service days, more like 50 of todays and that was all by her self, so she is no slouch, as for the six truck locos today by ge they are 4300 so they are right there with PM 1225 the "Poler Express" in Owasso as far as power and she is a birkshire too, so its compairable to a loco today, but 765 is 4000 at 50 mph.
I didn't know that was some class j were built in 1941
And 611 was built 1950
It's in Roblox
Let’s see…….steel wheels trying to grip wet steel tracks soaked by cylinder cock release of steam and water condensate………what could go wrong.
Hmmm yes, thank Christ for sand
"Stomps" the grade?? Yea, with two diesels pulling.
Diesels are there for Dynamic braking/Assist in Braking Power
FireUp611(dot)org
well the northen is a bigger loco, of couse it could do a better job, still to me the 765 npk is important, she was built in lima ohio about 30 miles from the ohio indiana border fort wayne is about 20 give or take, 765 also ran the rails too and from fort wayne in her operations life, she is native to us, she is no transplant like most of the other locos around, and closest of all to where she was built then the other limas around to my knowlege, the 765 crew knows what she can do.
Ah we were just talking about this at the 765's open house this last weekend with the crew that run her, sad she is the last of her model so it it imparitive we return her to service, but the nickleplate 765 aint no slouch either, 4000 hp at 50 or so mph, of course she is a smaller locomotive, at 87 feet or so with tender and 1200 less hp then the 611 but then again the 611 was the biggest northern style engine ever built as the old enginer guy says on the video. but right now npk 765 is queen