6:30 That's how they used to run her between my hometown of Bucyrus, Ohio and Marion to the south. The route's a long straight stretch, and coming southbound, the engineer would open the throttle, pouring the smoke out of the stack. One of the most beautiful sights to see.
That's how 611 was meant to run. Wild and free, swiftly down the mainline. It is not at all well suited for low speed slogging on a branch line, but Strasburg is still better than not being able to run at all.
This is some of the best video of the 611 I have seen. I went to see her in June of 2009. She is still sitting peacefully at the Virginia Museum. I hope in my lifetime I can see a great steam engine run the rails again. My grandfather worked for the old Seaboard Air Line and trains are in my blood. Thanks for a great video.
Fantastic! Looks as good as any Pentrex tape I ever bought, and without all that unnecessary narration. I miss this one more than the rest; I live within two miles of the former home of the SR / NS steam program. We saw these locomotives often back in the day.
Right at the end, before you even hear her chuffing, you can tell she is is flying just by the fact that its a straight, and just the speed that the engineer did the grade crossing cadence. Great Video
I rode behind 611 on this trip between Valpo and Argos, and you're right - none of us realized the steam program was ending.... but it was a great ride!!!
Kinda sad when see returned she didn't wear that whistle seen in this video I prefer the whistle she had in the 90s than the one she has now. Its still good but i still prefer the one she used in the 90s
This is absolutely amazing!!!!! Look ma' no diesels!!! I just love 611. She is sleek, fast, and is absolutely beautiful!! She has one of the most awesome whistles too, so menacing, aggressive and powerful!!!! Why did David Goode have to shut the NS steam program down why???!!! Amazing footage man!!! Glad you had it archived!!
This is awesome. I saw it in Strasburg when I went to their train museum. I just put the video about it up on my channel. I was so excited to see it in Strasburg that I put it on my thumbnail for my video. Thanks for sharing.
Awesome video. It looked like in the 2nd and 3rd runby, and maybe the last, that the crew let her stretch her legs above 40 mph. I hope I live to see the 611 under live steam again. There are rumors out there about 4501 getting some action for her 100th birthday in 2011. Keep hope alive.
The shots especially at Ober and the last one west of Valparaiso really shows the absolute beauty and power of this locomotive. I hope she can come to the midwestern flat lands of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio and run at least 50 mph(though the limit is 40 mph just to strut her stuff again before it's too late again.
NS steam went to Chicago? They sure did a lot of runs back then. I hope the new steam program covers more of NS's lines outside of Tennessee, like in Virginia, MD, and PA. 630 and 4501 are awesome in their own right. Hope to see one of them hit the mainline next year closer to me (I'm from Allentown, PA) NS owns the tracks through my area.
wow, that was a great video, and she was soundin good to, even though she was haulin a pretty good weight behind her, i believe thats the longest excursion train i ever seen
What a beauty! Fabulous loco and very stylish - best looking US loco I've ever seen and she sure sounds powerful. Has she got 4 cylinders, two outside and two inside? Pity she's limited to 40, although she looked to be doing nearer 50 at the crossing near the end. Great to hear she'll be back on the tracks soon. We have a 70 limit over here, but recently one of the famous A4 Mallard class was authorised to do 90 on two specials in connection with the world record Mallard achieved in 1938. We had the pleasure of having the two A4s from North America over here to join the 4 British locos for a six month period. Really enjoyed your video and I'm looking forward to seeing 611 back where she should be!! Thanks for sharing this one and best wishes from Ken in Scotland, UK.
Ken she was effectively the pinnacle of American steam (along with a NYC Niagara but non are left :( ). Minimal maintenance, could go a 100 up hill no problem with 14 passenger cars, and tractive effort or better then most diesels. Norfolk & Western was able to wait long then any major North American railroad to move to diesel because their steamers which they made were that good. Thankfully 611 is being rerestored and should be done sometime in spring
O Ken the only reason she was limited to 40 was due to a derailment with a full train of employees back in 87 or 88 that scared NS from letting her go 60 or better. There are talks though to now move it back once she is online
High Ken, I had he chance to ride behind the 611 in the mid 80's. She was running well over 80 and rumored to be at 94 mph on a trip from Erie to Buffalo. The stack sounded like a jet engine roar. When she wrecked in the Dismal Swamps it was said she was going over 100 mph. That wreck impacted main line steam excursions forever! No more open window coaches and any passenger cars without tight lock couplers were doomed. NKP 765 had to cancel trips from Pittsburgh to Altoona around Horseshoe curve because no one would insure the trips. Hopewell productions has a video out called Queen of the fleet. The finale scenes show 611 running well over 75 mph with some cool pacing shots. I'm really looking forward to coming over the pond to see some of your steam action next year
James McCann. Thanks for the info James and I'd love to have seen her at those speeds! You'd be more than welcome to come over here this year James and if you're interested I could give you some links for websites that give details of steam runs this year, and any other web sites that could be helpful for your trip. Just let me know. I have quite a few steam vids on my You Tube channel if you're interested. Best wishes from Ken in Scotland UK!
It's to know a decade after this was upload that 611 is operational ahain and in late September to late October 2019 she'll be at the Strasburg railroad pulling trains and maybe a few photo freight runs and maybe just maybe a few double header runs with new restored 475
Maybe slightly over. With the 611 having 70" drivers she looked like she was moving a bit faster than she really was. After having see her working close to 80mph on a few occasions I can tell you that them rods were flyin' then!!!!
It's easy for a railfan to say that because they aren't the ones that have to operate, maintain, and be liable for, the engines. Don't get me wrong, I love steam! But ones own personal reservations have to take a backseat when you're trying to look out for the overall well being of the company. As I've said many times before..don't blame NS, blame all the bogus cases against the railroads, sympathetic juries, and insanely high insurance costs that overall make steam locomotives a HUGE liability.
Part of the reason that we can't have 611 back now is because of the economy so NS decided 2 smaller consolidation locos were better and since they were smaller means less maintenance an more money to keep. Maybe when the economy turns around we'll get some real results. So give to time and something will come. NS's new CEO Wick Moorman says he'd like 611 better but it's too much money to restore so satisfy the public with a steam program while benefiting the company.
When is the restoration of 611 going to be finished? Also an in cab video of 611 I noticed that it was burning coal. The video itself was taken sometime in the 1980s. I have a funny feeling that it's already been converted to burning oil.
Djcman331 I find that really surprising. Burning coal poses a higher risk to start a grass or a bush fire I think than burning oil. The reason why Big Boy 4014 is being converted to burn No. 5 Oil is because there is a lack of coal resources where it is as well as burning oil is cheaper and is more readily available. However, Big Boy 4005 was converted to burn oil as an experiment in the mid 1940s during a coal miners strike. It operated in that fashion for almost 2 years before the test was eventually deemed unsuccessful due to the uneven heating in its large boiler and was reconfigured to burn coal which it did so for the rest of its operating life.
10 ton??? Try 396 tonnes, the total weight of the locomotive and tender. That driver would be most definitely comatose.We won't even mention the weight of all those passenger cars behind it!
The NS has no mascot to represent its self anymore The N&W 611 and 1218 and 4501 were the three Embassadors for NS and the Predesser Southern Railway, I do say at least somebody could restore those beauties and have them run again shame on NS for killing a great program, bring NS steam back someday yeehaw
NS is back but too bad 6611 and 1218 are gathering dust in a museum they might return to service soon Nickle Plate returned and the old Southern returned but these two coal haulers will have to wait.
HOLY COW!!! That last shot was absolutely the perfect definition for Pure AWESOME Steam Power at it's finest. Beautiful video.
611 should be a movie star in the future!
6:30 That's how they used to run her between my hometown of Bucyrus, Ohio and Marion to the south. The route's a long straight stretch, and coming southbound, the engineer would open the throttle, pouring the smoke out of the stack. One of the most beautiful sights to see.
That's how 611 was meant to run. Wild and free, swiftly down the mainline. It is not at all well suited for low speed slogging on a branch line, but Strasburg is still better than not being able to run at all.
This is my favorite video of my favorite steam locomotive! Great quality!
This is some of the best video of the 611 I have seen. I went to see her in June of 2009. She is still sitting peacefully at the Virginia Museum. I hope in my lifetime I can see a great steam engine run the rails again. My grandfather worked for the old Seaboard Air Line and trains are in my blood. Thanks for a great video.
Kind of amazing how fast that turntable spins that huge locomotive!
The whistle now is good but this one is by far my favorite. Regardless, it's nice to have her back.
Awesome that she's in the process of being restored to operating condition.
You can really hear him notch out the throttle a little more around 6:30, and it looks like she is doing around 50 mph at that same point.
Fantastic! Looks as good as any Pentrex tape I ever bought, and without all that unnecessary narration. I miss this one more than the rest; I live within two miles of the former home of the SR / NS steam program. We saw these locomotives often back in the day.
Obviously a lot of hard work (and speeding auto) went into this. It was absolutely worth it. Thanks for all the effort!
Love the whistle. Boop boop boop!
Right at the end, before you even hear her chuffing, you can tell she is is flying just by the fact that its a straight, and just the speed that the engineer did the grade crossing cadence. Great Video
I rode behind 611 on this trip between Valpo and Argos, and you're right - none of us realized the steam program was ending.... but it was a great ride!!!
Love the Whistle on this one
Yep better than the one she has today
no helper engines in those days, nice video, hope she runs again
Chills down my spine!
Kinda sad when see returned she didn't wear that whistle seen in this video I prefer the whistle she had in the 90s than the one she has now. Its still good but i still prefer the one she used in the 90s
This is absolutely amazing!!!!! Look ma' no diesels!!! I just love 611. She is sleek, fast, and is absolutely beautiful!! She has one of the most awesome whistles too, so menacing, aggressive and powerful!!!! Why did David Goode have to shut the NS steam program down why???!!! Amazing footage man!!! Glad you had it archived!!
This is awesome. I saw it in Strasburg when I went to their train museum. I just put the video about it up on my channel. I was so excited to see it in Strasburg that I put it on my thumbnail for my video. Thanks for sharing.
Great vid. Fabulous runby footage. Thanks for sharing.
That van at 1:35 was stupid. He missed one of the most beautiful engines in the world. Great quality footage by the way. Five stars!
I LOVE her whistle!!!
Awesome video. It looked like in the 2nd and 3rd runby, and maybe the last, that the crew let her stretch her legs above 40 mph.
I hope I live to see the 611 under live steam again. There are rumors out there about 4501 getting some action for her 100th birthday in 2011.
Keep hope alive.
The shots especially at Ober and the last one west of Valparaiso really shows the absolute beauty and power of this locomotive. I hope she can come to the midwestern flat lands of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio and run at least 50 mph(though the limit is 40 mph just to strut her stuff again before it's too late again.
I hope 611 will come back to Chicago and run to Fort Wayne again in the future.
NS steam went to Chicago? They sure did a lot of runs back then. I hope the new steam program covers more of NS's lines outside of Tennessee, like in Virginia, MD, and PA. 630 and 4501 are awesome in their own right. Hope to see one of them hit the mainline next year closer to me (I'm from Allentown, PA) NS owns the tracks through my area.
Ober, Indiana in this video is really Mentone, Indiana. The siding there is called Clemer
WOW! Nice quality for 1994. I love 611 it is my second favorite engine behind Pennsylvania Railroad K4 Pacific 1361. I hope they bring back 611.
Looks like 1992
wow, that was a great video, and she was soundin good to, even though she was haulin a pretty good weight behind her, i believe thats the longest excursion train i ever seen
best sounding Whistle she ever had
i just might ride the 611 in 2018!hope she has that whistle that sounds like an angle!
The NS steam program should have continued after 1994 Claytor brothers or not and it's too bad that they can't get the 611 or 1218
I swear I would marry that whistle if I could...
What a beauty! Fabulous loco and very stylish - best looking US loco I've ever seen and she sure sounds powerful. Has she got 4 cylinders, two outside and two inside? Pity she's limited to 40, although she looked to be doing nearer 50 at the crossing near the end. Great to hear she'll be back on the tracks soon. We have a 70 limit over here, but recently one of the famous A4 Mallard class was authorised to do 90 on two specials in connection with the world record Mallard achieved in 1938. We had the pleasure of having the two A4s from North America over here to join the 4 British locos for a six month period. Really enjoyed your video and I'm looking forward to seeing 611 back where she should be!! Thanks for sharing this one and best wishes from Ken in Scotland, UK.
American railroads usually try to avoid using the inside cylinders as those can be a real pain maintenance wise. 611 uses outside cylinders only.
Ken she was effectively the pinnacle of American steam (along with a NYC Niagara but non are left :( ). Minimal maintenance, could go a 100 up hill no problem with 14 passenger cars, and tractive effort or better then most diesels. Norfolk & Western was able to wait long then any major North American railroad to move to diesel because their steamers which they made were that good. Thankfully 611 is being rerestored and should be done sometime in spring
O Ken the only reason she was limited to 40 was due to a derailment with a full train of employees back in 87 or 88 that scared NS from letting her go 60 or better. There are talks though to now move it back once she is online
High Ken, I had he chance to ride behind the 611 in the mid 80's. She was running well over 80 and rumored to be at 94 mph on a trip from Erie to Buffalo. The stack sounded like a jet engine roar. When she wrecked in the Dismal Swamps it was said she was going over 100 mph. That wreck impacted main line steam excursions forever! No more open window coaches and any passenger cars without tight lock couplers were doomed. NKP 765 had to cancel trips from Pittsburgh to Altoona around Horseshoe curve because no one would insure the trips. Hopewell productions has a video out called Queen of the fleet. The finale scenes show 611 running well over 75 mph with some cool pacing shots. I'm really looking forward to coming over the pond to see some of your steam action next year
James McCann. Thanks for the info James and I'd love to have seen her at those speeds! You'd be more than welcome to come over here this year James and if you're interested I could give you some links for websites that give details of steam runs this year, and any other web sites that could be helpful for your trip. Just let me know. I have quite a few steam vids on my You Tube channel if you're interested. Best wishes from Ken in Scotland UK!
It's to know a decade after this was upload that 611 is operational ahain and in late September to late October 2019 she'll be at the Strasburg railroad pulling trains and maybe a few photo freight runs and maybe just maybe a few double header runs with new restored 475
It's hard to believe that #611 only has around 21 years of service when you add her 12 excursion years to her 9 years of regular service.
Ok here's my second favorite train the 611 not like my first one like the 4449 she is amazing the paint looks good and it's whistle is amazing
They will be restoring her after the streamline meet up in Spencer, NC
It takes a well trained and skilled engineer to do fine fast running on the mainline.
5:13 she's saying MOOOOOOVE MOOOOOOOVE MOOOVE MOOOOOVE!!!
@TrainTrackTrav | but the 611’whistle is so water, is calm...
Train track trav, I think Mr. 611 is saying : “ GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY “!!!!!!!!
That is a great picture for footage this old! What camera did you use?
BEST STEAM WHISTLE EVER !
Looks more like between 50-55 mile an hour at the end than 40-45.
From what I understand, they only have million to go in the Campaign. I hope they gets the funds to restore her soon.
Maybe slightly over. With the 611 having 70" drivers she looked like she was moving a bit faster than she really was. After having see her working close to 80mph on a few occasions I can tell you that them rods were flyin' then!!!!
I believe the 4501 is a Mikado built by Baldwin.
i was on this train ! ! !
i remember i got a cinder in my eye hurt like hell they used a key to get it out. 5mins later i had my head back out the side.
Really? I never born on 1993, I born in 2010, so bad lucky for me 😭
amazing site much bigger tha our steam trains well done
It's easy for a railfan to say that because they aren't the ones that have to operate, maintain, and be liable for, the engines. Don't get me wrong, I love steam! But ones own personal reservations have to take a backseat when you're trying to look out for the overall well being of the company. As I've said many times before..don't blame NS, blame all the bogus cases against the railroads, sympathetic juries, and insanely high insurance costs that overall make steam locomotives a HUGE liability.
Part of the reason that we can't have 611 back now is because of the economy so NS decided 2 smaller consolidation locos were better and since they were smaller means less maintenance an more money to keep. Maybe when the economy turns around we'll get some real results. So give to time and something will come. NS's new CEO Wick Moorman says he'd like 611 better but it's too much money to restore so satisfy the public with a steam program while benefiting the company.
When is the restoration of 611 going to be finished? Also an in cab video of 611 I noticed that it was burning coal. The video itself was taken sometime in the 1980s. I have a funny feeling that it's already been converted to burning oil.
It is to be completed sometime this Spring. And 611 will remain a coal-burning locomotive.
Djcman331 I find that really surprising. Burning coal poses a higher risk to start a grass or a bush fire I think than burning oil. The reason why Big Boy 4014 is being converted to burn No. 5 Oil is because there is a lack of coal resources where it is as well as burning oil is cheaper and is more readily available.
However, Big Boy 4005 was converted to burn oil as an experiment in the mid 1940s during a coal miners strike. It operated in that fashion for almost 2 years before the test was eventually deemed unsuccessful due to the uneven heating in its large boiler and was reconfigured to burn coal which it did so for the rest of its operating life.
10 ton??? Try 396 tonnes, the total weight of the locomotive and tender. That driver would be most definitely comatose.We won't even mention the weight of all those passenger cars behind it!
The NS has no mascot to represent its self anymore The N&W 611 and 1218 and 4501 were the three Embassadors for NS and the Predesser Southern Railway, I do say at least somebody could restore those beauties and have them run again shame on NS for killing a great program, bring NS steam back someday yeehaw
NS is back but too bad 6611 and 1218 are gathering dust in a museum they might return to service soon Nickle Plate returned and the old Southern returned but these two coal haulers will have to wait.
Forgive them lord......They now know what they did!
wOW!!! What kind of iddiot, just jumps right in front of a ten ton Steam locomotive? That driver would have been coma toast FOR SURE.
#fireup611
if the 611 runs again I hop the 611 and 765 will do headers
take a look at my trains not as good or as big as these
Oh Yeah no diesels
Well You Know Some Poeple Just Don't Give A Shit About Trains
I believe the 4501 is a Mikado built by Baldwin.