N&W 611 - She's Alive!

[wva-usa]

I know the Union Pacific used Y3's during WW2, not sure about Western Pacific I know they had their own mallets but i am not sure if the are of N&W origin.

That's correct. The Western Pacific had some big 2-8-8-2s but they didn't come from the N&W.

The N&W did sell 19 of its older Y-3 2-8-8-2 Mallets to other roads during World War II, including the Santa Fe, Union Pacific, and the Pennsylvania RR. After war's end, the Virginian bought 6 of the used Y-3s from the Santa Fe, rebuilt them in their Princeton shops, and operated them for another 7-8 years, so they lasted until the end of the steam era. One of the third-hand Y-3s (VGN #701) was involved in a wreck in 1949 and was rebuilt (again) by the Princeton Shops and then put back in service.

 

[jordon412]

I found another video of 611 moving around and noticed something that you don't see in the videos posted to this thread. About 11:33 into the video, you will see Norfolk Southern SD40 #3170, painted and lettered in its original paint scheme as Southern #3170.

Video:

Info about NS/SOU #3170:
http://www.nsdash9.com/rosters/3170.html

 

[benjaminw]

I saw a picture of that in TRAINS magazine. I really like the scheme, a lot more than Norfolk Southerns current scheme. Just my opinion, of course.

 

[jordon412]

Norfolk & Western #611 Pauses in Lexington, North Carolina

Norfolk & Western #611 decided to pause in Lexington, North Carolina on her shakedown run. About 2:30 in, you can see her Baker valve gear moving, and at about 8:00 you can see them opening the grates in the firebox to let the ash fall into the ash pan underneath the firebox.

 

[wva-usa]

No. 611 isn't on her way back to Roanoke (yet) -- today's run was a test run from the N.C. Transportation Museum in Spencer to Greensboro and back.

Another video of today's test run...

 

[wva-usa]

The Spirit of Roanoke

The photos below, from No. 611's test run yesterday, show that she now has "The Spirit of Roanoke" stenciled under her cab windows. The N&W steam locomotive was given the new designation in 2011, to reflects engine's importance as a regional symbol.