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OPPOSITE TOP: Number 611 was west- bound on the Christiansburg grade at Shawsville, Va., in October 1994. LEFT: The locomotive shows off its modern running gear while crossing the Soddy River at Soddy Daisy, Tenn., in October 1989. ABOVE: Scott Lindsay, Preston Claytor, and Cheri George. BELOW: Virginia Museum of Transportation president Bev Fitzpatrick announces the for- mation of the Fire Up 611 committee at the museum’s February 22 press conference. OP- POSITE BOTTOM: Under the VMT train- shed, a Pete Lerro night photo session creates the illusion of No. 611 alive and in service.
THREE PHOTOS: ROBERT W. LYNDALL
was the addition of a dual sealed-beam head- light. No. 611 pulled dozens of mostly un- eventful trips, but an exception was the derail- ment at speed of an employee appreciation special on May 18, 1986. As the 4-8-4 pulled a 23-car train through the Great Dismal Swamp near Suffolk, Va., a passenger car picked a switch and 13 cars derailed, resulting in many injuries. The accident was not attributed to the locomotive.
After this, surprisingly, the steam program not only continued but in 1987 NS added N&W Class A 2-6-6-4 No. 1218 to the fleet after ac- quiring it from Steamtown for two diesels in a 1985 trade. The steam program continued un- til a switching accident in September 1994 damaged several passenger cars and caused a trip to be canceled. A month later, NS an- nounced that it would end the steam program due to a lack of track capacity, maintenance costs, and insurance requirements. No. 611’s last excursion was a round trip between Birm- ingham and Chattanooga, Tenn., on December 3, 1994, and its last run was a ferry move from Birmingham back to Roanoke, where the fire was dropped on December 7. Potentially still serviceable, No. 611 was returned to VMT in 1995, accompanied by No. 1218, which had been in the midst of an overhaul. Since then, 611 has sat cold under VMT’s trainshed, occasionally serving as a prop for night photo sessions complete with faux steam. For more than 15 years, fans longed for 611 and 1218 to once again have fire on their grates, coal in their tenders, and steam in their boilers. Those hopes were buoyed when NS, under Chairman Wick Moorman, established the 21st Century Steam program to help cele- brate the railroad’s 30th anniversary in 2012. NS assisted in the restoration of the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum’s Southern 2-8-0 No. 630 (in service) and SR Mikado No. 4501 (un- der restoration at TVRM), and arranged to lease the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Soci-
ety’s Nickel Plate Road Berkshire No. 765 to pull excursions in the railroad’s northern tier. The rumor mill insisted, “Wick’s a fan! He’ll have 611 (and 1218) restored!” The rumor mill was right on one count.
The Committee FireUp 611! includes three former members of the 1990s NS steam team: Chairman Preston Claytor is a rail safety consultant; Scott Lind- say is the group’s resident steam expert and president of Steam Operations Corp.; and soft- ware consultant Cheri George was a volunteer fireman on 611. The rest of the team consists of VMT president Beverly T. Fitzpatrick, Jr.; Norfolk & Western Railway Historical Society president Ron Davis; Jeff Sanders, president of the Roanoke Chapter NRHS; Ken Lanford, president of the VMT board; Jeanne Bollen- dorf, executive director of the O. Winston Link Museum; Will Harris, president of North Fork Lumber Co.; consultant Jim Stump; and Jim
Wrinn, editor of Trains magazine and an ac- tive rail preservationist.
When asked how the current FRA Form 4 regulations might affect the project, Lindsay said, “The newer regulations should not be considered more stringent, just a documented engineering and safety review of the current boiler conditions compared to the as built de- sign. With the heavy maintenance 611 re- ceived during its last operation, I do not envi- sion any significant issues being uncovered during an inspection.”
The Fire Up 611! committee plans to file a re- port this spring which will outline what will need to be done to get 611 under steam once again. If the group decides to proceed with an operational restoration, a separate, new non- profit group will be formed to raise funds for the project. Fitzpatrick says 611’s “restoration will depend on financial support from her fans.” Find out more and keep up with the team’s progress at
FireUp611.org.— WALT LANKENAU
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