Steam & Excursion > Chasing The J (N&W 611 & The Roanoker)

There's something irresistible about mainline steam.

I visited North Carolina and Virginia this weekend specifically to chase the Norfolk & Western 4-8-4 #611 between Greensboro, NC and Roanoke, VA. It's an unfamiliar territory for this Californian, so I studied maps in advance and made a quick scouting trip in the Greensboro area before the chase Saturday.

Locations covered in the first video:

- The Roanoker & N&W 611 about 1/2 mile out of Greensboro Amtrak Station.
- Signal cantilevers short on time at Reidsville.
- Between Ruffin and Pelham.
- Hunter St. in Danville (Virginia).
- Entire train is shown at Gretna.
- Tall trestle near Hurt.
- NS local job meeting the 611 at Roanoke. Entire train is shown.

There's a caboose on display near the ROW at Ruffin, but I skipped it since it takes time to reach Hwy 29 from downtown Reidsville and I was afraid the train would be too close. As Foamer Karma would have it, I got a moving caboose instead at Roanoke!

- N&W 611 waiting to depart at Greensboro.
- Moon was out.

(more next)

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The second video is more or less random, and has a couple of clips from the chase back to Greensboro in the afternoon.

- Past Hurt, at Hwy 29. 611 is now on the ex-Virginian tracks, heading to Roanoke.
- The Roanoker is shoving to a station stop at Roanoke. Nice stack talk, even in slow motion.
- NS Light engine move past the 611 and the train.
- The Roanoker taking the east leg of the wye after turning the train around - at Roanoke.
- Bridge across Dan River at Danville. Train is heading back to Greensboro.
- Bridge across Hwy 29 near Ruffin (heading to Greensboro).
- Brown Summit (entire train is shown again).

I beat the train from Greensboro to Brown Summit in the morning, but due to low sun and tree casting shadows, I ditched it and headed to Reidsville instead. I returned to the location to record a bonus clip here while returning to Greensboro.

Roanoke is full of history. I was busy chasing the 611, so I didn't give myself time to enjoy it, but I did get a couple of history-themed shots for the 611:

- Parked in front of the historic Hotel Roanoke.
- Moving in front of the historic former Norfolk & Western General Office, now an apartment.

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It looks like I was very close to you in Greensboro and at the trestle in Hurt. Very nice
pics and videos, thanks for sharing!


Jay

Great videos, Mr. Chan! Thank you for posting them here.

Don
Honolulu

Both are nice videos; however the first one is super in that you photographed the entire train with that freight train passing on that other track to the right and what makes it outstanding in this day and age is the fact that this freight train has a good looking caboose on the end like in the Good Ole Days.  Wow were you lucky there.  Thanks for sharing this with all of us.
John

I echo the caboose comments.  When is the last time a steam engine passed a freight with a caboose on a class 1?    An that caboose really looked good w/o a bunch of graffiti or rust spots.  Wonder if the folks in Roanoke recognized that possiblity?   Yeah I know that's probably a shoving platform. 

Nice video, love the shot with the NS local meeting the 611!

ClubCar Wrote:
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> Both are nice videos; however the first one is
> super in that you photographed the entire train
> with that freight train passing on that other
> track to the right and what makes it outstanding
> in this day and age is the fact that this freight
> train has a good looking caboose on the end like
> in the Good Ole Days.  Wow were you lucky
> there.  Thanks for sharing this with all of us.
> John

I agree with John that the first video is way cool, were you pinching yourself when that happened? My favorite is the second video due to another catch you made in the last seconds of the video. In that shot, you got the entire train, and panned around as the observation passed. Just then, across the street, a boy jumps in excitement from the train passing. Right on! That made my day, I love that feeling! Thanks for sharing, well done. 

Chris Donhost
Vacaville, CA