Steam & Excursion > N&W 611, Photography, Car Placement etc...

Had a good time chasing the 611 last weekend.  Again, must be something in the NC & VA water: Everyone was friendly & courteous, much different than what I've encountered here in the Northeast.  I didn't hear one complaint about car placement, but if you wanted to get more of a "pure" shot with tuscan cars, there were ways to do it.

Shots 1&2 Northbound on Saturday & Sunday at the double tracking project near Gretna.

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Near Gretna, Southbound on Saturday & Sunday

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Dry Fork, VA Northbound & Southbound on Saturday

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In Roanoke at the East End Shops and by the N&W office building on Saturday:

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I was also pleasantly suprised by the number of people who were riding one trip and chasing others, it seemed more often than not that the photogs (myself included) had tickets to ride in the future or had already ridden the 611 this year.

Bridge60 Wrote:
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> I was also pleasantly surprised by the number of
> people who were riding one trip and chasing
> others, it seemed more often than not that the
> photogs (myself included) had tickets to ride in
> the future or had already ridden the 611 this
> year.

That is nice to hear.  Ride and photograph it while you can!

For those interested in buying a ticket, the May 7 and 8 trips out of Roanoke still have a few available, mostly in the Chairman's class, the Dover Harbor and Dearing.  The June 4 and 5 trips out of Manassas still have a number of seats available, especially on Sunday. 

http://fireup611.org

Speaking of car placement, with the online ticket ordering system you can purchase tickets for a specific car, not just the type of seating.

Enjoyed riding on Saturday and chasing on Sunday. The ride allowed me to time the train to my photo locations so on Sunday I knew I could make the jumps. I also noted how friendly everyone was shooting. I even had several people come up and ask if this was the "photo line". The only problem was at Brown's Summit when a local stepped out in front of the camera line.

Sharon Evans
Glen Allen, VA

i have seen locals, taken pics of them.  was the local loco?  i am loco for the  loco. is the loco local?  should have told him that the loco locos enthusiasts, go loco when locals invade their loco shots

Nice coverage, Dave, and thanks for sharing with us.

Thanks for the great report.

Gretna was my lunch break spot while I waited for the 611 to show up. After seeing your photos, I regret not exploring it more on Saturday's return trip. Charming area!

As for the title of the thread, EVERYONE I met on Saturday was smiling, waving, and just having pure fun, both passengers and photogs. Closest thing to a complaint I heard was let's get the A running! (N&W 1218)

Love #1and #2 !!!

     A few comments from the owner of the "offending" car, ex-AOE sleeper Berlin.  I must first apologize for being the first car in the consist to spoil the pure esthetic nature of an entire N&W consist.  The Berlin certainly sticks out like a sore thumb!  If the world was my oyster, I would have painted the car just for these excursions to match an ideal N&W consist.  It would have looked superb!  From a purely selfish point of view, the Berlin is getting some great exposure, none the less!
     For those who like to know, these trips are organized primarily as fund raisers for the Virginia Museum of Transport and the North Carolina Museum of Transport - collectively a great group of people!  Many behind-the-scenes volunteer and staff hours are spent putting these trips together, and they do an exceptional job!  We should also thank Norfolk Southern for assuming the risk to even allow this train to run.  They have demonstrated their resolve in providing the public with a positive example of heritage railroading.  I am hopeful that the benefits of their actions greatly outweigh any assumed risk.
     This year's consist was modified from previous years as the domes were placed towards the front of the train to allow the higher revenue producing First Class Passengers the best views of the locomotive.  The Berlin (with 6 Private Suite bedrooms - each with their own bathroom) was placed immediately behind the NS42 Generator/Coach car to provide a needed restroom - as the NS42 does not have one of its own.  This arrangement allows VMT/NCMT to offer these revenue producing coach seats for an otherwise empty generator car.
      If you have the opportunity, make the time to both ride as well as photograph this exceptional locomotive and train.  Your individual support is needed for worthwhile projects like this to continue.  We hope to see you ON THE TRAIN in addition to along the rails!
     By the way, I love the perspective of Photo 1 on the curve.  Normally, a rods down photo is desired.  Here however, the rods up position gives it much more an illusion of speed.  Looks like it could have been taken in the 50's!  Great creativity with your shots!
Kevin Moore, owner BERLIN 
www.sleeponatrain.com



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/30/16 20:54 by jberlin.

Hi Kevin;

Not at all your fault where your fine car which I have had the pleasure of riding was placed. However couldn't they at least have placed one or two more red cars in front of it? Anyone who has ridden in a Big, Great, or Super Dome knows there isn't much forward visibility anyway (like in a traditional Budd short dome) so a few more cars wouldn't' t have made much difference.  One more appeal to the crews. PLEASE take off your yellow vests while in the locomotive. Sure they are necessary when on the lineside, but on the loco. They, like the Berlin, stick out like a sore thumb in the photos. Years ago they weren't necessary. So why now? Now doubt some new government regulation.  I have several overseas friends spending much cash to fly over this weekend just to photograph the 611. Some have paid to have their spouses or friends ride so they have contributed to the cause. They all are disappointed as to the layout of the train. It's not too late to make the train more presentable while at the same time having the premium cars much further up front than last year.

kevin, you don't owe an explanation to anybody about anything. If you painted the car red it would be the wrong shade or the fresh paint would throw off to much glare. If people are going to cry like spoiled little children you won't please them no matter what.

Doug Wetherhold
Macungie, PA

Vests are a NS regulation when anyone is on the ground. Not the best thing to wear in the cab of a coal burning steam locomotive (vests have polyester, which burns).

As for complaining about it, have you ever heard about Photoshop, Lightroom, etc?

Just be happy it is running this year.

Posted from Android

WOOOOW! RODS DOWN ALSO! ..OOOO..
 

jberlin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>      A few comments from the owner of the
> "offending" car, ex-AOE sleeper Berlin.  I must
> first apologize for being the first car in the
> consist to spoil the pure esthetic nature of an
> entire N&W consist.  The Berlin certainly sticks
> out like a sore thumb!  If the world was my
> oyster, I would have painted the car just for
> these excursions to match an ideal N&W consist. 
> It would have looked superb!  From a purely
> selfish point of view, the Berlin is getting some
> great exposure, none the less!
>      For those who like to know, these trips
> are organized primarily as fund raisers for the
> Virginia Museum of Transport and the North
> Carolina Museum of Transport - collectively a
> great group of people!  Many behind-the-scenes
> volunteer and staff hours are spent putting these
> trips together, and they do an exceptional job! 
> We should also thank Norfolk Southern for assuming
> the risk to even allow this train to run.  They
> have demonstrated their resolve in providing the
> public with a positive example of heritage
> railroading.  I am hopeful that the benefits of
> their actions greatly outweigh any assumed risk.
>      This year's consist was modified from
> previous years as the domes were placed towards
> the front of the train to allow the higher revenue
> producing First Class Passengers the best views of
> the locomotive.  The Berlin (with 6 Private Suite
> bedrooms - each with their own bathroom) was
> placed immediately behind the NS42 Generator/Coach
> car to provide a needed restroom - as the NS42
> does not have one of its own.  This arrangement
> allows VMT/NCMT to offer these revenue producing
> coach seats for an otherwise empty generator car.
>       If you have the opportunity, make the
> time to both ride as well as photograph this
> exceptional locomotive and train.  Your
> individual support is needed for worthwhile
> projects like this to continue.  We hope to see
> you ON THE TRAIN in addition to along the rails!
>      By the way, I love the perspective of
> Photo 1 on the curve.  Normally, a rods down
> photo is desired.  Here however, the rods up
> position gives it much more an illusion of
> speed.  Looks like it could have been taken in
> the 50's!  Great creativity with your shots!
> Kevin Moore, owner BERLIN 
> www.sleeponatrain.com

anyone who complains about car placement or lack of matching consists on these excursions really needs to get a life.

It's not 1952.

It's not a photo charter. 

Its its a public excursion that is free to photograph and should be treated as the blessing that it is in 2016. I'm really looking forward to seeing the 611 next weekend, and as the OP has shown, you can get great "period" shots if you are creative enough. As for the vests, if they really are a bother, anyone with an iota of talent in Photoshop can take care of that. I've made entire people or cars disappear :-)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/01/16 05:56 by PittsburghMike.

As far as vests go, some people are a bit lazy to take them off. Not sure why. As an NS employee myself, as soon as I'm on the engine or in the tool car, the vest comes right off. I've been through many of them tearing and such getting on and off the equipment many times. Wish we didn't have to wear the stupid things, but what can ya do...

-Mike

Nice shots!  I was standing next to or very near you in photos #1,2,3, and 5.  Both runs were great.  Looking forward to next weekend for the runs from Roanoke>Lynchburg>Radford then back to Roanoke.
Mike

Great shots! Excellent location choices and very effective composition. Glad to hear things were so friendly, wish I could have made it back. I spent a lot of great days railfanning between Gretna and Lynchburg on the NS, miss those times.