Steam & Excursion > N&W 611 - Wet Weekend in Greensboro

Last month, Norfolk & Western 4-8-4 #611 pulled 2 public excursions between Greensboro, NC and Roanoke, VA. These were a repeat of trips that ran the same weekend last year, and the weather couldn't have been more different. Last year we had near perfect weather: cool mornings, abundant sunshine, and hardly a cloud in the sky. This year was quite the contrast. It was rainy, cloudy, and cold the whole time which greatly enhanced the steam effects, but made shooting video difficult. Sunday afternoon was the heaviest rain, and because of all the moisture my camcorder stopped working at the end of the day. Thankfully it waited until the very last runby before giving up the ghost.

As always, 611 put on an impressive show. From Greensboro to Hurt, VA the train was on the Southern mainline which has an almost constant up and down profile. There are plenty of 1% grades to witness 611 working hard with her 20-car train. Here are some highlights from "The Roanoker" excursions, with 2 clips from each day (Saturday April 22nd and Sunday the 23rd) mixed together.

-James
http://www.steamtrainvideos.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/17/17 11:22 by typebangin.

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As always, fantastic video James! We decided not to chase these trips because of the inclement weather, but looks like you got some great footage. I guess i'll wait to post my stuff from the Lynchburg trip till tomorrow, since I'd expect to see this on the TO.com homepage tomorrow!

Tehachapi-TJ Over & Out.

Fantastic, thanks for sharing!

This was a great video ,well done. But as someone who is old enough who remember 611 when she ran in revenue service l have to admit that it disturbs me to see a mismash of passenger cars, cars with domes instead of a row of NW passenger cars period. I understand the different reasons for all the different cars. If you can fill em , hook em up. Still a great video but the original looked a lot better.

Awesome video James a week from today I'll be heading that way on No.4 out of Flag, if you're ion Roanoke for the Memorial Day Excursions it be cool to meet up!

Outstanding video...very nicely done...thanks for sharing............

21 cars and great exhaust sounds. Thanks.

Awesome video. It was a great weekend to see it run despite the weather.

Doug

The boys are doing a great job of running her. Engine sounds perfect and is frisky.
Thank you for sharing.

Sounded and looked like a HotWater video. Limited whistles, barking exhaust, limited crossings. And, WHITE smoke.

Great job.
redberan4449

James, As Always amazing footage you capture every-time you go out to shoot. Looks like that weekend produced a great round of the "moody scenes" that will be remembered forever. Thanks so much for sharing.

Jeff

Beautiful! Thank you!

That steam crew must be top notch. Not a hint of wheel slip at start up. Seeing all the old timers running for their cars was interesting, I recognize the run, being an old timer myself!

Any word on how the ticket sales went for these trips?

TG

Posted from Android

TrackGuy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Any word on how the ticket sales went for these
> trips?
>
> TG

I think the same as all the other trips so far this year. Saturday was sold out or very close to it, but Sunday definitely had some empty seats. Looks like the upcoming afternoon trips (to Walton) are sold out or close to it, but the morning Lynchburg trips have seats still available. Hopefully the newly added Monday morning trip to Walton will help them sell a few more tickets in the next week.

-James
http://www.steamtrainvideos.com

Awesome stuff! Great job!