Steam & Excursion > 611 return to Roanoke

Heard 611 return to Roanoke will be Wenesday morning. of course this is subject to change

ETOD is 0730 but that's totally up to NS

At least for now you can forget this. NS has washouts in southern VA due to flooding today as reported on the 611 Facebook group.

Sharon Evans
Glen Allen, VA

Gonna tow it dead when it does move ?
 

Bill Miller
Galt, ON

CCMF Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Gonna tow it dead when it does move ?

Towing a steam locomotive "dead" will destroy the the valves and cylinders, as it takes steam flow to lubricate all those internal moving parts. Thus, N&W 611 will NOT be "towed dead"!  

HotWater Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> CCMF Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Gonna tow it dead when it does move ?
>
> Towing a steam locomotive "dead" will destroy the
> the valves and cylinders, as it takes steam flow
> to lubricate all those internal moving parts.
> Thus, N&W 611 will NOT be "towed dead"!  

It's done all the time, just take the remvoable section off the drive rod between the cylinder and the first drive wheel, and the cylinders are thus disconnected. If such an appliance is not on 611 (C&O 614 does have that) you can still remove the whole driver, and chain it up out of the way or store them in a tool car. 

611 was ruining today at North Carolina Transportation Museum 

engineerinvirginia Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> HotWater Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > CCMF Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Gonna tow it dead when it does move ?
> >
> > Towing a steam locomotive "dead" will destroy
> the
> > the valves and cylinders, as it takes steam
> flow
> > to lubricate all those internal moving parts.
> > Thus, N&W 611 will NOT be "towed dead"!  
>
> It's done all the time, just take the remvoable
> section off the drive rod between the cylinder and
> the first drive wheel, and the cylinders are thus
> disconnected. If such an appliance is not on 611
> (C&O 614 does have that) you can still remove the
> whole driver, and chain it up out of the way or
> store them in a tool car. 

Maybe you would like to run that past me again.  I'm having trouble figuring out what you are describing.    Asking for a friend.

1522...
is right...

What ‘engineerinviriginia’ describes makes no sense mechanically or physically.
Its not the proper way to move an engine with the main rods removed, and the valve gear altered.

Moving understeam makes the most sense—- hauling additional cars braking is preferable..
Towed, while live also works but you gotta know what you’re  doing ...

I've moved steam engines, live and dead, about every conceivable combination...live & dead...I’ve also seen the after-effects when not done correctly,  by other parties...

W.

The poor underpowered thing could handle a decent sized freight train, you'd think that would be a nice tradeoff
for doing the move.

Out

Cynic in me says:  That makes too much sense.... however, if ‘off the beaten track’ J classes hauling freight had established a spotty record...’cause they were continually “finding BAD track” , mangling poorly spiked rails and their long, rigid wheel base
 was NOT not compatible with hauling freights..


If it was me, I would avoid hauling freight with a J class —— or as Jack knows, you gotta carry lots of oak blocking & lots of oak wedges—- just in cases where the rail spreads, or turns-over, under the weight of the J...

W.

heavy, big awkward engines are good at finding bad track...stay tuned...
 

wcamp1472 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Cynic in me says:  That makes too much sense....
> however, if ‘off the beaten track’ J classes
> hauling freight had established a spotty
> record...’cause they were continually “finding
> BAD track” , mangling poorly spiked rails and
> their long, rigid wheel base
>  was NOT not compatible with hauling freights..
>
>
> If it was me, I would avoid hauling freight with a
> J class —— or as Jack knows, you gotta carry
> lots of oak blocking & lots of oak wedges—- just
> in cases where the rail spreads, or turns-over,
> under the weight of the J...
>
> W.
>
> heavy, big awkward engines are good at finding bad
> track...stay tuned...
>  

Indeed they do, but qualified engineers know where the hot spots are and run as slowly as possible. Ask anyone whose taken AC44 GE's with rollerblade trucks around tight curves. You can hear the spikes loosening up and flanges complaining. 

Frisco1522 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> engineerinvirginia Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > HotWater Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > CCMF Wrote:
> > >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> >
> > > -----
> > > > Gonna tow it dead when it does move ?
> > >
> > > Towing a steam locomotive "dead" will destroy
> > the
> > > the valves and cylinders, as it takes steam
> > flow
> > > to lubricate all those internal moving parts.
> > > Thus, N&W 611 will NOT be "towed dead"!  
> >
> > It's done all the time, just take the remvoable
> > section off the drive rod between the cylinder
> and
> > the first drive wheel, and the cylinders are
> thus
> > disconnected. If such an appliance is not on
> 611
> > (C&O 614 does have that) you can still remove
> the
> > whole driver, and chain it up out of the way or
> > store them in a tool car. 
>
> Maybe you would like to run that past me again. 
> I'm having trouble figuring out what you are
> describing.    Asking for a friend.

I'll try to get a pic of 614 for I believe she still has her drivers disconnected for short moves in the track she's in. I am not one to frequent rail museum sites...I am a railroader so I see what I see from the vantage point of my engine when I go by. Those museums are invariably near active rail....... 

wcamp1472 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Cynic in me says:  That makes too much sense....
> however, if ‘off the beaten track’ J classes
> hauling freight had established a spotty
> record...’cause they were continually “finding
> BAD track” , mangling poorly spiked rails and
> their long, rigid wheel base
>  was NOT not compatible with hauling freights..
>
>
> If it was me, I would avoid hauling freight with a
> J class —— or as Jack knows, you gotta carry
> lots of oak blocking & lots of oak wedges—- just
> in cases where the rail spreads, or turns-over,
> under the weight of the J...
>
> W.
>
> heavy, big awkward engines are good at finding bad
> track...stay tuned...
>  

They were good at finding bad track when used as local switchers on industrial and house tracks. Not because they were simply pulling freight cars.... makes no difference whether pulling a passenger coach or freight car when out on the NS main line. Further the locomotive has been in and out of Roanoke yard several times since her latest overhaul. Your statement makes it sounds like she would derail just because it was handling freight cars instead of passenger cars which is simply not factual and misleading.

Posted from iPhone



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/24/18 16:35 by JOHNY5ALIVE.

engineerinvirginia Wrote:

> I'll try to get a pic of 614 for I believe she
> still has her drivers disconnected for short moves
> in the track she's in. I am not one to frequent
> rail museum sites...I am a railroader so I see
> what I see from the vantage point of my engine
> when I go by. Those museums are invariably near
> active rail....... 

The only things disconnected on 614 are the main rods. All the drivers are still connected with the side rods. 

To remove the main rods you first have to remove the escentric crank off the crank pin.

They will not do this with the 611 move. If they had planned to do this, it would have been done before this weekend. 

Much like 765's moves across Indiana and Ohio on Norfolk Southern last week, 611 will be under steam and will be leading.

wcamp1472 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Cynic in me says:  That makes too much sense....
> however, if ‘off the beaten track’ J classes
> hauling freight had established a spotty
> record...’cause they were continually “finding
> BAD track” , mangling poorly spiked rails and
> their long, rigid wheel base
>  was NOT not compatible with hauling freights..
>
>
> If it was me, I would avoid hauling freight with a
> J class —— or as Jack knows, you gotta carry
> lots of oak blocking & lots of oak wedges—- just
> in cases where the rail spreads, or turns-over,
> under the weight of the J...
>
> W.
>
> heavy, big awkward engines are good at finding bad
> track...stay tuned...
>  

She did haul a short freight of about 20 cars from Lynchburg to Spencer in 2015. 

And while I agree it would normally make sense to haul some freight, starting in Spencer makes the logistics of it not worth doing. A train would have to bring freight out of Charlotte and set it out at Spencer just to give 611 something to move. Why delay the money makers any more than they already are?

Defective_Detector Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> wcamp1472 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Cynic in me says:  That makes too much
> sense....
> > however, if ‘off the beaten track’ J
> classes
> > hauling freight had established a spotty
> > record...’cause they were continually
> “finding
> > BAD track” , mangling poorly spiked rails and
> > their long, rigid wheel base
> >  was NOT not compatible with hauling
> freights..
> >
> >
> > If it was me, I would avoid hauling freight with
> a
> > J class —— or as Jack knows, you gotta
> carry
> > lots of oak blocking & lots of oak wedges—-
> just
> > in cases where the rail spreads, or turns-over,
> > under the weight of the J...
> >
> > W.
> >
> > heavy, big awkward engines are good at finding
> bad
> > track...stay tuned...
> >  
>
> She did haul a short freight of about 20 cars from
> Lynchburg to Spencer in 2015. 
>
> And while I agree it would normally make sense to
> haul some freight, starting in Spencer makes the
> logistics of it not worth doing. A train would
> have to bring freight out of Charlotte and set it
> out at Spencer just to give 611 something to move.
> Why delay the money makers any more than they
> already are?

I agree....a running steamer should move some freight...but without delaying any freight to do it. 

I believe we are missing the bigger picture in that once it returns to Roanoke, it may be a very,very long tome before it goes anywhere again....

Posted from Android

I believe it will still continue between the two museums at least regardless. NS has no issues on the moves as long as paying passengers aren't on board.