Beloved steam locomotive comes home to Petersburg – News – The … – Progress Index

58 years after last official run, Norfolk & Western 611 stops at Union Station en route to Lynchburg

PETERSBURG First the sound, straight from the movies, a single, stirring chord that seemed to have been struck from a colossal pipe organ. Then the steam, billowing clouds of it, the scent of coal and superheated water. Finally, the sight, a scrap of memory from days gone by.

The Norfolk & Western Class J 611 steam locomotive has pulled into Petersburgs Union Station.

Once a daily sight in Petersburg, today the 611 passes by the banks of the Appomattox only once a year when the Virginia Museum of Transportation mounts its annual excursion from Lynchburg to the Cockade City in partnership with Norfolk Southern railway. This year the mighty engine pulled into town May 6, almost an hour early thanks to an unexpected lack of freight traffic.

Its like a bullet, just like a bullet, said Jim Stump, chairman of the VMT steering committee that oversaw the $1.7 million restoration of the 611 and now is responsible for its maintenance and travels throughout the commonwealth.

360 PHOTOGRAPH: Click or tap on the image and drag to change the angle of view. Onlookers surround the Norfolk & Western 611 steam engine in Petersburg on Saturday, May 6, 2017. (Photograph by Scott P. Yates/The Progress-Index)

Released for its first run May 29, 1950, and operated until 1959, when the last of Virginias steam engines were taken out of commission, the 611 is coming up on its 67th birthday. But even in its grand old age, it has the sheen and glow of a brand new locomotive thanks to a complete restoration that was finished in 2015.

Most steam trains arent slick, said Jean Todd of Williamsburg, who with her husband Richard, a native of Petersburg, has turned out for the 611s Lynchburg-Petersburg run every year since its restoration.

The 611, however, is just that: jet black with a sleek burgundy and gold stripe, this mechanical "thoroughbred" has been a marvel of both engineering and design since its conception. Capable of going over 100 mph, it could be late at Petersburg and early at Norfolk, said Stump.

At the time of its construction, the technology had advanced to such a point that the Norfolk & Western was capable of carrying on with steam engines when everyone else had switched to diesel, said Brandon Martin, a locomotive aficionado and former train chaser. Part of the technologically sophisticated J class of engines, the 611 was named a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1984.

Still, nothing could stop the flow of progress, and by the end of the 1950s, diesel had brought a decisive end to the age of steam locomotion. The shift was inevitable, even as it was met with widespread mourning.

No Diesel ever had a soul like a steam engine, The Progress-Index declared in an article published Oct. 21, 1959. The huge, evil smelling, growling, oil consuming Diesel will never have the appeal and the seeming life of the steam locomotive.

So prized was the 611 that at its retirement, the railroad donated it to the city of Roanoke instead of scrapping it. Alternately used as a display and an excursion vehicle for more than 50 years, the engine most recently returned to the rails in 2015 thanks to the dedicated efforts of the VMT and Norfolk Southerns 21st Century Steam program. Today it is the only large steam engine that remains on the East Coast.

Its so rare to be able to do something like this, said Chris Armes, a Norfolk Southern engineer.

Rare it may be, but many of those who turned out to Union Station Saturday greeted the 611 with nostalgic glee, as if it were an old and beloved friend.

For us its like bringing back our childhood memories, said Petersburg resident Medha Udayakumar, who recalled her fathers work on the railroad back in India.

Jean and Richard Todd too could look back on a life closely intertwined with the rails.

Everywhere in my life you could always hear the trains, said Jean Todd.

For her husband, not only their sound was familiar but their sight and feel. Growing up only a block from the train station in Hampton, Richard Todd as a boy would ride his bike down to the platform in the afternoons. There he made the acquaintance of the engineers, who often invited him to climb into the cab and accompany them on the brief jaunt to Phoebus.

Nothing will ever replace the mystique of the steam, he said.

Martin, who has been as far north as Canada and as far south as Florida chasing trains, also encountered his first steam locomotive as a child. He still recalls the sound of its whistle as he stood in his house, preparing for church.

Its just the motion, the excitement, the people, the mechanical part of it, he said. Theres just something about it.

360 PHOTOGRAPH:Click or tap on the image and drag to change the angle of view. A team of volunteers helps passengers board the Norfolk & Western 611 steam engine in Petersburg on Saturday, May 6, 2017. (Photograph by Scott P. Yates/The Progress-Index)

Sarah Vogelsong may be reached at svogelsong@progress-index.com or 804-722-5154.

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Beloved steam locomotive comes home to Petersburg - News - The ... - Progress Index