Brings back memories. Was passenger on a train pulled by old 611 back in 1956.Went from Beuna Vista Virginia to Staunton Virgina. Next to big Boy , she is my second all time favorite.
I got to enjoy two trips on this beautiful girl in the early 90s as a kid. Both trips hold a special place in my heart and is one of my fondest memories with my grandfather. The 2nd trip (from Birmingham AL to Columbus GA) was great, but the first trip (from Bham to Chattanooga) taught me 2 great life lessons after I didn't listen to my grandfather. 1. Trains are amazing pieces of engineering, but there is nothing like a steam engine. 2. Don't stick your head out the window and look towards the head of a coal fired locomotive while in motion. 😂
A very enjoyable and nicely-done video. One item of note is the people lined up in the rail yard and at the railroad crossings, proving that even in a modern age, people still want to see these magnificent locomotives in action.
I rode 765 into Chicago last year, and I was wondering what the people who didn't know about the excursion were thinking as they saw 765 streak by a grade crossing or past their backyards
@@sooline3854 My apologies for such a delayed response. That sounds like an incredible experience, and while I have yet to see 765 in person, I did manage to purchase an HO scale model of the locomotive. I also imagine people in the situation you describe above would likely be pausing before saying, "...Marilyn, did you just see...???"
@@thatoneguy611 My apologies for the delayed response. I tend to feel exactly the same way you do, both as a self-acknowledged railroad nut and a student of history for many years. In my watching other railroad videos, though, I did encounter one individual whose personal mission seemed to be the scrapping and destruction of all remaining steam locomotives, but fortunately, he seems to be in the minority rather than the majority.
The plot of this movie was a little slow at first, but all the required elements were there. Sure, there were some slips in the production, but it eventually picked up speed and really delivered in the end. 4/5 stars.
I donated a bunch to her restoration, I could just listen to this for hours. add some rain sounds with this in the background, and you have a great zen video!
If only you could include the smell of working steam!! I worked on two UPRR excursions 20 years ago in Iowa and Illinois with the 844.. seeing the fans from the Railroad perspective chasing, was an experience. I also rode behind the 611 in the mid 1990s from Chicago to Ft Wayne IN on a Chicago Chapter NRHS trip. That was a fun trip!
I love, love this channel👍🏻❤️🚂. Feels like real railroading to me. Coming from an L&N family ( my great, grandfather & great uncle) I appreciate the work all the contributors put in… it shows👊🏻 & made me a railfan once again. The ride-alongs make me feel like an engineer. My great uncle let me take a very short hand at an L&N switcher in 1974👍🏻keep up the GREAT work!
I was a passenger on this excursion. We went from Spencer NC to Asheville NC and back. What the video didn't show you was the "helper" diesel engine behind the 611. Leaving Spencer, when we got on the Asheville siding a defect detector misfired and the dispatcher let us continue. But on the way back, this same defect detector misfired again and that time the dispatcher made us stop for an inspection before we pulled onto the mainline.
I took the opportunity to ride in the cab in Strasburg, PA when they were doing the in cab experience. There are absolutely no regrets, only glad that I did it. I highly recommend it if you get the opportunity. It is well worth the price.
This is awesome. I saw it in Strasburg when I went to their train museum. I just put the video about it up on my channel. I was so excited to see it in Strasburg that I put it on my thumbnail for my video. Thanks for sharing.
I enjoyed the video, but was hoping you had some cab footage as well. I drove steam here in Queensland Australia for QR, and absolutely loved seeing the huge Locomotives over there in the US. Unfortunately I never got to see J611, what a beautiful sounding engine. I imagine she's a pleasure to drive and fire. Cheers Adrian
Great video for sure! It's nice to be able to hear the engine working instead of the usual crossing videos where all you hear is the whistle and you get to see the same 13 passenger cars go by. :) it's like riding on the locomotive itself! Nicely done.
Freaking awesome video Drayton! You caught some insane wheel slip in the footage too. Very interesting that NS (or NCTM) would allow you to apply GoPros to 611. Thanks for sharing, keep up the great work, -Josh RSP
that's okay-i wondered for the first 6 minutes or so-when is he gonna get the lead out, anyway? oonga-chucka, oonga-chucka. that's the sound of the engine laboring through the beginning of this vid. give it a listen sometime...
It would be the Virginia museum of transportation not the north Carolina museum of transportation. It goes to the museum in North Carolina for inspections since the museum in Roanoke doesn't have the facilities to inspect it. It is based out of Roanoke though
She is carrying the correct Hancock Longbell 3 chime whistle, It is off another J. The Claytor whistle left when Preston left, which I believe was because of disagreements over the Spirit of Roanoke stickers on her cab....maybe other concerns also...who knows. To my eyes they shouldn't be on there, but to have the 611 operating again it's really an insignificant point.
Wow, what a trivial thing to be upset about. Don't get me wrong, I know the Claytors have done great things for rail history preservation but that seems petty. I knew it was the correct type of whistle, but it definitely doesn't sound the same or as good as the other one. I believe I read somewhere this was because the old whistle has been "steam cut", meaning broke in through years of use giving it it's unique and beautiful sound. Also, correct me if I'm wrong but I believe I also read elsewhere that this whistle was made brand new to the original specifications for the Hancock longbell 3 chime whistle used on the J's.
+Josh That's a good question, I'm not sure. I think the one on her now is owned by Scott Lindsay and is an original N&W whistle. I don't believe she is carrying the new one....but again I'm not 100% on that. As for the issue with Preston leaving, yeah it was surprising but that is the reason as I've heard floating around, not sure if other factors were at play or not.
+Josh She has a different Hancock 3 Chime from last year. This one is (supposedly) from N&W 610, the previous engine in her class that was scrapped. The bell was also raised so that it would sound decent without over-blowing (this is why you have a lot less play in the whistle from last year).
+Ryan Seals You're right, it does sound improved as supposed to last year. It doesn't sound as shrill now. I'd love to see the original whistle back on but it does appear the people involved are doing the best they can to rectify the situation and this might be a decent compromise. The most important thing is that the 611 is running again.
@@DelayInBlockProductions With all due respect to the camera placements and to the person who placed them there, which were all great, there was too much jumping around with the angles.
Man these ScaleTrains locomotives are getting more and more realistic. I love that synchronized ESU loksound. But the trackside scenery around Morganton could have been done better.
Before you posted the video, I did happen to notice the gopros on the 611 as I was editing some photos I took. I thought that was pretty strange. Was this all the footage you got from the gopros?
this is my favorite one of these you have done so far, i like how you fix the camera on the front of the train near the top i hope you do more of these in the future peace out
I'm daydreaming about a future where there's high demand for high speed electrified rail transport, like they have in Japan. However there's just one problem in this hypothetical future: a severe shortage of copper, making electrical motors uneconomical to meet the demand. With the situation desperate, engineers contemplate revisiting the designs of the streamliner era of steam, but of course it's out of the question due to emissions requirements. Then it hits them -- there was the answer, calling out to them from history -- the SFB E 3/3 8522! YEs! Electric power could be used to fire a steam boiler! The railway engineers hastily re-implemented the most effective designs from the peak of the steam streamliner era, retrofitted with electric boilers fed from pantographs grabbing overhead lines, just like on the fastest bullet trains....thus ushering in a new era of steam champions
I'm happy to report a possible revival of the 1218 it was only a rumor but I think 1218 May be by 611's side if the rumors prove true and if they are I'll bet O Winston Link would be cheering in his own grave if the 1218 comes back to life
That Locomotive is capable of 100 MPH. Just curious as to why the engineer only had it at 30% throttle. Maybe speed restrictions on that line. Loved the video. :-)
The 611 whistle sounds like SP 4449 not like the whistle it had from 1982 until 1994 they need to bring the Claytor whistle back these videos are awesome keep them coming
I 100% agree. I'm can't explain how amazing it is to have the 611 running again and that's the most important thing but when I heard the whistle on it's first run after restoration I knew that didn't sound quite right. So I did some digging and found out what you just said, that it isn't the whistle it used to have. I couldn't find out exactly why Preston Claytor is withholding it though. The whistle that's on it now is the exact same kind however, it just sounds a little rougher and maybe not quite as deep, to me anyway. I can definitely tell there's a difference. To me, the 611 whistle Claytor has and the N&W hooters are the best sounding whistles of all time.
+SImrobert2001 And 611's original whistle met all those requirements. Regs aren't the issue here. Plus the regs are completely different for historic equipment. What happened is the owner of 611's original whistle is withholding it over a personal disagreement. However, I've been informed by other commenters more informed and involved with the situation that it 611 actually running with 610's whistle now. And now that I actually sit here and really listen to it, it does sound better this year as opposed to last year.
From what I heard it was a personal disagreement over the "Spirit of Roanoke" lettering underneath the cab window. Apparently Mr. Claytor found it in poor taste. Not sure why.
Hey, I really enjoy your videos.. but, 36 seconds seems awfully long for an intro. It really drags out. I would try to trim it down to 10 seconds or less.
HE WON'T CLOSE THE CYLINDER COCKS Edit: I realised it is a big loco and every bit of the condensation in the cylinders need to be removed so they are not damaged
I've often wondered about this; they seem to keep them open excessively long. Is it 1.) it's a one of a kind so they're doing it to be certain there won't be damage, 2.) they're doing it to push people away from the tracks or 3.) they're doing it for show? I'm betting on #2 and/or #3.
