Norfolk & Western 611 - Steam Revenue Freight 

+struck2soon Even the coal train was light to 1218, they were empty. Between Williamson, WV and Portsmouth, OH, she can pull 13,000 tons at 42 mph!

+09trainman what is the state of the 'A'? It would be marvellous to see that engine back in steam...

struck2soon She's kind of an empty shell, her parts have been removed from the overhaul in the early 90's, and at the same time NS closed their steam program, leaving the overhaul incomplete and many parts missing. But nothing's impossible, though it would be a HUGE task to try to restore her. I myself would LOVE to see the 1218 back!

+09trainman this really highlights the difference between USA and UK: here locos are owned by private individuals or groups who restore and maintain them, they are then operated on the national rail network by registered Train Operating Companies. It means you don't end up with the situation that due to the selfishness/stinginess of a railroad company not wanting to bother with what is effectively a national treasure then it just doesn't happen. I am sure there are enough wealthy people over there that would happily purchase and restore that engine, and wouldn't we all be better off for it?

struck2soon Yeah.

+GT Stang I can direct you to the Ontario Southland RR for streamliners hauling autoracks. Granted, it's F units and not a J, but the idea is similar.

Daniel Creed thank you for this

Nice! I see you've made a Thomas reference! ;)

611: Dirty cars from dirty sideings *E G G A A A H*

Thanks BRO! It was the fastest three hours of my life. It compares to nothing else I've ever seen in my 10 years as a railfan.

Use them if you got them! What an excellent way to move those old ladies from one event to the next or keep them busy between gigs!

Thomas Flansburg they are capable workhorse and have no problem pulling modern freight cars

+NJRAILFAN & RACEFAN88 NKP 765 once pulled 40 empty hoppers up a 1.4% grade with no helper. these older steamers are stronger then most people think. trusty old workhorses

This proves that steam traction is better pound for pound than diesel traction. The J class, while built primarily as flagship fast passenger service, can definitely hold their own and possibly out-perform modern diesels in freight service.

went for a ride on nickle plate 765 she had no problem on those grades. absolute powerhouse. steam locomotives lack nothing but only lost out to diesels simple because steam is expensive to maintain and remains so today. steam is powerful and can be very fast. the top speed of 611 is somewhere around 110 MPH!!!

It’s actually a she.

jay611 Thanks Jason! Good seeing you over that weekend.

Well they did get monthly shoppings for boiler washouts and the such, but thats a day job.

True, that would've been good, as back in the days, they had cabooses on the end of the freight train, sadly, they're more rare now. :(

there is one, it's behind the tender

@@jameshall3371 Looks more like a baggage car.

it's a tool car behind 611 auxiliary tender

Prairie Dog Central #3 would move 12 freight cars. She wouldn't go too fast, She'd need to be on dead level track, Both her and her fireman would be busting their ass to do it, and she'd need a very careful man at the throttle, but she'd do it. With those cars sitting on roller bearings, it definitely helps when trying to start them moving from a dead stop.

Haysdminis back in the day she pulled 100 cars with ease and the brakes are Air Brakes and the steam locomotive has that type of brake so i don't think that they are helping and the Locomotive is controlling the brakes on the freight cars.

Haysdminis also the two cars behind the engine are support cars so if something breaks they can fix it and be on there way

GRE 2057 The other tender added to the engine is what supplied her water.

The Creepernator i should of put the Coach's Sorry about that

***** there is a COACH CONVERTED BAGGAGE CAR!!! ARE YOU THAT DUMB AND WAS I TALKING ABOUT THE TWO TENDERS NO!!!

+MLP Team I wanna see it irl

who doesn’t!

That's a baggage car converted into a tool car for maintenance, it's the norm for steamers on the mainline.

Well, she was built for passenger service, and is capable of pulling 15 passenger cars at 110 MPH on the flats, so, 611 is no stranger to running from place to place quickly

rich sheehan Well, if you think about it, they probably accomplished three things with this run; PR, move a small amount of freight and a ferry run to get her back to Spencer. Speculation on my part, of course, but awesome to see her working and not just putting on a show! Regards😊

Depends on how many.

To save wear and tear on the locomotive's brakes. And, conveniently, the freight had to go where 611 was going.

@@09JDCTrainMan oh, that explains so much.

The 765 is capable but 611 can out-pull 765. But it would be more realistic for 765 to handle the freights since she was built for that.

Class Js did freight service in their final years.

If I'm not mistaken, Revenue service is a fancy term for commercial freight and passenger service. Simply put, it's how a railroad makes money.

thought somethign on that line. but with so many fancy names these days one can never be sure. thought therefore i ask. thanks for the reply. greetings from Moscow.

Haysdminis They did put the cars on for breaking, but this cut of cars would've went on a regular freight anyway. So this is a true legitimate freight train hauled by a steam locomotive.

There are 2 types of trains, excursion and revenue. Revenue is making money

Js did haul freight at the end of their carriers.

ElfNet Gaming UP's Steamers are mainly used for excursions, but they do occasionally carry revenue freight when they are ferrying somewhere, which is something I'm assuming this is the reason this one is hauling freight in this video. You're probably not going to make a profit with these old steam engines, but you can make the cost to ferry it cheaper.

UP has done this in the past, 3985 once pulled 187 loaded flatcars up Archer hill in 1987. Not recently, but it's possible. BNSF has nothing against steam engines, but doesn't have a program with it's own. Therefore they have no right to force them to pull freight. CSX, however, is a different story.

844 pulled a short string of revenue freights earlier this.year, and in the 90s the UP set the 3985 loose on a string of over 100 intermodals

@@quasimoto7662 really I say the BNSF should buy back a BN, or ATSF steamer thats on display and put her to work.

611 was going from point A to point B, so they stuck some cars on her