Now it was my turn to be a foamer in a car. I planned to chase 611 from Goshen to Staunton on her afternoon run.
611 being mobbed by fans at Goshen before the afternoon run to Staunton.
I headed into “downtown” Goshen and parked near the railroad. There were already a few chasers getting ready. One was looking over a map and was conversing with another foamer on which grades you could get the best “stack-talk”. He was a serious foamer who had done his research and was willing to share it with the like-minded.
After a wait of about 45 minutes, 611 sounded it’s whistle and the Shenandoah Valley Limited was on it’s way. She had to back her consist onto a siding before headed onto the mainline. Now 611 was facing Staunton and the engineer pushed the Johnson bar forward, released the breaks, and pulled back on the throttle. No. 611 burst in steaming-hissing life!
Down the tracks the sounds of the stack-talk (or the chuff-chuff-chuff of the exhaust) was amazing. 611 blew the crossing and passed the old Goshen Depot and steamed off to Staunton.
Let the foam-fest begin!
611 heading toward approaching the grade crossing at Goshen.
Now this is “stack-talk” as 611 approaches the grade crossing at Goshen. You also hear her powerful whistle.
I then joined the line of foamers in cars on Highway 42, which parallels the line. This has created a traffic jam on the two lane road because the pacers wanted to take pacing shots of 611. I and most others on the road, wanted to drive ahead and get shots of 611 on a run by.
611 and dreaded line of pacers in front of me!!
After some of the pacers pealed off, I was able to get ahead of the madding crowd and pulled off to get a run by shot of 611.
611 at a grade crossing.
From here, I made a b-line to Staunton because I wanted to get a shot on the walkway above the tracks as 611 pulled into Staunton Station.
611 pulling into Staunton Station. 611 is streamlined even from above. Off to the left are the two diesels that will pull 611 and her consist back to Goshen.
Before my train ride on Friday, I wanted find out where Goshen was. It appeared on my Virginia map but was not mentioned in the travel guide. So I set out of lexington on Thursday afternoon to get an idea of where Victoria Station was.
I came to the station and drove down a dirt road and I could see the excursion train on a siding with 611, under steam, on point. There were still setting up the pavilions and grading the road so I could get a good look at the Queen of Steam.
I returned to the main road and then pulled onto the should where I though I was about level with 611, hoping I could get a look at the iconic locomotive from the road. I was able to get a look at 611 and took a few picture which I based the sketch below on.
I couldn’t wait to Friday morning!
I arrived at Victoria Station in Goshen, an hour early and there was already a line forming at the checkin pavilion.
It seemed a mix of casual rail enthusiasts, older folks out for a guffawing good time, and foamers, train addicts that “foam” at the mouth anytime they get near a piece of vintage rail equipment. Better yet if that equipment has steam pouring out of it and is making hissing sounds.
I really wanted to arrive early so I could sketch 611. Norfolk and Western Class J No. 611 is a very beautiful passenger steam locomotive, fully streamlined, giving the machine a sleek look. Her curved and voluptuous lines screamed “speed” and the streamlining makes the locomotive look more an airplane or an ocean-going vessel. She just looks quick!
611 at Victoria Station, Goshen.
It is said that a steam locomotive is like a living, breathing being and I was taking in the sights, sounds, and scents (she’s a coal burner after all) as I was sketching her stately profile.
We boarded and I had a seat in a bi-level car, the type used on commuter lines like Caltrain. I was originally in the bottom level, surrounded by some of those guffawers who were having a Grand Day Out and wouldn’t have cared if Thomas the Tank Engine was pulling our consist. I escaped up to the second level (after first doing a sketch), and had a great view from above.
We backed out of the station at 9:05 AM. This was the first run of the Shenandoah Valley Limited, an excursion that would be running in the month of October, Friday through Sunday with a morning and an afternoon trip daily.
611 backing out of Victoria Station. A foamer is already pacing the Queen of Steam.
611 pulled onto a siding and with a retort of her baritone whistle, she puled onto the mainline, heading towards Staunton (pronounced “Stanton”).
Over the next two hours we headed through the forests starting to show their fall colors. We passed a lumber mill, a few small towns, and backyards scattered with rusted old cars and trucks that were now being repurposed as nature’s planter boxes.
We pulled into Staunton Station at 10:55. From here, two Buckingham Branch Railroad diesels were coupled to the back of the train and be would be pulling the train back to Goshen with 611 riding behind like a big, black smoking caboose.
Throughout our four hour rail journey we were followed by foamers in cars. Some of them would pull ahead of us and then pull off to get a run by photo or video (or both) and them run back to here idling cars and we’d see them a few miles down the line. The worst kind of chaser is called a “pacer” and the drive at the speed of the locomotive which is anywhere between 15 to 40 miles an hour. They hold up traffic and are often driving well below the speed limit to the consternation of other foamers or locals just trying to get to the grocery store.
When we returned to Goshen, I knew 611 would be static for a long enough time for me to get a sketch in (featured sketch).
What a great experience with a legend of the steam era.
I had not ridden behind a Northern type (4-8-4) on the main line since 1984 when my father and I rode a train pulled by Southern Pacific GS-4 No. 4449, from San Francisco to Los Angeles. This was a two day excursion with a stop in the bright lights of Fresno.
For the afternoon run to Staunton I became one of those crazy foamers in a car, but that’s for another post.
On my one week fall break I knew I was going to travel nationally. So I chose Virginia. (It’s for lovers, don’t you know?)
High on my list was to see the streamlined Northern 4-8-4, Norfolk and Western No. 611 at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke.
This is one of the most iconic American passenger locomotives ever made and is still active in excursion service. She was built in 1950, very late in the steam age, as diesel-electric locomotives where ending the age of steam across the country.
611 is one of the most technically advanced steam locomotives ever built. One disadvantage of stream was the large amount of hours needed to maintain and operate these locomotives.
To counter this, Norfolk and Western built their new streamlined locomotives, the Class J, at their Roanoke Shops. The locomotive was built with a self lubricating system that automatically lubricate over 200 bearings, including the bell mechanism. This meant the Class J could run for 15,000 miles before maintenance was needed. The 14 Class J locomotives could be serviced in about an hour and then be back out on the mainline.
It was such an engineering marvel of it’s time that is was designated a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Out of the 300 landmarks there are just seven steam locomotives that are honored with this designation and 611 shares this honor with Southern Pacific’s Cab-forward No. 4294 and Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4023, among four others.
I scoured the Virginia Museum of Transportation’s website for more information about 611. She is clearly the star of the show at the museum where she is called “one of the most iconic and beloved trains in American history”. Wow, that is some praise! Then I read the next line: “Inquire BEFORE visiting, locomotive travels”. Travels? Where could 611 travel in October? Where can you possibly hide an almost 400 ton locomotive that responds to the name “The Black Bullet”?!
I think the first time I saw an image of a J-Class was in a Brian Hollingsworth book. In this case: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the World’s Steam Passenger Locomotives.
It turns out that 611 would not be on static display at the museum. Would I be making this cross-country trip without seeing one of the most iconic 4-8-4s in existence? (Southern Pacific 4449 and Union Pacific 844 would be the other two.)
Nope! It turns out that 611 would be 80 miles to the north in Goshen, Va. The streamlined J-Class would not be on static display but under steam and on point of the Shenandoah Valley Limited! And I got myself a ticket!
Before I headed east to take in this Queen of Steam, I did three illustrations of 611. One was my version of a stylized promotional period sketch (featured sketch), a realistic head on view (above), and a drawing design of the profile of 611 and tender with specs (below).
Corvid Sketcher 