Norfolk and Western 611

Norfolk and Western 611
Norfolk and Western 611 pulling The American excursion on June 7, 2015
Type and origin Power type Steam Designer H.W. Reynolds G.P. McGavock C.H. Faris Franklin C. Noel Builder Roanoke Shops (East End Shops) Serial number 388 Build date May 29, 1950
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 4-8-4  • UIC 2′D2′ h2 Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Leading dia. 36 in (914 mm) Driver dia. 70 in (1,778 mm) Trailing dia. 42 in (1,067 mm) Tender wheels 33 in (838 mm) Length 109 ft 2 in (33.27 m) Width 11 ft 2 in (3.40 m) Height 16 ft (4.88 m) Axle load 72,000 lb (32.7 tonnes) for drivers Adhesive weight 288,000 lb (130.6 tonnes) Loco weight 494,000 lb (224.1 tonnes) Tender weight 378,600 lb (171.7 tonnes) Total weight 872,600 lb (395.8 tonnes) Tender type 22D Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 35 short tons (70,000 lb) Water cap. 20,000 US gallons (76,000 L) Fuel consumption 6.5 short tons (5.9 t) of coal per hour 11,880 US gallons (45,000 L) of water per hour Firebox: ​  • Grate area 107.7 sq ft (10.01 m2) Boiler 92 in (2,337 mm) (front) 102 in (2,591 mm) (back) Boiler pressure 300 psi (2.07 MPa) Feedwater heater Worthington Type 6-SA Heating surface: ​  • Firebox 578 sq ft (53.7 m2)  • Tubes 2.25 in (57 mm)  • Flues 3.5 in (89 mm)  • Tubes and flues 4,693 sq ft (436.0 m2)  • Total surface 5,271 sq ft (489.7 m2) Superheater: ​  • Type Elesco Type E  • Heating area 2,177 sq ft (202.2 m2) Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size 27 in × 32 in (686 mm × 813 mm) Valve gear Baker Valve type 14-inch (356 mm) Piston valves, 8.5-inch (216 mm) travel
Performance figures Power output 5,100 hp (3,800 kW) @ tender drawbar @ 40 mph (64 km/h) Tractive effort 84,981 lbf (378.01 kN) Factor of adh. 3.6
Career Operators Norfolk and Western Railway→Norfolk Southern Railway Virginia Museum of Transportation (Fire Up 611! Committee) Class J Number in class 12 of 14 Numbers 611 Nicknames "The Spirit of Roanoke" "The Queen of Steam" Locale Mid-Atlantic Retired October 27, 1959 (revenue service) December 7, 1994 (1st excursion service) Preserved May 1962 Restored July 5, 1982 (1st restoration) March 31, 2015 (2nd restoration) Current owner Virginia Museum of Transportation Disposition Under maintenance[1]
References:[2][3][4]
Norfolk & Western Class J No. 611 Locomotive
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Show map of Virginia Show map of the United States
Location	303 Norfolk Avenue SW, Roanoke, Virginia
Coordinates	37°16′23″N 79°56′50″W / 37.272943°N 79.947231°W / 37.272943; -79.947231
Built	1950
Built by	Roanoke Shops
NRHP reference No.	100009961
Added to NRHP	February 8, 2024

Norfolk and Western 611, also known as the "Spirit of Roanoke" and the "Queen of Steam", is the only surviving example of Norfolk and Western's (N&W) class J 4-8-4 type "Northern" streamlined steam locomotives. Built in May 1950 at N&W's Roanoke (East End) Shops in Roanoke, Virginia, it was one of the last mainline passenger steam locomotives built in the United States and represents a pinnacle of American steam locomotive technology.

No. 611 hauled N&W's premier passenger trains between Norfolk, Virginia, and Cincinnati, Ohio; and ferried Southern Railway's (SOU) passenger trains through the Blue Ridge Mountains between Monroe and Bristol, Virginia. Retired from revenue service in 1959, No. 611 was donated to the Virginia Museum of Transportation (VMT), where it became the sole survivor of the 14 class J locomotives.

In 1982, No. 611 was restored to operation by N&W successor Norfolk Southern (NS). It became the mainline star of the railroad's steam program, pulling excursion trains as far south as Florida, as far north as New York, and as far west as Illinois and Missouri. In late 1994, when liability insurance costs led NS to end its steam program, the locomotive was again retired and moved back to the VMT.

In 2015, after a year of restoration at the North Carolina Transportation Museum (NCTM) in Spencer, North Carolina, No. 611 returned to mainline excursion service as part of the NS 21st Century Steam program. That program ended in 2017, and the VMT has since operated No. 611 in excursion service and as a traveling exhibit, spending time at the NCTM and Strasburg Rail Road (SRC) in Strasburg, Pennsylvania.

Frequently invoked as an icon of Roanoke and its railroading history, No. 611 was declared a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) in 1984 and was designated the official state steam locomotive of Virginia by the Virginia General Assembly in 2017. It was added to the Virginia Landmarks Register by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) in 2023. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2024.^[5]