Steaming into Autumn

by Dale R Carlson

Title

Steaming into Autumn

Artist

Dale R Carlson

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

The Norfolk and Western 611 steam engine pulls the Shenandoah Valley Limited excursion train through brilliant autumn color near Staunton, Virginia. 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 streamlined steam locomotives. Built in May 1950 at N&W's Roanoke Shops in Roanoke, Virginia, it was one of the last mainline passenger steam locomotives built in the United States and represents the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology.

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

My photo of the N&W 611 "Steaming into Autumn" won 3rd place in the fineartamerica contest, "Trains and Railroads" out of 187 images submitted in March 2024.

Uploaded

October 29th, 2023

Colors

Embed

Share

Tags