Re: N&W 611 Schedule (2024)

The Virginia Museum of Transportation released N&W 611's schedule a bit ago. Many of you will have received the schedule, but here it is:

• April 9, 2016 – The Virginian, Spencer, NC, to Lynchburg, VA
• April 10, 2016 – The Blue Ridge Special, Spencer, NC, to Asheville, NC
• April 23, 2016 – The Roanoker, Greensboro, NC to Roanoke, VA
• April 24, 2016 – The Roanoker, Greensboro, NC to Roanoke, VA
• May 7, 2016 – The Powhatan Arrow, Roanoke, VA, to Lynchburg, VA
• May 7, 2016 – The Pelican, Roanoke, VA, to Walton (Radford), VA
• May 8, 2016 – The Powhatan Arrow, Roanoke, VA, to Lynchburg, VA
• May 8, 2016 – The Pelican, Roanoke, VA, to Walton (Radford), VA
• June 4, 2016 – The American, Manassas, VA, to Front Royal, VA, (runs once)
• June 5, 2016 – The American, Manassas, VA, to Front Royal, VA, (runs twice)

Here's a link to the announcement page at Fire Up 611:

http://fireup611.org/excursions/

EDIT: to save you the time, announcement has no info on prices, on-sale dates or consists.

David

April 23, 2016 – The Roanoker, Greensboro, NC to Roanoke, VA

Will more than likely begoing on this one this year.

jaygee posted:

Anything yet for July or August....anywhere???

As I recall, neither the 611 crew, nor the 765 crew, desire ANY operations during those beastly hot months, thus no steam in July or August.

jaygee posted:

Anything yet for July or August....anywhere???

In addition to opportunities to ride and watch 611 roll by on excursions, the public is invited to take advantage of a number of special opportunities to get up close to 611 under steam, take photos, and meet the crew. “We are very excited to offer this experience that people haven’t had before, to get really close to 611,” said Jim Stump, Forward 611 committee chair for the VMT. “We will be taking 611 to new destinations and giving communities an exciting opportunity to celebrate their history and rail heritage. It is amazing to experience this engine fired up.”· Over the weekend of May 14, 2016 – visitors to the Virginia Museum of Transportation will get to view 611 fired up, and meet the crew.
· June 4, 2016 – After the morning excursion, 611 will make a guest appearance at the Manassas, Va., Heritage Railway Festival.
· June, 2016 – 611 will be on display at the VMT.
· July, 2016 – 611 will be featured at the North Carolina Transportation Museum for special events.
· Early August, 2016 – 611 will return to the VMT.
· Early September, 2016 – 611 again will return to the NCTM for special events and maintenance.
· Sept. 24-25, 2016 – 611 will travel to Danville, Va., to be featured during Danville Rail Heritage Days.
· 611 will return to Roanoke after the NCTM events conclude in the fall. The events at the NCTM and the City of Danville involve only the locomotive and its crew. No excursions to Danville or to Spencer (NCTM) are offered. For event information and to sign up for email notifications, visit www.FireUp611.org.“We are so grateful to Norfolk Southern Corporation for allowing the Class J 611 to run during 2016,” said Fitzpatrick. “We are also thankful to many partners including the North Carolina Transportation Museum, the Roanoke Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, the Norfolk & Western Historical Society, and the many donors who are helping us bring back the wonder for 611’s passengers and fans of all ages.”

Think I will have to move my planned trip to April 9th to have the southern F and E units part of the consist.

http://cs.trains.com/trn/b/sta...-n-amp-w-no-611.aspx

This year I'll ride this train.

J 611 posted:

I wonder what whistle they are going to have on 611 this year.

Why wouldn't it be the same one she had last year?

Hot Water posted:

J 611 posted:

I wonder what whistle they are going to have on 611 this year.

Why wouldn't it be the same one she had last year?

The 611 was carrying a UP whistle last year. This was discussed at length last spring.

J 611 posted:

There was talk of replacing the whistle used last year. I thought maybe there was a replacement found in the "off season" for the UP whistle used last year.

The UP steam team will not be needing it for a while.

I guess there is a N&W one that could be placed on her?

Dominic Mazoch posted:

J 611 posted:

There was talk of replacing the whistle used last year. I thought maybe there was a replacement found in the "off season" for the UP whistle used last year.

The UP steam team will not be needing it for a while.

Well, the whistle is NOT "from the UP", as it belongs to Cheryl George, I believe, and she "loaned it" to the VMT for use on 611. The so-called "correct" N&W J class passenger whistle, previously used was/is the property of the Claytor family. After some sort of disagreement with the VMT, Mr. Preston Claytor resigned from the board, and subsequently took his family's whistle and went home.

I guess there is a N&W one that could be placed on her?

Yes, but using the Claytor "family whistle" may still be an issue.

richabr posted:

I'd rather hear a repro of a N&W whistle instead of a UP.

All well and good, however very few people really noticed the difference, until it was publicized that the whistle being used belong to Cheryl George, and was of UP heritage.

Big Jim posted:

[quote] After some sort of disagreement with the VMT, Mr. Preston Claytor resigned from the board, and subsequently took his family's whistle and went home. [/quote]
Which begs the question, what happened to the reproduction J whistle that was made by a certain whistle shop?

I have no clue. Was it ever actually installed on 611? I always thought that the "Claytor family whistle" had been on 611 ever since she was restored to service by Robert Claytor.

Big Jim posted:

Well, there was a video on here somewhere where a company that made whistles was making a reproduction J whistle. Now, assuming that Preston has his father's actual J whistle, what happened to the reproduction whistle?

I'm not sure if this is the one you had in mind, IMO with all due respect to the manufacturer, it doesn't really sound anything like the original. To me anyway.

Go to 1:40

>>it doesn't really sound anything like the original.

Agreed! The pitch is a little too high, but could that be due to a difference in steam pressure?

Compare to any of OWL recordings. The original has a much "throatier" sound.

The Claytor Family whistle is a Hanco*ck 3 Chime that came from the original J, #600. Cheri George's UP whistle is also a Hanco*ck 3 Chime from an unknown Union Pacific engine. It could have come from any one of their 45 4-8-4s, 105 4-6-6-4s or 25 4-8-8-4s. There is no difference in the design and manufacture of the two whistles. The difference in sound can be due to a number of factors such as steam pressure, temperature, whether blown on saturated or superheated steam, wear and tear and the orientation and placement of the whistle on the locomotive. They were not precision sound devices like a tuned musical instrument, they were not required to produce precise musical notes and chords. They were simply cast from patterns, finished and shipped to the purchasing railroad.

I have in my collection CD's featuring Union Pacific, Delaware and Hudson, Southern Pacific, N&W and Duluth Missabe & Iron Range steam, in regular service and equipped with this model whistle. Virtually no two make the same sound. Some are beautiful sounding and some are pigs.

The only way to get the sound that 611 had back in her first excursion career is to get the cooperation of Mr. Claytor to use his whistle. Otherwise it will be always close, but no cigar.

PS: That repro whistle is nowhere close to sounding like any Hanco*ck "3" I ever heard, let alone Claytor's whistle.

Dave Albright posted:

I believe that's a UP whistle as well.

I don't think so. I'm sure I read someplace that the Western Maryland Scenic obtained a correct Western Maryland 4-8-4 whistle.

Bill N posted:

My wife is suggesting we go on one of these. Having ridden on several 611 excursions in Virginia I don't feel the need to just go on another. However I have never ridden over the line from Manassas to Front Royal. For those who have, is it worth a special trip?

Not a bad half day trip - a bit through suburbia, farms, etc. Most interesting aspect for me was the massive quarry early out of Manassas along the track.

We'll probably ride again this year just for the heck of it. May even splurge for the dome car.

There have been many whistles on the Western Maryland's 734. Most of the time,

it has been a three chime Hanco*ck. In the last few years, except for this last season,

she has had what I was told was a reproduction whistle as used on the Potomac 4-8-4's.

This last year she has had Kevin Rice's three chime Hanco*ck on her, in the last of

the year Kevin put his Southern Pacific Passenger whistle on her.

Ed

J 611 posted:

Maybe Kevin could lend the Roanoke folks his Hanco*ck 3 chime. It does sound better than Cheri's for some reason.

I doubt it, since WMSR #734 operates at a LOT lower boiler pressure than #611, which has 300 psi.

Hot Water posted:

J 611 posted:

Maybe Kevin could lend the Roanoke folks his Hanco*ck 3 chime. It does sound better than Cheri's for some reason.

I doubt it, since WMSR #734 operates at a LOT lower boiler pressure than #611, which has 300 psi.

Never know until you find out. I say it's worth at least a try.

Ed Mullan posted:

There have been many whistles on the Western Maryland's 734. Most of the time,

it has been a three chime Hanco*ck. In the last few years, except for this last season,

she has had what I was told was a reproduction whistle as used on the Potomac 4-8-4's.

This last year she has had Kevin Rice's three chime Hanco*ck on her, in the last of

the year Kevin put his Southern Pacific Passenger whistle on her.

Ed

And I believe Kevin's Hanco*ck is the one on the audio clip. Both it and his SP 5 chime were used on 2100 for the first several test runs in the 90's.