Railfans? N&W J Class at Strasburg, PA

Hey! Just thought I'd put this somewhere after it popped up in my Facebook feed. The Norfolk & Western J class #611, a legendary streamlined steam locomotive from the pinnacle of steam railroading is coming out of some major boiler work at the Strasburg RR shops in Lancaster County this fall. Accordingly, before it goes back to Roanoke, they are having some special events.

611 Experiences

I have to admit, while I could be interested in the special photo workshops and playing O. Winston Link, my checkbook has gone into hiding. I may try to get out there and ride one of the more ordinary runs, then shoot a few pictures. (From Philly, Strasburg is a lot closer than Roanoke!)

FWIW ...

Pity it's 3k miles away from me. I'd love to go. I only recently became addicted to train vids on youtube. That and overgrown yard cleanups are my guilty pleasure vids.

I think that the train is designed by industrial designer Raymond Loewy. I'd like to see that. I did recently see Nickel Plate 765, an impressive 2-8-4, which came through my area this last spring.

ic-racer said:

I think that the train designed by industrial designer Raymond Loewy. I'd like to see that. I did recently see Nickel Plate 765, an impressive 2-8-4, which came through my area this last spring.

Click to expand...

Yes, Loewy did the design. In 2017 My Faire Spouse and I met my college room mate and his wife in Roanoke for our annual Turkey Day get-together which had been moving around each year. #611 belongs to the Virginia Museum of Transportation which is housed in the former N&W freight depot there. Unfortunately the loco was elsewhere in the system at that time. But the former N&W passenger station is now a museum which has a whole section devoted to Raymond Loewy, plus a gallery full of O. Winston Link photos. As long time rail enthusiasts we took in as much as we could.

A follow-up on this ... As often happens, I got to Strasburg on the last day of these various activities, armed with film, digits, and iPhone 13 Pro. The lighting was all over the place, there was a variable and occasionally pretty stiff wind -- at about 45ºF -- not all that conducive to standing around, but I did stay quite a few hours and exercise all my gear. There was a lot of smoke and whistling, as #611 ran a round trip every hour, starting on the hour, and a second train ran with Strasburg's own 4-8-0 on the half hour. The round trips were about 45 minutes and it's a single track line, so the passing siding was in regular use; lots of signaling

I just posted (my pick) the winner in the gallery, but as of this AM, the whole assortment is up in my PBase galleries.

In the blather at the top of that gallery is a link to some videos on my own site. Alas, wind noise turned out to be annoying with just using the phone. So maybe before I attempt more of such forays I'll try to cobble up an external mic setup that would be more focused and permit a wind filter. (Ah geeze, more GAS!!! )