Norfolk & Western Railway | Tracking the Light

I was looking for an angle. Actually I saw this view on my first pass through town with Pat Yough on the previous morning.

There were hundreds of folks trackside, dozens up on top of the parking garage, but no one along Grant Avenue in Manassas, Virginia.

Although impressive from every angle, I find that the 611 looks great in profile. Also, I wanted to photograph its train which consisted of several interesting heritage passenger cars.

Vic Stone dropped me on the corner, and I exposed this ordered sequence of images in downtown Manassas using my Fuji X-T1. The exposure was tricky owing to the dark locomotive and the bright morning sky.

Image 2 of 20. N&W 611's water car. — Image 2 of 20. N&W 611’s water car.

While I anticipated the eventual need to adjust the image of 611, these photos were scaled directly from the in-camera Jpgs. I have reversed the order to convey the sense of the train moving forward.

Do you think I should have started this presentation with the tail car?

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611 at Spencer, May 2014.

Exposed with a Lumix LX-7. The diffused light made for wonderful reflections.

Among the stars of the Streamliner’s at Spencer event was Norfolk & Western 611, one of only a handful of preserved American streamlined steam locomotives. Here’s a sampling of the many images I made, and an excerpt of the text from my book Super Steam published by MBI (out of print), where I detailed the J class. Today the locomotive catches attention for its streamlined shrouds, but there’s a lot more to the N&W J than just good looks:

“Among the most impressive products of N&W’s Roanoke Shops were its 14 Class J 4-8-4s. These spectacular machines defied convention while settting record for performance and reliability. The first five J’s were built during 1941 and 1942, with N&W’s distinctive streamlined shrouds, and featured 27×32 inch cylinders, 70-inch drivers, 107.7 square foot firebox grate, and a huge boiler set for 275 lb. psi operation. As built these locomotives delivered 73,300 lbs. tractive effort. (N&W later increased the boiler pressure to 300 psi, and as result tractive effort was increased to 80,000 lbs.) The J class exhibited all of the trappings of modern locomotive, featuring roller bearings on all axles and reciprocating parts, one-piece cast steel frame, mechanical lubrication and light weight alloy-steel rods . . .”