LwS S1, E13: A Trip to Virginia & the N & W
The newest episode of Living With Steam is now available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more. In this final episode of Season 1, we follow John Prophet on a trip he took in 1953 to several small towns outside of Roanoke, Virginia where he was very fortunate to record many Norfolk & Western steam engines. John caught multiple Y6 and J-class engines and much more. There's a lot to listen to in this episode, so please sit back and enjoy!
Spoiler alert; I feature O Winston Link in this episode of LWS, specifically his recording at Rural Retreat, VA. Below are two photographs that Link shot when he was in this quiet town in Virginia on Christmas Eve, 1957. There are many similarities between Link's recordings and the ones John Prophet made 4 years earlier. Link was able to capture how the peace and quiet of a small Virginia town is obliterated by the presence of a steam engine like engine #603, as featured in his recording. John was able to do the same.
O Winston Link was a commercial photographer who specialized in large machinery and civil engineering projects. In 1955, he was on assignment in Virginia and took notice of Norfolk & Western steam engines. It was around the same time that the N&W put their steam engines on notice; they were going to be retired and scrapped. Link began a 6-year project to preserve the N&W steam engines and how they interacted with several small towns along the N&W line before they disappeared completely. In fact, they did... and that's what brought Link's project to an end.
The first train John Prophet recorded was a freight pulled by engine 2129, a Y6 2-8-8-2. Below are two photographs showing #2129 in Shawsville.
It's entirely possible that John went to Virginia to record N&W steam power because of the state's terrain. Virginia is dotted with numerous mountain ranges and hills. Perhaps John had a feeling that Virginia's topography would create incredible acoustic elements as the sound from the steam engines echo off the mountains. While in Shawsville, John recorded train #46, The Tennessean with J-class engine #612 in the lead.
John made some pretty incredible recordings in Shawsville... which may have been his "home-base" while he was in Virginia for three days. He recorded train #25, The Powhatan Arrow with J-class engine #600 in the lead. Below are two photographs of engine #600 in Shawsville. The middle photograph is a OWL photograph of the Powhatan Arrow taken during the "daytime."
After recording in Shawsville, John headed to Christiansburg, VA - the county seat of Montgomery County. He set up his wire recorder near the N&W passenger station. Below are two photos I found of the station.
The first train John Prophet recorded in Christiansburg, VA, was train #24. This was a daily that ran between Norfolk, VA and Cincinnati, OH. The train was pulled by J-class engine #602.
John also recorded train #23 as it approached Christiansburg. This train was pulled by one of N&W's "Mountain-class" engines, #136. These engines looked very similar to the classic J-class, but were 4-8-2 engines build by Baldwin, where the Js were built by the N&W in their Roanoke Shops.
John was able to record N&W engine #603 as it pulled train #26, the Powhatan Arrow. This is the same J-class engine that O Winston Link would record at Rural Retreat in 1957.
John's next location was Salem, VA. Here, he was able to situate himself at Mill Lane Crossing and catch some incredible N&W moments. The first being engine #2171 at Y6 2-8-8-2 pulling a freight.
Below are images of N&W 2171.
In Salem, VA, the locals had a freight train they called the "Salem Shifter." It was a freight that serviced the many industries in and around Salem. John recorded engine #433 as it pulled the "Salem Switcher" past Mill Lane Crossing in Salem. #433 was also used to pull the "Virginia Creeper", a train that ran on the Abington Branch of the N&W which ran into Green Cove; a favorite spot for O Winston Link. The 433 was saved from the scrap yard and sits on display at the entrance to the "Virginia Creeper Trail" in Abington.
O Winston Link was only able to photograph the "Virginia Creeper" on the Abington Branch during the day. Below are two of his photographs from along the Abington Branch including his famous photo "Maude Bows to the Virginia Creeper."
For more information about O Winston Link, visit the following:
Below is an article taken from the November/December 2009 issue of the Turntable Times: The Official Newsletter of the Roanoke Chapter of the NRHS. Ken Miller wrote this great article about the Salem Shifter.
After Salem, John stopped at Bonsack, VA. Here, John was able to record train #7, a local pulled by engine #125, another 4-8-2 Mountain-class streamlined engine.
Below is a shot of engine #123, the same type of Mountain that John recorded. It's incredible the similarities between the Mountains and the Js.
More reading about the N&W's Mountain-class engines can be found at:
Perhaps the most incredible recording John made in Bonsack, VA was of the "Extra East", a huge freight train of 117 cars loaded with coal. The train was pulled by Y6 engine 2166 with engine 2126 at the end acting as a pusher. Virginia's terrain made it necessary to haul large and extremely heavy trains up and over the mountains and hills. Below is a picture of engine 2126 and of another engine in a pusher situation. Imagine being the crew in the caboose with a Y6 right behind.
By the late 1950s, the N&W removed all of their J-class engines from regular passenger service and put them all on freight duty. By 1959, everyone was retired. All were scrapped except for one; the 611. According to N&W "folklore", 611 was saved because it was the last of the Js to be involved in a wreck; in 1956. It was restored and put back into service and was thus in the best shape out of all of the other Js. I've also heard that all of the Js were lined up ready to be scrapped when O Winston Link showed up with the intent to buy "A" J-class engine, any J to preserve. 611 happened to be at the end of the line and the easiest to get to. Whichever version of the story is true, the 611 WAS in a wreck in 1956. But it was restored and perhaps was saved from the scrap yard because it was in the best shape.
More reading on N&W J-class wrecks can be found at:
https://therailroadersdaughter.com/.../the-1946-wreck-of.../
When the 611 pulled a special excursion train from Buffalo to Girard, PA in 1992, I was able to get on the Norfolk Southern property to photograph and record the 611 as it arrived in Buffalo on July 17, and then chase it on the 18th. Below are photographs I shot of 611 just after it had arrived in Buffalo. These pictures were taken with a 1920s Kodak Brownie camera; I was trying to duplicate that "old style" look with this classic steam engine.
After interviewing 611's engineer, Bob Saxton on July 17, 1992, I asked him if he could put on a "show" for me when he pulled 611 out of the Norfolk Southern yard on the morning of the 18th. Bob pulled 611 to just under the DL&W overpass bridge near CP Draw and opened it up! I had never seen or heard anything like this before in my life. I can still hear the booming sound 611 made in my chest as it thundered past me.
This area is known as "CP Draw" because of the two draw bridges that span the Buffalo River. One of the bridges is permanently raised.
The last recording I made of the 611 was in Dunkirk, NY in the early evening. The train had stopped in Dunkirk, at the site of the old Nickel Plate Road passenger station, to let passengers off the train who may have boarded to ride to Girard, PA and back. For me, this was a once-in-a-lifetime moment to capture 611 as it pulled the train through a residential area with several grade crossings... whistling the entire way.
In 1994, 611 was once again retired and put on display in the transportation museum in Roanoke, VA. In 2015, she made her triumphant return to excursion service and is a proud ambassador to her parent company and steam-powered railroading.
Be sure to check out YouTube for dozens and dozens of videos featuring the 611.
At the time the 611 came to town in 1992, I was working on producing a television documentary of Buffalo’s railroad history. This tale I described in earlier episodes of LWS. It was very helpful to have the credentials I had back in those days because it gave me and the EFP team unprecedented access to the engine and her crew. In the photo, a much younger me is conducting the interview with 611’s engineer, who’s name escapes me, while the fireman waits patiently in the cab window for his turn to brag about his job.
Since the engine had just arrived in Buffalo, after we filmed the interview, we got to ride in the cab of 611 as it was switched around the yard it was in so that it would be on the correct track when it pulled the excursion the following day.
It was first and only time I had been this close to a steam engine like this, and it made me incredibly envious of O Winston Link.
This is the final episode of Living With Steam for season 1.
Special thanks to Ken Miller at the N&W Historical Society for the technical assistance he provided with this episode. ANYONE who's a fan of the N&W should seriously consider joining the NWHS. More info can be found here: https://www.nwhs.org/.
To learn more about N&W's passenger trains, head over to the American Rails website at:
https://www.american-rails.com/pocahontas.html
Take a moment to visit this very informative site about reflections of the Norfolk & Western:
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