After $3 million raised by the Virginia Museum of Transportation and years of careful work, mostly by volunteers, the legendary J-Class locomotive 611 returned to Roanoke under her own power on May 30. I was assigned to join her in Lynchburg and ride the final leg into town.
The 611 as she pulls into the Lynchburg station, with a slow, even chug and bell ringing.
Special guests got to sit in the baggage car behind the tender, where the doors are open to the air. In the passenger cars, the windows are sealed because of safety regulations.
The train paused for an hour while water was pumped into the train's tanks.
Volunteers were rewarded for their work by getting to ride forward, or even in the locomotive cab itself.
Tom Mayer held a leadership position in the restoration. I met him many months ago as he worked on the 611 in North Carolina.
Fifty-eight years ago, Tom Garver rode the 611 on a regular run. He was with the now famous photographer, O. Winston Link, for whom he worked as an assistant. On May 30 he got to ride behind the old steam engine again.
An Art Deco detail on the door to one of the passenger cars.
Ron Davis, President of the Norfolk and Western Historical Society (seated) and Trey Davis make pictures as the train pulls slowly through the Norfolk and Southern Yard in Roanoke.
Virginia Museum of Transportation Executive Director Bev Fitzpatrick waves to the crowds gathered along the rails as the train approaches the museum.
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