The Virginia Museum of Transportation’s Board of Directors and the Fire Up 611! Committee have announced an agreement with the North Carolina Transportation Museum & Foundation (NCTMF) in Spencer, North Carolina to house the iconic Norfolk & Western Class J 611 Steam Passenger Locomotive during her restoration.
After the restoration is complete, the Class J 611 will steam back to its home at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke.
No date has been set for the Class J 611 to move to the North Carolina Transportation Museum (NCTM). Before the Class J 611 can move, the Virginia Museum of Transportation (VMT) must raise adequate funding to restore the locomotive and ultimately build a preservation and education facility to house her. To date, the VMT has raised almost $2.3 million. Donations have poured in from every state, the District of Columbia and 18 countries.
“Like us, the North Carolina Transportation Museum strives to preserve and showcase our rail heritage,” said Beverly T. Fitzpatrick, Jr., executive director of the Virginia Museum of Transportation. “We can’t think of a better venue to host the Class J 611 during her much anticipated restoration.”
One of the largest buildings on the North Carolina Transportation Museum campus is the 37-stall Bob Julian Roundhouse. The Roundhouse was built in 1924 and is one of the biggest surviving steam era roundhouses left in North America. Its 100-foot turntable and restoration shop are capable of handling a locomotive the size of Class J 611. The museum, located on 57 acres, encompasses 13 historic shop buildings that were part of Southern Railway’s largest steam locomotive shop, which dates to 1896.
“The North Carolina Transportation Museum is honored at the opportunity to partner with the Virginia Museum of Transportation and the Fire Up 611 Committee to provide a location for the restoration of this iconic locomotive,” said Steve Mersch, NCTMF president. “Speaking on behalf of the museum and foundation employees, volunteers and the local community we are all very excited that once again Historic Spencer Shops will house the repair of a mainline steam locomotive just as it did in decades past.”
Once the funds are raised, the Class J 611 – a 4-8-4 locomotive – will be moved “dead-in-tow” to the North Carolina Transportation Museum. The locomotive will then undergo its 1,472-day inspection / renovation. After repairs are made, the Class J 611 will steam back to her home at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke.
About the Class J 611 Steam Passenger Locomotive:
The Norfolk & Western Class J Locomotives were a marriage of beauty and power. Designed, constructed and maintained in Roanoke, the Class J’s were known for their bullet nose, modern lines, graceful curves and baritone whistle. Her exquisite design combined with unbridled power to make the engine the iconic symbol of modern steam locomotives. Number 611, the last remaining engine of her kind, is known as the Spirit of Roanoke.
The 611 was built in 1950 and pulled the Powhatan Arrow, the famed passenger train, from Norfolk to Cincinnati. The Class J 611 retired from passenger rail service in 1959. In 1962, she was moved to the Virginia Museum of Transportation. In 1981, Norfolk Southern pulled her out of retirement and restored her to her original glory.
She was retired from excursions in 1994 and moved back into the Virginia Museum of Transportation, where she sits today, greeting tens of thousands of her fans who visit from across the globe every year. Since her retirement, rail fans have clamored, hoped and dreamed that she return once again to the rails, to blow her whistle and steam over the Blue Ridge and Appalachian mountains once again.
