N&W Class J 611 Excursions

Over the last few months numerous members of the Rivanna Chapter have ridden, spotted, and chased excursions headed by J 611.  While Charlottesville was not on the route of any of the excursions, we did benefit with two stops by J 611 and its entire consist during moves to and from Manassas.  Happily, there are thousands of pictures and images posted on the internet and an excellent video by Travis Koshko was broadcast by the Newsplex...so just a few photos are posted here to record some of the Chapter members' and friends' experiences.

John Pfaltz had the longest trip when his Lynchburg-Petersburg roundtrip turned into a 14 hour marathon due to track, signal, and other railroad challenges.  Louise and Chuck Ward had a great day on their Manassas-Front Royal roundtrip and reported that the only upsets were an avid photographer on the active tracks and an air conditioning problem (that Chuck got repowered).  Wayland Moore is thought to have set a new world's record for being spotted by more other spotters and in more locations than ever previously recorded.  Ed de Bary took a unique approach by undergoing training and then serving as a car host on Lynchburg-Roanoke runs. 

The photos below are by Ed, Sam Saunders, and Ross Thomas.  Note especially the car host shown below in uniform, for the Operation Lifesaver Car, NS 29.

Southbound

 

Northbound in Charlottesville

 

Roanoke

 

Roanoke

 

NS 29

 

NS 29 Interior

 

NS 29 Car Host on Duty 

 

End of the Day in Roanoke

Job Well Done