Chasing Norfolk & Western No. 611 out of Roanoke

Most of you who arereading this are probably just as excited about the restored Norfolk & Western Class J No. 611 as I am. We are roughly just a month a way from witnessing the return of this beautiful and classic N&W steam locomotive that will parade across home rails just as it did back in the 1950s. That’s just awesome! In addition, we’ve got more excursions with No. 611, Nickel Plate Road No. 765 and Southern Railway No. 4501. We have an exciting summer coming up, and we owe thanks to many wonderful people, organizations, and Norfolk Southern for making all this possible. 

 I want to share with you tips and location information for the trips in and out of Roanoke in May and July. This is the area were I normally photograph regular NS freights, so I’m familiar with this territory. First of all, both the Blue Ridge District — Roanoke east to Lynchburg, and the Christiansburg District — Roanoke west to Walton offer spectacular locations that will make wonderful photographs, but you will likely have to choose just one, or maybe two at most photo locations. There won’t be time to relocate in the heavy traffic that is bound to be following the locomotive. Add in out of town fans and curious locals, and the best advice I can give you is this: Do not chase. Choose one spot in each direction of travel and let the train come to you.

 Let’s discuss the Blue Ridge District east of Roanoke as that will be the first ex-N&W mainline No. 611 will travel. The best part about the Blue Ridge District is most of the color position light signals — a classic piece of the N&W landscape from when No. 611 was in regular service between 1950 and 1959 — are still active between Roanoke and Lynchburg. Places like Forest, Bedford, Montvale, Webster, and others offer locations that still have CPLs in use as of late April 2015. 

 Chasing on the BlueRidge is pretty simple as U.S. 460 will be your main route of travel from Roanoke to Lynchburg. You can take detours off it to reach the tracks. The highway will actually be adjacent the mainline at several places. Between numerous stoplights, slower speed limits, and generally heavy traffic, getting back ahead of No. 611 anywhere around Forest or Lynchburg will be tough. I suggest picking a spot in Bedford or west of there to wait on it. That’s where the best scenery is. Basically, your best spots will be between Roanoke andBedford and probably the easiest part to chase if you attempt to do so. 

 Below are a few random shots I’ve taken between Bedford and Roanoke on the Blue Ridge District. They might be good places for you to set up and enjoy the show.

This shot above is taken from the Parkway just east of Bondsack, Virginia. The location provides a beautiful morning view of an eastbound train wrapping through an S curve with beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains in the background. 

Webster will be a fantastic place to set up and wait for the show.. The train will pass underneath some classic N&W CPL's while assaulting Blue Ridge Grade. The train will ascend for another two miles before topping the grade and descending toward Bedford through Villamont and Montvale. 

This is one of several good locations in Bedford. This particular image shows eastbound train 23G rolling downhill into Bedford for a meet with westbound 189. There are CPL's standing at both ends of the passing siding here: Bedford(West end) and Big Otter(East end).

Roanoke West

 Chasing from Roanoke west to Walton and back will be simple as well. U.S. 460 is your main routefrom Roanoke to Christiansburg. West after that you’ll want to get on Peppers Ferry Road or U.S. 11 South at Christiansburg. Neither road directly follows the track, but the track will be between them and you can turn onto side roads to reach the tracks at Vicker, Walton, Charleston Grade, etc. Keep in mind chasing from Christiansburg Mountain to west of Christiansburg will be verydifficult. You have to drive through Christiansburg, which has plenty of speed restrictions and stoplights, to reach either Peppers Ferry Road or US 11. So if you really want to photograph, say the Vicker coaling tower, I highly suggest just waiting there instead of trying to chase. Vicker will be one of the toughest spots to shoot because of the lack of parking. There will be very little room to get everybody parked because of the narrow roads near the crossing for the view of the coal dock. 

 If you’re wondering at CPLs on Christiansburg Mountain, the old signals are still in service at Porterfield, Arthur, Montgomery, Christiansburg, and Pelton but new Safetrans signals have been erected and standing beside the old ones. I can’t guarantee the CPLs will even be there in a couple weeks as everything is ready to be cutover. It will just be a matter of time until the railroad does it.  

 One of the best places to search out a shot for the westbound trip out of Roanoke will be Shawsville. There is numerous crossings throughout the community that will produce great shots with beautiful mountain backdrops. I would also highly recommend to anyone wanting to shoot Montgomery Tunnel to go there first and wait. Montgomery has limited parking and it will be tough to get in there once more than 10-15 vehicles show up. 

 Here are some of myshots I’ve taken from Roanoke to Walton. 

The shots above are just two of many angles one can work with in Shawsville, Virginia. Both of the above shots will be lit perfectly for the afternoon westbound trips from Roanoke.

Here's a modern day view of an eastbound intermodal passing underneath the classic coal dock at Vicker, Virginia. This will be a cool location to photograph 611.

I hope this blog can help you and have a blast out chasing in the next couple months. It will be a great time that we will never forget!