This is how the 611 chase went for me

We’ve written plenty about the glory of the return to the main line for Norfolk & Western Class J No. 611, and I thought that before the memory of last Saturday’s chase from Spencer, N.C., to Roanoke, Va., fades, it might be a good idea to relate a personal tale of how it went from the perspective of one of the motorcade. Those in hot pursuit of a hot steam locomotive are often ignored, but we are part of the show too. We watch the train and those on the train watch and often laugh at us and the antics we go to get pretty pictures, video, and sound. We imprint these important moments onto our DNA for an alien scientist to discover millions of years from now and wonder if “Choo, choo!” was some strange human mating call. We serve an important role, answering the ageless question from unsuspecting locals, “What are y’all doing standing out here?”

Hayley Enoch joined me in the Trains rental car, a Dodge Journey with more room than the Jeeps I’d been getting in recent weeks of covering No. 611. Hayley ran the live streaming cam, helped with navigation, and kept in touch with friends on board the train who texted us their location so we could better know how much time we did or did not have to get set up.

Jim Wrinn and Hayley Enoch pose with the live-streaming gear.

Our vehicle was crammed with still cameras (for coverage in the August issue as well as our special 611 in Steam magazine due out in August), video cameras (for our DVD due in October), the live streaming gear, luggage, a cooler full of water and Gatorade, groceries (mostly trail bars, bananas, and dried fruit), a sling blade for vegetative rearrangement, and a lightweight, quick fold stepladder to rise above whatever might come along. We had a scanner, track charts, and sunscreen.

I figured the train would draw a big crowd so I had planned generous leaps between photos, and Kevin Gilliam, who is producing our 611 in Steam video (available as a DVD later this year) and I agreed that neither of us would show up at the same spot – no need to duplicate each other’s work. My planned photo locations: Leaving the N.C. Transportation Museum in Spencer, Lexington, Jamestown, and Reidsville in N.C., then Altavista and Lynchburg before finding a place on Blue Ridge grade to receive absolution from the Steam Gods who set it aside as a holy place more than 55 years ago.

The train left a half hour late, long enough for the crowd at the museum to become restless. We took our photos at the entrance crossing and hopped in the car and got on I-85 quick enough to just beat the train to the Yadkin River bridge, where from the vehicle moving at 75 mph we could witness a wall of people standing on the beautifully landscaped hillside at Duke and a plume of smoke. A wall of humanity had been unleashed on this train. We were part of it. 

We immediately made a beeline for Lexington, where folks were set up on a long sweeping curve. Within minutes, more cars and more people poured in. Fans and locals jockeyed for position, each telling or asking the other in nice  -- or not so nice – ways to move aside, join the photo line, or take up a new hobby. Hayley likened the mass influx of railfans it to those swams of ants that sweep across jungle floors in foreign lands, enveloping everything they encounter momentarily and then continuing on to pillage the land.

We used our dirty windshield to our advantage.

Photos in hand, we tossed out gear into the vehicle and rolled up Business I-85 as planned to Jamestown. Our destination: the trackside parking lot of Guilford Community College, where a small group of mostly local folks had set up. One woman thanked us for the streaming video, the train came and went, and we resumed the chase.

Our shot in Reidsville took place as planned, but by this point we noticed the train was much easier to chase than originally thought and that the motorcade was much better behaved than originally believed. All that preaching about being safe, not taking chances, and watching out for each other worked. Given this, Hayley and I elected to try an unplanned stop near the golf course on the south side of Danville, Va., a decision that yielded a mediocre image and no live streaming. From here, we stopped at a bridge overlooking the main line for a photo and went to Hurt, Va., set up, and got a decent image of the train at the connection to the former Virginian main line.

We were on plan to head up to Lynchburg for a photo of the train entering the city when we heard on the radio that a defect detector had halted No. 611’s progress. We detoured off U.S. 29 into the country and found ourselves in Evington, Va., and set up among the locals for a photo. Our next opportunity to photograph No. 611 was as the engine was entering Lynchburg. We hit Chick-Fil-A, ran into old friends, and excused ourselves to find a spot on Blue Ridge grade.

There, we chose Tower Road and a location with a sweeping curve, parking, a mix of locals and railfans, and plunked ourselves down to wait. We arrived with ample time, and I am glad we did because U.S. 460 became a parking lot not long after. We watched No. 611 come home again on home rails on this most hallowed ground, happy that our plan – along with modifications in the field – had worked successfully. As we creeped into Roanoke in the traffic jam, we were tired but elated that No. 611 was in steam on the main line once more.

Lastly, I am happy that I was wrong in one of my predictions for the motorcade.  As far as I can tell, nobody got into a major traffic accident, and nobody got hurt or injured. I am never more grateful to be incorrect.

Thanks to all who joined in on the chase. You’re a big part of what makes it great – otherwise we’d never have good trackside images to remember it by. It was great to see you, and I look forward to the next time.