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[streamline j1e]

   I recently watched a mark-5 video on southern steam and another on Northeastern steam which featured two N&W steam engines running.  The loco's that were featured was the 2-6-6-4 articulate and the J-1 Northern used for passenger trains.

I was wondering if CSXT still has them for excersion trains or did CSXT moth-ball them?

[TomDiehl]

   I recently watched a mark-5 video on southern steam and another on Northeastern steam which featured two N&W steam engines running.  The loco's that were featured was the 2-6-6-4 articulate and the J-1 Northern used for passenger trains.

I was wondering if CSXT still has them for excersion trains or did CSXT moth-ball them?

They belonged to what is now Norfolk Southern, which discontinued the steam program several years ago. The only Class 1 railroad that has an active steam program these days is the Union Pacific.

[nanaimo73]

   I recently watched a mark-5 video on southern steam and another on Northeastern steam which featured two N&W steam engines running.  The loco's that were featured was the 2-6-6-4 articulate and the J-1 Northern used for passenger trains.

I was wondering if CSXT still has them for excersion trains or did CSXT moth-ball them?

They belonged to what is now Norfolk Southern, which discontinued the steam program several years ago. The only Class 1 railroad that has an active steam program these days is the Union Pacific.

And Canadian Pacific.

[streamline j1e]

Thanks for the info. was wondering about qwnership bccause I thought I saw the 2-6-6-4 pulling

CSXT coal cars.   Another thought are those loco,s put on display somewhere?

[rrandb]

Thanks for the info. was wondering about qwnership bccause I thought I saw the 2-6-6-4 pulling

CSXT coal cars.   Another thought are those loco,s put on display somewhere?

According to the N & W Historical Society both the #1218 and the #611 are at the Virginia Museum of Tranasportation in Roanoke VA. I beleive these were the last 2 engines in the N & S steam program. I beleive they were operational when donated but may not be any longer. They have been sitting for some time. There is a former southern engine in Chattanoga that may have been part of the NS program that was and maybe still is operational.

[BR60103]

NS was using both engines in steam excursions. At the end, one was in the shops in pieces, but there was an accident involving the excursion train and the whole project was dropped like a hot potato.

I never heard if the engines made it back to Roanoke.

 

[Anonymous]

Both locomtives are at in Roanoke at the before mentioned muesum. After the J1's excursion train picked a switch for the second time in a year NS dropped the program. The J1 was the first to Roanoke, followed by the 2-6-6-4. Every month a group comes pulls the J1 up and down the tracks to keep the bearings rust free, but outside of that nothing has been done to keep it operational (expect being kept indoors, I think).

[rrandb]

There is in fact another veteran of the NS program stored in Chattanooga at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. It is Southern #4501 a 2-8-2 mikado. I beleive this was the first member of the NS steam program. I am only going by memory but I beleive it had originally been donated to the TVRM earlier and then later leased back to the NS steam program when needed. The overwhelming succes of this engine led to the NS restoring there own  #1218 and #611. Sadly this loco is no longer under steam. From the photo it is at least stored under roof or maybe even indoors. They say it is mothballed. The answer to your original question appears to be no NS steam program locos can still be fired today. Sorry, however they may be candidates for future restorations.

[dredmann]

Southern and later Norfolk Southern used a bunch of locomotives for various steam excursions that ran partially or totally under the auspices of the railroad from 1964 to 1995. There's a whole book on the subject if you are interested. Anyway, here's what I know about what I consider to be the primary locomotives from this program (many of the others were not originally Southern or Norfolk & Western or one of their subsidiaries, and/or were used only for relatively few excursions):

Southern 4501: the very first Southern 2-8-2, owned since 1964 by the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum and/or its founder; presently under an open-air shed at TVRM's East Chattanooga shops; last operated ca. 1998; in need of substantial work to be made operable; NOTE THAT TVRM PLANS TO CUT UP ITS ORIGINAL TENDER FOR OTHER USE, WHICH YOU SHOULD ASK THEM NOT TO DO (Southern built a larger excursion tender, an auxillary water tender, and a coal loader car); let's hope she's steaming for her hundredth birthday (in 2011)

Southern 630: one of the two 2-8-0's that ran excursions in the earlier years--it was the black one; repurchased by Southern ca. 1970 and later donated to TVRM; presently inside at TVRM's East Chattanooga shops, undergoing major overhaul; planned to be operational for Summer 2007, but might be delayed

Southern 722: the other 2-8-0's--it was the green one; I think repurchased by Southern ca. 1970; reportedly in use at a tourist railroad in the Carolinas (?)

Savannah & Atlanta 750: the small 4-6-2 that is or was owned by the Atlanta chapter of the National Railway Historical Society; I seem to recall that its running gear was rebuilt a year or two ago, but it still needs a boiler rebuild to operate

Norfolk & Western 611: the big streamlined 4-8-4; it is inside at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke (N&W's ancestral home); it was operable as of 1995; I am not clear whether NS lent the locomotive to the museum or donated it outright

Norfolk & Western 1218: the monster 2-6-6-4; it is also inside at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke; it was NOT operable as of 1995, and in fact had been largely disassembled for extensive work at NS' steam shops near Birmingham, AL when the steam program was discontinued; I am not clear whether NS lent the locomotive to the museum or donated it outright

And finally, I'll publicly reveal my plot: I hope one day to bewitch NS Chairman and CEO "Wick" Moorman, get him to have NS fund 4501's restoration, and run its hundredth birthday celebration excursion over one of the old excursion routes, the old New Orleans & Northeastern (part of Southern) from New Orleans (my home town) to Moorman's home town of Hattiesburg, MS. And if there's a worry that 4501 can't pull the heavy train that the huge demand would require, well, the Louisiana Steam Train Association would be happy to supply ex-Southern Pacific 745 (another 2-8-2), which we would even paint Norfolk Southern for the event if need be, to double-head the excursion. Of course, if TVRM really gets 630 running by then, that would be fine too.

Well, I can dream.

 

[dredmann]

P.S.

I should add that Southern Railway did not exactly re-purchase ex-Southern 630 and ex-Southern 722; it traded two Diesel locomotives for them. Also, Southern did not donate 4501; it sold the locomotive to a coal-hauling short-line (you may have seen it as K&T #12), which used it for a decade or so and was ready to scrap it when TVRM's founder bought it for $5000. Southern and later NS used it for the steam program, under an agreement with TVRM.

 

[rrandb]

The Great Smoky Mountain Railroad has the Ex Southern 722 in western NC. It is not presently operational. However as they are owned by the same company that operates the Durango & Silverton there are hopes for it to be restored. There stated goal is to have an all steam operation which allows hope for the future. They have another steamer which is currently haveing the firebox replaced according to there web site.
 

[Bunn19]

I wonder if any possible changes in NS upper level management could restart the steam program. I've read the book Steam's Camelot, and it describes the whole Southern Steam program and how it came to be.  I would think that hopefully it could all happen again, even if NS started off with a modest program at first.  I guess we can all hope.

[rrandb]

Since UP has proven on a daily basis that a Class 1 railroad can have and operate a Steam Program and that it is good business to do so it will just require the NS to change there corperate attitude. The other way is if NS were to merge with UP they would then have a Steam Program. That's another topic all together. One of the reasons they had one before is there leadership liked steam engines. The current managment does not share that passion.

[Trainmaster.Curt]

   I recently watched a mark-5 video on southern steam and another on Northeastern steam which featured two N&W steam engines running.  The loco's that were featured was the 2-6-6-4 articulate and the J-1 Northern used for passenger trains.

I was wondering if CSXT still has them for excersion trains or did CSXT moth-ball them?

They belonged to what is now Norfolk Southern, which discontinued the steam program several years ago. The only Class 1 railroad that has an active steam program these days is the Union Pacific.

Uh, wrong there is another Class 1 Railway/Railroad that has a steam program. Canadian Pacific Railway, which runs the 2816 (CPR's 2816 is a class H1b Hudson type locomotive built by Montreal Locomotive Works in December 1930.  CPR Empress is now the only surviving H1b Hudson and is one of only a handful of preserved and operating CPR steam locomotives in North America)