See the inevitable cuts in the ns steam program have taken place.thank goodness for the continued support of the 611. Nkp 765 will have to find other venues to operate on like last year.
With ns moth balling entire divisions and laying off 1000's of people its not unexpected.
If cp/ns merger takes place, then the entire program will be shut down.
765 will be allowed to run on the NS system to go where they need to, thank goodness. 611 still has a lot of work left to be done, and a platform might be built in Roanoke by Amtrak that 611 could not use (size limitations).
http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2015/12/22-ns-steam-program-to-focus-exclusively-on-no-611-next-season
It's unfortunate that 4501 and 630 have been excluded completely, at least they have museum tracks to run on.
I have the feeling the number of years of NS steam left could be counted on one hand. I didn't get to see 611 this past year, but will be sure to go this coming year. I advise others to do the same.
A Roanoke paper offers more insight and a different perspective; as well as what 611 needs to get through in order to operate for the 2016 season.
http://www.roanoke.com/news/local/roanoke/whatever-happened-to-obstacles-may-lie-on-s-tracks/article_8049418a-deed-52e9-ab18-4a0d19bd7b14.html
With the coal issues, I don't mind seeing this so much.
A more modest schedule will help protect this program and hopefully someday soon, Norfolk Southern will see fit to again commit to an expanded public relations program. If they kept up an ambitious pace while lines are being mothballed and such, the entire deal would be an attractive area to eliminate since it could be misinterpreted.
But by making cutbacks, hopefully what's left will ride things out rather than be curtailed entirely.
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