611

[jr 611]

would ns run 611 if it was runing and how much wou it cost to run it

 

[CAZEPHYR]

would ns run 611 if it was runing and how much wou it cost to run it

 

Just my thought, but it was running when they retired it.  The insurance and cost of running the program was not worth the money invested.  They started running a steam program on such a grand scale that it cost way too much and the two accidents did not help.

I certainly wish they would run it again, but my HO models and videos are about as close as we will ever get to see it run.

   

 

[dredmann]

I think a somewhat more likely scenario is that NS might allow a private group to operate 611 over NS rails, under certain restrictions, terms, and conditions.

Also, bear in mind that NS does not own 611; the City of Roanoke does. I suspect that NS could lease 611 if it wanted to, but that's another issue.

As for cost: it depends. Crew and labor costs are big. Insurance can be big, depending on what you want to do and where you want to do it. Fuel is not insignificant.

[Beach Bill]

I lived in Roanoke and was a member of the Virginia Museum of Transportation (home of J611) until about a year ago.  "New" Federal regulations would require modern testing of the thickness of the J's boiler before she could be operated again.  Cost would likely be in the mid-six-figures at a minimum.   The NS made a firm business decision to get out of the steam program, and they did so quickly.  They have had tonnage increase dramatically on most of their lines in recent years, and are still investing lots of money in line improvement - such as increasing clearances on the Cincinnati-NewPort News line to allow full movement of double-stacks.  I don't think that as a corporation they have much interest at all in retuning to operating a steam program.  Most modern RR executives would likely actually choose to avoid being connected to images of "old choo choos", and the actual advertising value isn't that great.   The "Dismal Swamp" wreck behind 611 back when the program was running was very costly (as well as creating an image problem), and as I recall that was a special primarily for employees.   

Bill

[Dakguy201]

I don't think that as a corporation they have much interest at all in retuning to operating a steam program.  Most modern RR executives would likely actually choose to avoid being connected to images of "old choo choos", and the actual advertising value isn't that great.      

Bill

Respectfully, I disagree.  Out here on the plains, many small to medium sized towns see the big railroads as a nuisance, even those towns that were founded by the railroad.  These days, the line splits their community in half, is noisy, requires expensive grade seperations, and so on.  It is viewed as contributiing little to the economic or social welfare of the community.

To counteract that problem, nothing works like the visit of one of the UP's big steamers to a local civic celebration.  It will pull crowds that seem to rival the size of the town. If there is a wye nearby so that you can conduct short rides, so much the better.  When you leave town, give local political leaders and selected others, say newspaper editors, a ride to the next stop. 

Is it expensive?  Of course, the UP is rumored to spend several million a year to keep the program alive. 

The NS made their decision in an era when they were financially pressed, and management had to be seen both by Wall Street and their employees as doing everything possible to change.  If they had the same decision to be made today, when they are not so pressed, I'm not at all sure they would make the same choice.