Norfolk and Western Railway class J (1941)


The Norfolk and Western J class was a class of fourteen 4-8-4 "Northern" streamlined steam locomotives built by the railway's own Roanoke Shops located in Roanoke, Virginia from 1941 to 1950 and operated by the Norfolk and Western Railway in revenue service until the late 1950s.
These locomotives were built to run on the N&W main line between Norfolk, Virginia and Cincinnati, Ohio, pulling the Powhatan Arrow, the Pocahontas, and the Cavalier passenger trains as well as ferrying the Southern Railway's the Birmingham Special, the Pelican, and the Tennessean between Monroe, Virginia and Bristol, Tennessee. The Js along with the Class ‘A’ and ‘Y’ freight steam locomotives, were embodied as Norfolk and Western's "The Big Three" and represented the pinnacle of steam technology.
Only one locomotive, No. 611 survives. It was retired in 1959 from revenue passenger service and moved to the Virginia Museum of Transportation in 1962. It has been restored twice: once as part of the Norfolk Southern Railway's steam program, and again as part the VMT's Fire Up 611! campaign.

History

Design

The first J's had 275 psi boilers, driving wheels, and roller bearings on all wheels and rods; after 1945 boiler pressure was raised to. Calculated tractive effort was – the most powerful 4-8-4 without a booster. The 70-inch drivers were small for a locomotive that was able to pull trains at over. To overcome this, the wheelbase was made extremely rigid, lightweight rods were used, and the counterbalancing was precise.
As delivered, the Js had a duplex coupling rods between the main and third drivers, but in the 1950s Norfolk and Western's engineers deemed these unnecessary. The Class J's were rebuilt with a single coupling rod between the main and third drivers. The negative effect of the J's highly engineered powertrain was that it made the locomotives sensitive to substandard track. While on loan in late 1945, No. 610 hauled a passenger train with 15 cars at speeds in excess of over Pennsylvania Railroad's "racetrack", the Fort Wayne Division.

Construction

The first batch of four locomotives was built and delivered between October 1941 and January 1942, which cost the railroad US$167,000 apiece. The Js' streamlining look was designed by N&W's Tool Supervisor, Franklin C. Noel. The second batch of five locomotives was delivered in 1943 without either shrouding or lightweight side rods, due to the limitations on the use of certain materials during the war; they were classified J1. When N&W showed the War Production Board the reduced availability numbers because of this, the Board allowed the J1s to be re-fitted as Js with the lightweight rods and shrouding in 1945. The last batch of three locomotives were all rolled out in Summer 1950, marking the last steam passenger locomotives built in the United States.
QuantitySerial Nos.Year builtN&W No.Notes
5311–3151941-1942600-604No. 602 had a booster on its trailing truck.
6347–3521943605-610Originally built without streamlining shrounds.
3388–3901950611-613No. 611 in excursion service.

Revenue service

The class Js pulled the network's prominent passenger trains, such as the Powhatan Arrow, the Pocahontas, and the Cavalier between Norfolk, Virginia and Cincinnati, Ohio, as well as ferrying Southern Railway's the Birmingham Special, the Pelican, and the Tennessean between Monroe, Virginia and Bristol, Tennessee. Because of their power and speed, the class Js were among the most reliable engines, running as many as per month, even on the mountainous and relatively short route of the N&W.
In the late 1950s, N&W began purchasing first-generation diesel locomotives, experimenting with fuel and maintenance cost. They leased several sets of EMD E6s, E7s, E8s from the Atlantic Coast Line and Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroads. As a result, the class Js were retired from passenger service. Doghouses were installed on their tenders to accommodate head-end brakemen and the class Js were reassigned to freight service until they were all retired between 1958 and 1959.

Accidents and incidents

Only one locomotive, No. 611, has survived into preservation today. This was in part due to its superb condition after its 1956 derailment and subsequent repair, and also in part to the efforts of photographer O. Winston Link, who offered to purchase 611 himself rather than see it scrapped.
The locomotive was donated to the Roanoke Transportation Museum in Roanoke, Virginia in 1962, where it sat dormant for two decades. Since then, it has had two excursion careers. The first career took place from 1982 to 1994, when Norfolk Southern restored the locomotive to operating condition for excursion service as it became the star of their steam program pulling excursions throughout the eastern United States. 611, along with 1218, were officially donated to the Virginia Museum of Transportation by the City of Roanoke on April 2, 2012.
The second excursion program, since May 2015, was announced in February 2013, when the VMT formed a campaign called Fire Up 611! to return No. 611 to operating condition once again. Most recently, from late September to late October 2019, No. 611 went to Strasburg, Pennsylvania to participate in the Strasburg Rail Road's "N&W Reunion of Steam" event where it ran several trips alongside N&W 4-8-0 No. 475.

In popular culture

The 611 was featured in a 2016 feature-length documentary called "611: American Icon" which represents the history of the locomotive and her restoration.