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The 611 and 1218 at the Virginia Museum of Transportation June 14, 2003 Aron Schuessler photo  |
| The 1218 Rides The Rails Again (June 2003) These photos from June 11, 2003 show the N&W 1218 following a superb cosmetic restoration and during a transfer move to the Virginia Museum of Transportation. Following a trip through the Roanoke wye to orient the locomotive for display, the 1218 was then pushed into a side track at the museum. Other museum equipment was then pulled out of the intended display track, and then coupled to the 1218. At around 3:00 PM, the resulting "train" was then pushed into place with the 1218 at the lead. The 1218 is now on display at the VMT alongside the 611, and under the new $2 million Claytor Pavilion which was dedicated on June 14, 2003. Kipp Teague photos | |
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| More photos of the 1218 transfer move are available at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CentVaRailHist
Please contact me if you can supply additional photos of the 1218 taken during the transfer move OR alongside the 611 at the VMT | |
A Rare Appearance of the 1218 (August 2000) 
In August 2000, Vanity Fair was in Roanoke to photograph O. Winston Link and the 1218 for an article in the magazine. The 1218 was moved onto the turntable at the Roanoke Shops, and was rigged to emit smoke for the photo shoot. Josh Meltzer photos for The Roanoke Times |
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| The 1218 in 1999 These photos show the N&W 1218 in August 1999 in storage in the Norfolk Southern Roanoke Shops. Howard Gregory photos | |
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N&W Class A locomotive #1218 approaches Blue Ridge, Virginia in a ferry
run on July 18, 1987. Built in 1943,
the 1218 was one of 43 2-6-6-4 engines in its class. Retired in July, 1959,
the 1218 eventually went on display in Roanoke. In 1987, a restored 1218
returned to service as the star of that year's NRHS convention in Roanoke,
running double-headed and side-by-side with the class J 611 in some of the
most unforgettable railfan events ever staged.
The 1218 departs Lynchburg on May 8, 1988. Onlookers on the Wards Rd.
bridge have just scurried out of the way of the A's smoke plume.
The articulation of an A is evident as the 1218 rounds a curve on a
May 8, 1988 approach to Roanoke, Va. (this scene is included in the above video)
The 1218 crosses Cotton Mill trestle in Lynchburg, Virginia on October 13, 1990.
A northbound 1218 passes the
dilapidated, but still in use Kemper St. passenger station in Lynchburg on
October 6, 1990.
Enshrouded in her own soot and cinder-laden smoke, the mammoth 1218 creeps by Woodall Rd.
station in Lynchburg, October 5, 1991.
The 1218 is third in line in this image from July 16, 1989, a day on which
Norfolk Southern ran a special movement steam triple-header
from Roanoke to Lynchburg. The frame is from an 8mm video shot at Lowry, Va.,
and the lineup is Nickel Plate 587, N&W 611 and N&W 1218. Ah, the good old
days...
| View the entire 5-part Steam Tripleheader video on YouTube, beginning with Part 1 |
The 1218 departs Roanoke
for Walton, Va. on October 12, 1991, in what would turn out to be one of her
final excursion runs. The locomotive was due for its five-year inspection
the following Spring, and was never returned to service. Three years later,
Norfolk Southern abandoned the company's steam excursion program, retiring the class
J 611 and leaving the fate of the disassembled 1218 uncertain. In January
of 1996, 1218 was towed from the former Birmingham steam shops back to
Roanoke, and in June 2003, the 1218 was relocated to the Virginia Museum of Transportation.
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