After trips for the Norfolk Southern 21st Century Steam Program from Lynchburg to Petersburg, Va., on June 13-14, No. 611’s next task was a ferry move to the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, N.C. The engine is scheduled to participate in two more weekends of highly successful throttle time at the museum, as well as normal maintenance before returning to Roanoke, Va., in preparation for more mainline excursions over the July 4 weekend.
Making the ferry move more interesting is that the next Norfolk Southern steam excursions will use Southern Railway No. 4501 running out of Bristol, Va., June 26-28, and not all of the first-class cars will be part of the consist in Bristol. Therefore, the easiest option was to send the passenger train to Roanoke and then to Bristol, and let No. 611 deadhead south to North Carolina.
So in the scorching heat of Monday, June 15, No. 611 left Lynchburg, Va., bound for Spencer with 13 cars of revenue freight tied in behind the tool car to aid in braking. No. 611 was dispatched south in the mid-afternoon. The late departure was because of track work in North Carolina, where Norfolk Southern is busy re-installing double track on the former Southern Railway mainline between Lexington and Thomasville. With a backlog of trains waiting for the track to re-open, No. 611 was held near High Point, N.C., and again near Thomasville, N.C., before being cleared to proceed south. Finally, under the cover of darkness, No. 611 dropped her freight consist at Norfolk Southern’s Linwood Yard, then proceeded the final few miles to the museum.
