611 Forever 

Pride of the Norfolk & Western: 1950s, 1980s, & 2015

In this action-packed DVD, follow the indomitable #611 pulling famed named trains, “The Pocahontas” and “Powhatan Arrow,” in the 1950s, as well as a tragic wreck that nearly became her undoing. Then, in the 1980s, stunning aerial photography hovers above cliffs and snakes through hidden hollers deep in the mountains, tracking #611 through West Virginia and Ohio. Finally, in 2015, witness #611 firing back to life once more. See this marvel of precision engineering and striking beauty, the Norfolk & Western #611—the engine rail fans will celebrate forever. 

66 minutes

Norfolk & Western Big Steam 

Articulated Y & A Class in the 1950s

It is hard to believe that such a film could exist: capturing the largest fleet of articulateds ever built operating on their original tracks, the Norfolk and Western main line between Bluefield, WV and Portsmouth, Ohio. Catch these powerful locomotives at their best! Agile A Class 2-6-6-4s pull high-speed manifest and roll long strings of heavyweight cars at 70 MPH. Huge Y class 2-8-8-2 sluggers shake the Appalachians to their very roots on the heavy grades and the tortuous curves of the Tug Fork. From start to finish every single frame is stunning action from the bygone age of real railroading!

63 minutes

The Powhatan Arrow and J Class Steam - MORE 611!

The elegant streamlined “Powhatan Arrow” raced 680 mountain miles in 16 hours behind J Class 4-8-4 thoroughbreds: Norfolk to Cincinnati in a single day. Filmed from on board and at trackside, the DVD captures the real 611 working the Columbus Section of the Arrow on the Scioto Division plus many more streamlined Js on the Pocahontas, the Cavalier and the Pelican. Js meet and pass other Js and overtake Norfolk & Western’s stable of steam, the A and Y class articulateds: true railroad history!

The story of the J Class continues as N&W’s 611 is reborn into excursion and ambassador service in 1982. See the inaugural runs of the reconstructed 611 with a perfectly matched maroon consist almost identical to the “Powhatan Arrow” of history. Aerials show the famed Wells Viaduct and other great trestles. Ride with the mighty Js!

35 minutes

The Big ‘A’ 1218 

Pace 1218’s inaugural trip north homeward to Roanoke after two years of reconstruction in Birmingham. Spectacular coverage includes aerials of 1218’s first excursions on the Bluefield, Blue Ridge and Christiansburg grades - the only helicopter coverage that we know of the engine’s assaults on the Alleghenies. Catch 1218 thundering both eastbound and westbound from Roanoke for magnificent steam action!

In the finale we present Archie Julian’s classic: “Battle for the Blue Ridge.” Here the monsters of the steam era on the Norfolk and Western attack the Eastern slope of the main line from Bluefield over Christiansburg Hill and across the Blue Ridge. See both the A and Y class engines with the Y’s spinning out on the 3% grades to the mine branches and Pacifics, a rare breed on the N&W, double and triple heading. The J class 4-8-4s bust their guts doing 70 MPH on the main line 2% grades. Even shows the ‘Jawn Henry’, the N&Ws experimental steam turbine in helper service. Feel the energy from the era of authentic working steam.

63 minutes