Update - 7/10/12 2300 hrs

630's #2 wheelset is installed, oil cellars are installed, plumbed and filled with oil, binders are up, and brake rigging installed. Installation of rods and other loose items will finish tomorrow, followed by fire-up.

Departure time from Roanoke on Thursday is not known at this time. Consist will most likely be the GP40-3, road slug, and coal gondolas. Rumors of the N&W 611 being towed back to Chattanooga are unfounded.

End of Update.

"Rumors of the N&W 611 being towed back to Chattanooga are unfounded."

!!@#$%^!!!!

I heard they ran #611 on compressed air last week.

Ba da dum! Rimshot!

What? Too soon?

Rob

I will back up Mark's comments by saying that no one has yet asked us to move 611 up onto NS track, our T6 and several other pieces of equipment are in the way. If anyone ran 611 on air last week, they must have snuck in after dark, it was still sitting in the same spot every day.

By the way, if you guys need a caboose for the trip back to Chattanooga, let me know, we've got a couple that are available

Could the 611 fit on the turntable and in the Soule shop?

Sorry, just thinking out loud! LOL I'm kidding!

Turntable - Nope, way too long for TVRM's Turntable

Also, impossible to get either 611 or 1218 into the Soule Shops Complex due to multiple other track & radius issues. Neither would fit through Missionary Ridge Tunnel and both are way too heavy for the existing track coming in from the Choo Choo via the classic Downtown Arrow route. The connecting wye down by the recycling plant at Central Avenue likely would be impossible as well.

I just checked - N&W 611 is still in the same place.

On the other hand, Southern 630 is reassembled and has been moved for fire-up. Sometime after midnight, the fire will be ignited. Departure from Roanoke will be in the 10 - 11 time frame tomorrow morning. We will use steam in lieu of compressed air to move down the railroad.

As far getting the A or J into our shop, I am not going to comment. I can say that some 30 years ago, when the shop was being designed, the late Bob Soule had an HO scale version of the East Chattanooga yard tracks, the shop leads, and the shop floor laid out on a table. Using HO scale track and an HO scale version of a Y6 (did anyone else have one of those Rivarossi models?), Bob would demonstrate to anyone interested how we could get a N&W Y6 into the shop. I presume he figured if the 2156 could fit into the door, the 611 or 1218 could too (or the 4501, 630, 722, etc).

....love it!

Mark -

Is the plan still to overnight in Bristol tomorrow night? I was hoping to see the 630 come through town. I rode Sunday's trip from Bristol to Knoxville and it was great. The only thing that could have been better was to have had the 630 and for it to have been a round trip!

Thanks
Matt Helton

That is correct, Matt.

Bristol to Knoxville on Friday.

Very nice, very wishful thinking. Let's wait till something more official comes out soon.

Just because SOU 630 is sick for the moment, doesn't mean we need to drag N&W 611 out right-a-way. SOU 630 hasn't ran this long out on the open rail since the 1970s. TVRM 610 could filled in the void left behind by SOU 630 IF not available. NS can always used their Heritage Units as substitutes still the current situation is resolved.

Remember folks, NS Steam Program is back to circa 1966, with a small hand full of steamers at the moment. NKP 765 is getting ready to run the northern leg of the system, we all know that locomotive can take the long haul by itself.

610 is stored out-of-service until a 1,472 day inspection is completed.

Regarding the 611, I recall a line from an old Kingston Trio song, "Do not muddy the waters around us, we may have to drink it soon." Let NS make the announcement if appropriate, and let us not prod a good neighbor.

611 and 1218 have had their turns. 2156 should be the next to go into TVRM's shop, and Mark already said it will fit. :-)

This might be the most sound advice I have ever seen posted on the internet.