Today is the 15th anniversary of the next-to-last excursion with N&W 611. This was the last trip up Saluda. My Dad and I met the excursion at the bottom of the grade at Melrose. We were going to do some chasing. Then, fate stepped in. We ran into our friend Chuck Akers and he invited me to ride the Kitchi Gammi Club to Asheville. The KGC was not part of the rest of the excursion train on that trip. It was their private car and was directly behind the pusher diesels and in front of the HEP car. We we went up the grade behind the diesels. Jack Taylor brought the 611 up the grade with the auxillarly water car, tool car and a few coaches. My Dad made some great VHS footage of Jack pulling out at Melrose. He really got her going hard before he hit the really steep part. They reassembled the train at Saluda and on to Asheville we went. That was Jack's last excursion as engineer on the 611.

I rode back to Greenville, SC in the KGC. What a night! The morning crew came back to the KGC and told stories about earlier times running the excursions. It was one of the most memorable events of my life. Unfortunately for my Dad, he had to follow the train to pick me up. He spent the day driving up and down the road.

Matt Helton

My wife and I chased the trip starting at Spartanburg. While they split the train for the run up Saluda several of us, including a certain magazine editor who appears here, walked a little way up the grade to watch the assult. Jack did a good job of getting 611 rolling before getting into the grade. Of course the ability of 611 to accelerate helped.

While the engine was serviced I walked around and around taking in every detail I could. It was hard to believe this was the last time I would see 611 up close under steam. Since I had to abandon the chase at Asheville I stood and listened to 611 depart until I could no longer hear the whistle. I talked breifly with Jack Taylor during the layover in Asheville.

I could not go but my wife went to Chattanooga to see the last excursion. I had to settle for taking the afternoon off from work and going to Salisbury to watch 611 come in on the way back to Roanoke. The train stopped just south of the depot to allow an Amtrak train to make its stop . After Amtrak departed 611 started the empty passenger train for the short run to Linwood. I assume this was the last time 611 started a full passenger consist.

I never saw 611 or Jack again. It is not in me to go to Roanoke and see 611 and 1218 sitting on a stump. Those were truely sad days. How any corporation could throw away such an asset is still beyond me.

John Bohon

I was in the cab for that last climb. We had 10 or 12 people up there so it was a snug fit for sure. The superintendent of the division at the time, Gene Greene, stood in the middle of the cab the whole way up the hill. Jack did infact run up the hill and Sandy Alexander fired. Other firemen Steve Webb and Scott Merrill were also up there. I ended up sitting on the water cooler up on the water leg of the tender on the fireman's side. When I would lean out, I could look right down the edge of the cab forward. The sound was incredible. I would argue with anyone that I had the best seat in the house!! One thing that struck me was the huge crowd at the tip of the hill and the number of people in tears. It is a day that I have always known I was lucky to be a part of.

Today is actually the 15 yr anniv of me seeing her in steam for the last time. After we all left the hotel in Greenville, saying good bye to Jack and his family, I went to tell the night watchman goodbye at the yard. I was headed back to NC and engine and crew were off to Atlanta. As I was leaving the yard, I looked up in my rearview mirror and could see the engine waiting to head south. That was it. Next time I saw her in the museum in Roanoke, it was like going to a viewing of a dear friend that had died.

Seems like almost yesterday and in some ways forever.

Those of us who grew up in the southeast were lucky to get to see it all -- from the Best Friend of Charleston replica to the 2-6-6-4 No. 1218 and all the engines in between. What a great program it was!

Jim

Jack Taylor was one of the good guys at NS, a true gentlemen. "Nuff said.