I decided to start a new thread here, as the original one seemed to have gotten rather far off topic. As I mentioned in the last thread, 614 had a very nice "soft" debut with an evening party on the 10th for members of the various preservation organizations in the area. Saturday's "Train Lover's Day" took everyone by surprise. I think everyone expected a few hundred visitors. VMT finally finished the count for the weekend yesterday, and around 1700 paid visitors showed up Saturday. From 10 until about 2 or so, the line waiting for cab visits ran the length of the locomotive. My shoulders are still sore from helping all the kids up and down the gangway. Gift shop sales were over $1600 before 1 PM. This was a "low key" event, in the sense that there were no bands, food, or rides, only childrens activities, extra model railroad displays, a visiting artist, and the large new temporary exhibit. The VMT staff did a great job with publicity for the event. There were newspaper stories about 614's arrival starting back in December, a nice feature on one of the local TV morning shows, the usual community events calendars, and for all you "Interweb" believers, strong Facebook coverage.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/VA.Museum.Transportation

There were visitors from Tennessee, North Carolina, and West Virginia. Some recent posts here have highlighted some of the apathy towards rail history that is found in some areas. In Roanoke, we are lucky that the population hasn't forgotten our historical roots, and folks here appreciate and support our preservation efforts.

Many thanks to Gary and his crew for enabling the 614's cab to be open for cab visits as this was definitley a high point of the very well attended event.

The VMT says it was their highest one days attendance ever.

If these 2 great ambassadors of steam can do this cold just imagine their drawing power alive!!

Hope springs eternal!!

Ross Rowland

"If these 2 great ambassadors of steam can do this cold just imagine their drawing power alive!!"

Ross, if the ants in the pic below are an indicator I'd say you might be on to something!
(BTW, thanks Mitch for allowing me to use your picture here!)



"Hope springs eternal!!"

In the interim, anyone know of a good way to slow down the ole grandfather clock?

Bob

As someone that went up to VMT last Saturday, I have to say that the crowd was great and by far the largest I have ever seen there. In fact, for the first time, I had to wait in line just to get in!

Gary and crew did a great job getting people in and out of the 614 safely and kept the number of people in the cab at any given reasonable so people were able to get some good pictures. As a kid, I saw 614 in Hagerstown during her initial rebuild and remember looking out the cab window while the cab was on the ground. I hadn't seen the engine in 30 years since the '81 Richmond-Balcony Falls trips, so it was like seeing an old friend. The guys did a great job getting her to look good for the weekend.

VMT did a great job with the event and under the leadership of Bev Fitzpatrick, you can see some really good things happening there. Add to it a trip by the N&W Archives and a good dinner with great friends and it was a good day to like big steam.

I can verify that Gary, the Roanoke Chapter NRHS, and everyone else did a terrific job with the 614 and the other amazing things that went on at the VMT. It is not everyday you can see two of the last and finest examples of steam technology at the same place at the same time. I'd like to post some of my photos of that great day.


Martin

Second

Not criticizing, just curious-- why were the main rods not installed for the display?

Looks like a great event! Wish I wasn't so far away...

$$$$$$$$$$$$ - Simply not worth the expense (crane rental required + time & labor) to re-install & then remove again when she'll be moving on shortly.

If you have a high-speed connection with good connectivity you may enjoy the 614 multi-media slide-show with optional sound available at the following url: http://classiclights.org/614-sshow-muzak.html

Bob Lyndall is exactly correct. With the engine scheduled to move to the COHS in 10 weeks it doesn't make sense to go to all the efforts needed to put the mains back on just to take them off again.

Truth be told, the vast majority of the folks enjoying her presence probably don't even know they're missing??

IMHO-Ross Rowland

Will, Martin, Thanks for the kind words. You seem to be making me some kind of hero for 614's debut. In reality all I've done is polish rods, coordinate volunteers, and lift a bunch of kids. The credit for the success of this exhibit goes to a lot of people. First off, Bev, Rick Tabb of C&OHS, and Ross for reaching the agreement to bring her south. Norfolk Southern for moving her (espescially considering that she is a "foreign" engine). Scott Lindsay and his crew for getting her ready and supervising the move. The N&WHS and C&OHS members who built the beautiful interpretive displays comparing the two railroad's "J's" (that no one has taken any pictures of). Bev's staff for all of the great PR work making the public aware of the significance of having three big steam locomotives together. The rest of the Roanoke Chapter's "9th St Gang" for always being willing to jump in and help make things happen. And finally, all the members of the public that are interested in history or big mechanical things who are coming out and visiting. The past few weeks have been a great example of the positive power of teamwork.

Gary, could you snap/post some photos of the interpretive displays? I'm sure many of us here would like to see those.

Howard P.

Howard,

I'll ask around if anyone has any pictures of it. If nothing else, I'll try to get by over the weekend and take some bad cell phone shots that I'll be clueless how to upload.......Dave Stephenson was one of the folks who helped develop the display, Dave, have any photos? It is a series of panels with a lot of photos detailing the parallel development of motive power on the C&O and the N&W.....very good stuff.

Gary makes an excellent overall point. To be successful these events take the hard work of many,many behind the scenes folks who never get the credit/thanks they deserve. For 99.9% of them that's ok as they're in it not to be fetted as heroes but rather because it's helping promote something they love.

A good case in point was our 3 year NJT program where it took a total of 45 volunteers to man every one of those 24 excursions. It meant them attending training sessions, showing up at Hoboken at 0600 to attend a job briefing,wearing the prescribed uniform, no picture taking etc.,etc.

Our ability to achieve a perfect safety record was in large part thanks to these men&women making sure that all 1200 plus riders on each excursion were kept safe.

To Gary Gray and all those who made the VMT event a huge success sincere thanks.

Ross Rowland

Gary/ all,

I'm sort of stuck with TMI here. I didn't take any pix Thursday night just enjoyed the company and the display. I have the printing PDF's of all the panels as a record set for N&WHS, but they're way too big to post (up to 46MB each). I also have the smaller draft panels but they are also too large to post (1MB limit, files are 2MB to 4MB each). I can't photoshop a PDF to reduce its size AFAIK. Will have to rely on someone to go to VMT and take a photo or two. I'd do it but I don't live in Roanoke; I'm about 250 miles north. Seeing all of the panels in final form at the reception Thursday made it all worthwhile. They really really looked good. Hat's off to C&OHS member Mac Beard who put all the pieces together into the final artwork.

Dave

Question on the J's. During the 1950s, did the 2 different Js every interact? I would think possibly Cincinnati. Any insight? It sure looks great seeing the 2 together now.

Tom